Water Wetter

[Motorcycle RN]

I've got a 2004 GSXR600 I use for street & track days. I run distilled H2O and water wetter in the cooling system for the track. I don't take the bike into freezing temps so I just leave the water wetter in year 'round. Is there any problem with that? Does it need to be changed periodically? Any insight appreciated!

[elskipador]

if it were mine i'd change it every couple months. i know it says it has anticorrosion properties, but ever time i change some thats been in the bike very long it comes out looking like rusty water.

[marcg]

I haven't had any corrosion problems with water wetter + distilled water. Last weekend, I drained the mixture that had been in the GSX-R for almost a year. The fluid that drained out was clear and there was only a tiny bit of scum on the inside of the radiator cap (definitely no more than what you'd see in a system with water + antifreeze). I flushed the system and filled it back up with ... water wetter + distilled water.

That said, your question that comes up a lot here (see http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171783 for an example) and there's no consensus on how often it needs to be changed or whether it's any more likely to cause corrosion than regular antifreeze.

[ST Guy]

I think I'd be tempted to change it more often just to keep the stuff fresh and the water pump seal lubed as much as possible. Twice a year or once every 6000 miles. But that's just a guess on my part.

[paunchy]

I think I'd be tempted to change it more often just to keep the stuff fresh and the water pump seal lubed as much as possible. Twice a year or once every 6000 miles. But that's just a guess on my part.

I'm not sure how a fresh batch of distilled water would have different lubrication properties than "older" water. But for sure distilled water is the key.

[ST Guy]

It's not the water but the Water Wetter you'd be changing out that might make the difference. Plus, since the Water Wetter probably doesn't have the same anti-corrosive performance as conventional anti-freeze, that's probably another reason to change it out more often.

[marcg]

There's a short white paper on the Redline site that describes Water Wetter's cooling and corrosion properties (http://www.redlineoil.com/whitePaper/17.pdf). The table below was pulled from that paper. The last two blocks of lines compare the anti-corrosion performance of Water Wetter, someone's specification and a 50% water/coolant mix. According to the numbers in the table, Water Wetter outperforms the water/coolant mix on anti-corrosion (smaller numbers are better there). I'm no expert on corrosion, just passing along some data.

Regardless, I think you still want to change the radiator fluid -- coolant or water wetter -- at least yearly, to flush the system, renew the chemicals and see whether any crud is accumulating.

[Motorcycle RN]

Thanks for all the replies. Time for flush while the weather's so terrible. :)

[Wannaduck]

is waterwetter considered hazardous? How do you dispose of the used liquids?