[hazyblue7]

Hello everyone,

I need to replace my old brass radiator because it has sprung a leak. The previous owner was running what I can only assume was tap water through the system instead of coolant and I have found a good amount of white scale/calcium in the cooling system. I can see it has been building up inside the block. I was thinking about replacing the radiator with an aluminum one but I have a couple of concerns.

1) Will this scale cause a reaction wuith the aluminum?

2) Is there something I can use to dissolve it and/or remove it prior to putting in my new radiator?

I previously bypassed the heater core and used CLR to flush it out and I got some results but not quite enough? Is there anything stronger that wont damage the system? Any ideas would be helpful. I heard vc-9 mentioned once before.

I have a limited budget.

Thanks!

 

[Steptoe]

1) Will this scale cause a reaction wuith the aluminum?

No, it is a result of electolois with the Alumin (I assume u have an Al inlet manfold??)
A very strong soln of vinegar or citric acid will desolve it up without harm to parts..
But what would be of concern is how much corrosion has taken place in the Al parts?
An indication can be found by removing the thermostat cover examin inside there.

The stock factory brass raditors are way over built, have an excellent reputation in efficiency and long term relibity, and current shrouds all clip on without mods etc

 

[hazyblue7]

I do have an aluminum manifold and what brought this all to my attention is was what I found inside the chrome thermostat housing. It doesnt look like rust though. It looks more like calcium deposits.

If it is electrolysis is this corrosion only going to be on the alumuinum or chrome housing? Is this going to be all throughout the water jacket as well? Am I just end up with the same problem inside an aluminum radiator if I get one?

Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure what my next step should be. I'd hate to go spend money on an aluminum radiator & end up with it all corroded inside.

 

[Luwi67]

It's what aluminum looks like when it corrodes. It won't be throughout the water jackets, they will rust from corrosion. To cut down the electrolysis you have to ground anything that can generate any sort of electricity. For example, you can run a ground wire from the rear end housing to the chassis, the transmission case to the chassis, starter to chassis, as well as all the other standard grounds- chassis to body, engine block and so on.

The rear end and transmission develop small amounts of current when they rotate and that current will travel up the driveline to the engine because it is grounded, unfortunately the coolant will absorb some of that current and electrolysis can occur with aluminum components. Running separate grounds on the driveline components will reduce the current traveling to the engine block. It's a good idea to ground the starter in addition to the engine block as the starter generates large amounts of current.

If you decide to run an aluminum radiator, you must isolate the radiator from the entire car via rubber mounting grommets to minimize electrolysis as much as possible.

This is advise I got from Ron Davis Racing Radiators regarding aluminum radiator installation.

 

[Steptoe]

Run the correct anti freeze for your local water conditions, also has anti corrosion additives in... this is a MUST particulary where one has 2 different metals....ie iron and Aluminium components together...
Doing that and maintianing the cooling system as it is meant to be , nps.
I do believe that behind the sail panel there is a anti corrosion sacifice block similar to what boats have ????