Dilution of engine coolant

Xactly .... but I always require they use de-mineralised water.

Glenno

Interesting read about the stray current. Checked our's a while back and found 0.25V in the Fender and 0.53V in herself's Pathy.

A simple ground wire is all that's required.

Rosco,

I never find anything straying my way.....:-)

Rosco,
don't do it.
Had this discussion elsewhere and it is normal to have a small voltage between the radiator and the chassis. Just the same as the battery you made as a kid with two dissimilar metals stuck in a lemon. That is why the radiator is isolated from the chassis. When it is shorted or someone connects a ground wire you complete the circuit. Electrons start to flow and the electrolytic destruction of your expensive radiator starts to happen. The aluminium acts as a sacrificial anode.
Disconnect the wire ASAP. How long has it been connected? Apparently severe damage can occur quite quickly. Signs are the presence of a dark coloured aluminium salt in the coolant fluid. The next sign is weeping from the radiator and loss of coolant volume. The last sign is weeping by the owner and a $1000 hole in your bank account (new radiator)

Bob

Now you've got me confused. The site above, to which Glenno refers, suggests stray current is a killer.

I have also spoken to a mob in Mackay who make a low water warning setup for cooling systems and they claim it also addresses the problem of stray current as a side issue by improving the earth.

I also asked the service manager at the stealer who was very interested as, in his words ... "we've had a lot of premature radiator failures which may be attributed to this".

Without the ground wire ....0.25V ... with ground wire 0.0V. Seems to me I've removed the potential difference, the cause for electrolysis ... not added to it.

Confusion reigns supreme

Rosco,
do you have a microammeter. It would be interesting to measure the current flowing through the earthing wire. Those electrons are released when Aluminium atoms in the metal lattice (zero charge) are converted to Aluminium ions (3+ charge).
The same thing could be said for a battery. By shorting the terminals you have zero potential difference but quite a significant chemical reaction occurring inside the battery.
The voltage that we are talking about here is cause by dissimilar metals (iron and aluminium) immersed in an electrolyte solution (just like a battery) and is present even when the car battery is disconnected.
Stray current is another matter and is caused by current flowing through the chassis of the car and is derived from the main car battery. It can be reduced by carefully earthing all equipment on the vehicle with copper wire running parallel to the postive wire that supplies it.

Bob

Thanks for that explanation ... tends to put it all in perspective.
I've taken your advice and already removed the earthing wire.

I have a much better grasp of so called "stray currents".

Cheers

it wouldnt matter at your age if you did...would it... hehehe

oops
willem the above was meant for you
"it wouldnt matter at your age if you did...would it... hehehe"

Richard......if what you are implying is true then you had better do some 'catch-up' before you get to where I am now.....but you are wrong my friend...hahahahaha

type in the website above.

Yep been here and seen mine stuffed up all beacause they didnt flush the system properly when they changed from standard toyota coolant
cost a bit over $1400 to fix

What do you recomend if you havent got a warranty to worry about?

Angelo,
Gregorys manual states 13.6 L inthe GQ 4.2 incl. heater & reservoir tank.. which brings me to my next point....

When flushing your cooling system... Don't forget the heater core!!!!!
It's as simple as turning the heater control to "hot", thus opening the
in-line "flapper" valve...
Many people neglect this, not good if using a differend brand of coolant than previously used...

Regards, Ed. C.