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electrolysis


impinnacr

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Awhile back I wrote a thread about blowing heater cores. I have been through 3 heater cores in the last couple of months and the dealer has been good about honoring the warranty on the repair. Nevertheless, it is frustrating to have a heater core only last a month. Well, I thought as did others that it was amounting to a bad batch of heater cores.
Yesterday, the mechanical called me and said they believe thhat after analyzing the heater core, it looks like the heater core was suffering from electrolysis that literally ate the heater core. He said it was actually due to a bad alternator. He said that the alternator was causing electrolysis in the system so they want to change the alternator. I asked about the grounding of the system, is it properly grounded, etc, etc. but then thats all that I could think of.
So, please advise on this, what is your opinion.
92 ranger 3.0 V6, automatic 2wd.

Chris

Does this sound plausible?
 


Rearanger

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impinnacr said:
Does this sound plausible?
Click to expand...
Electrolysis is inducing an electric charge into liquid and separating the molecules. Does he mean galvanic corrosion? Your coolant could be corrosive, but that would also effect the rad. What charge would the alternator being inducing into the core (and nothing else) to corrode it? How would the electrical charge get to the core?
 

Big Jim M

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Ok so he is telling you that you are the lucky owner of the ONLY vehicle on earth that has ever had this alternator problem? Not a chance he is correct.
Tell them that if they want to put a new ANYTHING on ther at their cost it will be Ok with you.
Just as a side, where zackly on these cores are the leaks happening? Does it seem the solder is being eaten up? Are the leaks on the corners from rubbing?
Is there a chance fumes, such as battery fumes, are eating the cores?
My newer Chevy pickups all have the battery moved to directly ABOVE the a/c aluminum hoses and I fully expect the fumes from an older battery to eat these components up.
There is another battery tray built into all of these pickups (in the event there is a deisel installed) and I plan on moving the battery on them soon before they do start doing damage to these components.

Big JIm
 
Tyler M

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What they are telling about electrolysis blowing your heater core in as little as a month is bull-plop. If there was that heavy of a stray electrical current in your cooling system, your battery would dead almost every day. Ask them if they are installing foam padding around the heater core itself. I was in your very situation earlier this year impinnacr, when I replaced my original heater core in my '90 Ranger earlier this year, I went through 2 replacement heater cores and the manufacture told me it was electrolysis and I was not convinced. I got wise and realized that I neglected to put any foam padding around my first 2 replacement heater cores and the third time I replaced the heater core I made sure I put foam padding around the core itself and it has been in my truck trouble free since March.
 

Bob Ayers

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Total BS on the alternator theory! Ask them if they put an oscilloscope on the output of the alternator to measure the ripple! If there is significant leakage from one of the diodes,
this will increase the ripple on that phase. But even then, I don't see how this will induce a current into the cooling system.
 
99RangerBoss

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thats actually funny you know my buddies dad who is a great HD mechanic told me thats that actually can happen and it happens to soft metals like the coolent passages in aluminum intake manifolds however i wouldn't think of it happening that fast.
 
wahl_7s

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its possible i guess but i still call BS.if that was the case your rad is aluminum hows that?
 
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