Cooling System Electrolisys

[boarder_punk]

Have any of you dealt with this before or know anything about it?

Seems to me that some vehicles are more susceptible to it than others and can suffer very serious problems because of it. From the research I've done it sounds like a lack of proper grounding and coolant/water ratios are the biggest causes.

My machinist (who is ISO certified and used by the military) says in the worst cases electrolisys will bore pinholes through cylinder liners half an inch thick in as little as a couple weeks. Over the last couple of years I've been replacing quite a few engines for having porous cylinders, burning coolant, on cylinders that could ever only see coolant from block problems or cracked heads. Often after removing heads and having my machinist magnaflux and/or pressure test them.

Are my coolant electrolisys theories right or wrong? Can you offer up some enlightenment on the subject?

[old_master]

Electrolysis can cause pin holes in the radiator and heater core in a short period of time. To test for it, bring the engine to operating temperature. While the engine is running, hold the negative probe of a DVOM to battery negative terminal. Remove the radiator cap and hold the positive probe in the coolant. Voltage reading must be less than .3VDC If voltage reading is higher, locate and repair poor engine ground and or poor body ground. Ionized coolant can also cause electrolysis. Use of proper coolant and regular service intervals will prevent ionization of the coolant.

[boarder_punk]

Great test, very helpful. Any thoughts on vehicles that are poorly grounded from the factory and tend to have this sort of problem more often or have been subjected to it, even in very small amounts, for the better part of 100k miles?

[shorod]

There are a lot of posts on the Ford Taurus forum regarding this, as well as some discussion about a retrofit kit offered which incorporates an additional ground strap for the cooling system. There were a lot of instances of plugged heater cores and even some water pumps with dissolved impellers. Keep in mind "a lot" is relative. There are a LARGE number of Taurii on the roads.

-Rod

[boarder_punk]

I remember running into that problem on those cars "a lot" a few years back, especially the plugged heater core issue. The tech I was working under at the time always attributed the problem to rusting head bolts in the water jackets, sometimes the coolant was dark brown. We usually flushed the heater core thoroughly, and by thoroughly I mean multiple times from both inlet and outlet with a garden hose, and that worked quite well. Most of our Taurus customers (high school kids usually) didn't want to spend more than $200-300, and that would be pushing it.