| Re: Flushing afterwards |
Subject: Re: Flushing afterwards by jhammons01 on 2008/3/21 16:22:31 Phew, Where oh where to begin. Distilled water will oxidize (rust) metal just the same....there is oxygen molecules in that H20 Rust and Electrolysis are not the same. Rust particulate will lead to Electrolysis occuring. And this is why the coolant must be flushed after a while. There is no such thing a PURE water but we can get close. Water itself, Pure H2O is NOT conductive. The particulate floating in the water is conductive. Once you introduce tap water into the system lots of contaminate (naturally found in water) is introduced as well. This contaminate along with the 12v DC charge from your electrical system (remember? We use the block for Grounding that system?) starts a process called Electrolysis. This is the same process we use in Chrome plating or Electro/chemical etch. Some materials will be dissolved and that dissolved material will be deposited (on the molecular level) somewhere else. The Trouble starts with, what will be dissolved?? Softer metals will be first and fastest. All steel coolant systems from the past never had a problem with Tap water. But as we all know, we are now using a lot of aluminum here and there. My '84 has steel heads and Block but the later GM V8s moved to an aluminum block. LT series and the Norstar Motors to name a couple. Mine has aluminum in the radiator and Heater core. (Ever wonder why we have so many problems with that heater core leaking??? I don't.) Read what GM recommends for motors with Aluminum Polypropylene Glycol and not Ethylene Glycol. There is a reason for that. So if you have troubles with things corroding/failing sooner than you expected, you may want to look into what I have written a bit further. I'm no Corvette expert but I did help launch an Antifreeze recycling service back in the early 90s....I learned way more about Antifreeze and coolant than the average man should ever know. I had to do battle with SCAQMD (the local EPA for those that are not in the SoCal region) State entities for two reasons, one for licensing purposes and then I walked down the hall and sold the fleet managers on the process. I had to battle with municipalities fleet managers. Diesel Trucks have a lot of strict Coolant requirments with the use of Surfactants etc. Diesel Fleet service managers, Local repair shops, Dealerships, GM, Ford on and on.... Luckily I've forgotten enough to carry on as a semi normal Human but certain things stick in the noodle. I'll leave this discussion with one memory. Ever wonder why they sell Distilled water at the grocery store? Did you ever see your Mom with a jug of distilled water?? Ever see her put it in the Iron? Let's add that mystery up. Iron, Electricity, water.......what could it all mean? |
