Has anyone else heard anything about this problem??!!!

I talked with a very knowledgeable technician at a very large and reputable independant automotive electrical service center. The owner told me that FORD is experiencing an electrolysis problem on their new aluminum radiators. He laughed about it because to him it was so stupid and so easy to fix and FORD is too cheap to fix the problem. He said, "Electrolysis is a combination of an electrical and chemical reaction between a cast-iron block and the aluminum in your radiator that quickly attacks and destroys the aluminum radiator from the inside-out." He said all it would take is a ten-cent grounding strap to prevent the electrolysis from occuring in the first place. But FORD depends on a chemical in the antifreeze to arrest the electrolysis problem. When your antifreeze gets old, it isn't nearly as effective at preventing electrolysis anymore.

Immediately, I installed a ground from the frame to the radiator to arrest the electrolysis problem. I think fresh antifreeze would help to prevent the electrolysis. If your antifreeze is over one year old, you should see about flushing it and installing the very best quality antifreeze, recommended by FORD. Then, just for good measure ... install a 10-cent ground strap.

Has anyone else heard about this problem?

 

If we had salt water for cooling I would believe it.

 

Electrolysis occurs in the cooling system of every single vehicle on the road. All vehicles have disimilar metals in the cooling system. A ground strap won't help the problem. Also electrolysis isn't really a problem it is the result of a problem - corrosion. You can test a cooling system for corrosion with a multimeter. Ground 1 probe to frame or engine block, stick the other end in coolant (don't touch the probe to the radiator) Brand new coolant will show 2/10's of a volt or less. If you read over 1/2 a volt it's time to change your coolant because there is a lot of corrosion going on.

I suspect that the ground strap is just grounding the coolant so you don't see it on the meter. But since the voltage is flowing through the ground strap the electrolysis is still there. If you really want to prevent it (like on an expensive collectors vehicle), mix your anti-freeze 50-50 with distilled water.

-Jon

 

Doesn't the radiator being bolted to the core support automatically ground it?

Also, my owners manual says to mix distilled water with antifreeze when changing the fluid anyway.

 

Doesn't everyone use distilled water for the radiator and battery?

 

Any one ever use the water from dehumidifier or central air drain for Radiator mix?

 

In theory, condensate should be as clean as distilled but in practice, it's quite filthy. It picks up metals and other contamination from the atmosphere and everything it comes in contact with.

 

Ford4ever,
How do you get to the radiator fluid? Mine has no fill spout that I can see. The fluid is filled thru an overflow.