So all's going well after installing a big bucks engine (almost $7K!), fired right up, no oil leaks, then I notice a trickle coming from the radiator. Check all the hoses, no leaks there...definitely coming from the passenger's side. So....I reluctantly pull the radiator and I had it checked out at a local radiator shop. Turns out electrolysis ate through the radiator fairly severely. Strange as it may seem, there were no leaks before the engine removal. Car has been down for about six weeks. The only other issue I can see happening is the addition of radiator flush which I let sit for a bit inside the radiator to clean out a buch of calcium carbonate which accumulated in the coolant system thanks to Redline Water Wetter (Use Royal Purple Ice only!). I did make the "mistake" of using tap water instead of distilled. I have heard running distilled doesn't solve the problem either. I'll be using a 70/30 water/coolant mix once I locate a new radiator with Purple Ice. Wondering if running a ground from the radiator to the chassis would help? Any ideas? I bought my Fluidyne years ago from some place out in Cali for $350. They seem to be going for $100 more at the usual stores. Any less expensive options? I've heard Koyo's are too thick to run with a front mount IC. I know nothing about the Griffin.

 

Michel Fluidynes are going for 100? Did I read that wrong?

Sorry to hear about your radiator. I had a hard time getting a Koyo to fit in my engine bay with the single turbo and greddy 3 row fmic you are correct.

Yanni

 

No, about $100 more than I paid for mine originally. :-)

Did you have the three row that fit in front of the support bar or behind? I have a GReddy two-row which sits in front, in the nose of the car.

 

I don't remember who told me.. But you could use little bit of acetic acid to clean out the calcium deposit and use distill water and small amount of coolant. In my new engine, I'm going to run ultra pure water with 25% coolant and water wetter..

 

IMHO it's just not a good idea to run straight water with Water Wetter or Royal Purple. Getting a bit more cooling with the expense of corrosion in the cooling system just isn't worth it.

Those cooling system flush products are VERY corrosive - that's what probably did your radiator in. It probably attacked the welds between the core and endtanks. They're only designed to be briefly run through the system, not let to sit.

Dale

 

evans npg+ !!! no electrolysis

 

when you get the rad back in take your volt meter put one end in the coolant (not touching any metal) and the other on a good engine ground. switch it to dc volt scal and see what the reading is. then turn on the ac lights radio etc.. this is done with a cool engine running. post your readings. adding a ground strap to the rad, heater core or what ever you can will help bring it down. i have never seen any proof that distilled does any better than tap water. with all the money gm is loosing on the vortec, dexcool disaster even they do not think it helps.

 

Interesting...I'll try to get a reading but there's on filler cap on the radiator itself. It'll have to be at the filler neck on the engine. I'm running 30% coolant, distilled and Purple Ice. I was expressly told that Redline Water Wetter should not be used in a rotary due to the different materials present. It acts as a catalyst and speeds up the calcification process. I had at least two handfulls in the engine alone. Apparently Purple Ice is fine. Won't do evans NPG, that's just voodo mad science! The whole idea is to lower engine operating temps, not raise them.

 

Michel

Sorry to hear about your radiator issue. Read this tech section to see if it'll help you diagnose the source of the problem.
http://www.rondavisradiators.com/tech.htm

 

Koyo fits fine with a Greddy FMIC. Check Manny's old setup.

Also, there was a thread a while back about a guy who had something similar happen in his low mileage, recently rebuilt engine from using what I believe was Florida tap water in the cooling system.

Use distilled water next time. I used Water Wetter in my old TIIs w/o issue. Don't think the blame is entirely on the water wetter.

 

Florida well water is nasty, I'm on city water however. Not much better but better none the less. I'd heed the warning with Redline and stick with Royal Purple considering the source of the info.

 

the filler neck will be a fine spot , only spot, to measure just dont touch the housing only the coolant. there are alot of people with iorn block and alum heads running ww with no probs. **** it is in my car...... lol. just did the coolant and it seemed ok. i do have a ground strap on the rad though. heater core inlet also

 

Using distilled water will take out the harsh metals and larger calcium components. If we all had DI water that would be cool to try. On boat motors they are in water of all types , made with cast iron and alluminum .They install Zinc annodes whish take the brunt of electrolysis.They are placed on the pin hight selector and cavitation plate. The motors do not have a grounding problem but electrolysis is bad especially in salt water cause of the high sodium and calcium content.Besides a dollar per gal of water .....consider how much we spend on all the other crap.

 

I think a ground to the radiator would make it worse...

 

Wow, that was a good read on testing your coolant for electrical current.

james

 

So, is this the reason why stock radiator has plastic end tanks?? I guess Mazda did something right??

 

Nope, it is cheaper to make plastic end tanks.

 

hmm.... so i should stop using water wetter then?? are you sure that's what caused the problem? i've had water wetter in my rad for almost over a year and still no problems. and i only drive the car once or twice a week.

 

I have used Water Wetter in my 1st gen for over 15 years without proble and in my FD for almost 10 years. I do use with Distilled water.. I am more scared of different makes of antifreeze than WW

 

I forgot who it was that told me. but the person had a pretty extensive knowledge in chem. when I was deciding to use redline oil and wetter he told me one of the ingredients did not seem healthy for regular street car. for a race car being rebuilt constantly it would be ok. He talked me out of it and I went purple route. then again he did not know much about cars but I trust his say on chemical reactions.

 

Now using distilled with Purple Ice, 16psi cap, new to me (used) Fluidyne from Fritz (thanks!), and the CLR Motorsports secret cooling mods (finally installed yesterday). Running between 80 and 82 celsius on a hot SW Florida subtropical day (93 degrees plus and high humidity), a/c on full blast, running her up to redline at .9kg+ boost, FMIC! It's crazy...I think I might actually like this car Can you imagine not looking at your temp gauge while sitting in stop and go traffic? I'm going to have to get used to it.
Michel

 

NPG been in rad. for 7yrs. still shiney inside looking in with flashligt no electrolisys. RON

 

fedex ate my fluidyne

 

What is this CLR Motorsports secret cooling mod?

And dont tell me it is a secret

 

i'm a little confused as to the concept behind this presumption. electrolysis requires an anode (pos.) and a cathode (neg.) immersed in an electrolyzed solution. also, you have to get a current to flow between the anode and cathode using some kind of power source. i'm only seeing a cathode (the radiator, which is probably grounded by mounting points and also by the coolant, which contacts the radiator and engine) and a solution of water and ethelyne glycol.

sounds more like a reaction between chemicals in the coolant and tap water (about which i have to agree i would never use... it can have some nasty crap in it depending on your location) and the aluminum used to make the radiator.

i could be totally wrong though, so someone clue me in if i'm missing something.