hermannm Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 Hey, I just replaced the original heater core from a 92 cutlass supreme. Reading over the installation instructions they said it could be caused by electrolysis. So i tested this. I put one end of the volt meter in the coolant the other against the battery. The reading was .388 volts. Is this a cause for concern? Or should i just attribute the failure to old age? Thanks, Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 any voltage is cause for concern, if your multimeter is accurate.... differing metals that are all containing a fluid that can generate voltage is........ a battery. think of it this way: how does a battery produce power? it has an acid in it and lead plates. to simplify things, thats about it. now..... what does acid do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermannm Posted October 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 So how would i go about reducing the voltage to 0? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 So how would i go about reducing the voltage to 0? http://www.carolinarodshop.com/Store/Griffin/radiator_electrolysis.htm http://www.search-autoparts.com/searchautoparts/Training/Metal-Shop-Electrolysis-and-Grounding-101/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/154932 http://www.rondavisradiators.com/tech.htm http://www.radiatorinfo.com/electrol1-repair.html http://www.radiatorinfo.com/electro-repair.html http://www.ford-forums.com/ford-expedition/20040-electrolysis-detroying-heater-cores-radiators.html take your pick... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 Regular coolant services eliminate the problem. Cooling system is by far the most overlooked and worst maintained system in a car IMHO from what I've seen in two years as a tech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 Regular coolant services eliminate the problem. Cooling system is by far the most overlooked and worst maintained system in a car IMHO from what I've seen in two years as a tech. maybe... depends on if the owner actually changes the oil and gets to the point of the coolant system needing flushed... IIRC, JCWhitney sells a zinc tablet that hangs from your radiator cap and basically gets eaten instead of the other metals that the coolant comes in contact with... but the most foolproof way would be to pull the stat out and flush the everliving piss out of the block.... if that doesn't get rid of the issue, you'll have even more things to worry about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 Regular coolant services eliminate the problem. Cooling system is by far the most overlooked and worst maintained system in a car IMHO from what I've seen in two years as a tech. maybe... depends on if the owner actually changes the oil and gets to the point of the coolant system needing flushed... IIRC, JCWhitney sells a zinc tablet that hangs from your radiator cap and basically gets eaten instead of the other metals that the coolant comes in contact with... but the most foolproof way would be to pull the stat out and flush the everliving piss out of the block.... if that doesn't get rid of the issue, you'll have even more things to worry about... I know it's hard enough to get most people to even replace an air filter some days. Suzuki recommends a coolant flush every 50k (umm 30k ish miles). I've done maybe 20 flushes in 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imp558 Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 How's the ground strap on your engine doing? May want to check it for fun but that's a pretty low voltage. 1 heater core in 15 years isn't unreasonable, is it going through radiators? I saw a car once that would eat a radiator in less than a year, in the end it had a bad engine ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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