Miata Mailing List: August 1993, Message #89
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   From: Herb Samuels 
Subject: Re: After-market Grill Trouble (heating)
   Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1993 08:56:26 -0400


Please ignore my last post.  I had a transmission problem.

I've noticed a slight bump in the temp (needle moves slightly over the
half-way point) when driving at 80 or 80+ when it is over 95 degrees.
This may have been happening for a while in the summer since I never
looked at my temp indiator until I had the BBR turbo installed which
has a small oil cooler in front of the left bottom part of the
radiator, and an intercooler behind the right side of the radiator.
However, the temp never went to the 3/4 region.  I was told by both
BBR and Mazda that the indicator is quite non-linear and that only a
few degrees increase would bump the needle.  This must be a common
problem  since I remember a letter to Miata Magazine also indicating
that they noted an increase in the temp to about 3/4 under certain
conditions.  The response was not to worry unless the needle went
higher.  Redline sells a product called water wetter (about $5.00)
which they claim they have tested to show a decrease in engine temp of
up to 30 degrees under racing situations.  I called and spoke to one
of the engineers who told me that with a 50:50 mixture of antifreeze
one might expect a decrease of about 10-15 degrees under conditions
where the cooling system of the car is being taxed (high temp or
racing).  They claim that water wetter reduces the surface tension of the
coolent mixture which decreases the formation of small air bubbles as well
as increasing the contact with the various radiator passages which
increases heat transfer.  They claim that one bottle is good for 4
gallons of water:coolent mixture and lasts for about a year.  Maybe
its worth a try under conditions which tax the colling system.

Herb Samuels