Beware of Electrolysis…

[1966-Suburban-V-8]

Pull it and take it to a competent radiator shop. They can check to see if further damage was done. Perhaps you got "lucky" and the lower coupler acted as a sacrificial anode. Should be repairable if that's the case.
Definitely run the electrical grounds back to the battery or engine block. Make sure the engine has a HD ground to the battery as well.

Dan

[tomlamb]

Originally Posted by 1966-Suburban-V-8

Pull it and take it to a competent radiator shop. They can check to see if further damage was done. Perhaps you got "lucky" and the lower coupler acted as a sacrificial anode. Should be repairable if that's the case.
Definitely run the electrical grounds back to the battery or engine block. Make sure the engine has a HD ground to the battery as well.

Dan

Thanks for the tip. The couple radiator shops I took it to could not weld it so one sent me to a motorcycle shop that knows how to weld aluminum (waiting on the material from Griffin). The core is epoxy fastened to the tanks do they couldn't inspect the core but what they could see they all said looked "fine". Looking into the tank from the 3 holes it does not look corroded from what is visible but you cannot see the entire core.

Once it is back up and running they said to check the coolant with a meter to see if there is any voltage, I will definitely follow your advice and run a new ground when I put it all back together!

[PrerunnerRob]

Electrolysis isn't necessaraily being caused by the ground issue. Anytime you pass a fluid through different metals the are coupled together, you will create a slight electrical charge, causing the damage you see over time. Even an aluminum or copper waterneck on a cast iron block will do the same, but there is a radiator cap that has a sacrifical anode that will give itself up to combat this. I believe it is called the "rad cap" and I think summit sells it. You can check for this by using a sensitive digital voltage meter, grounding one side, and dipping the other into the coolant.
When pipes are fit together of differnt materials(in building construction), a dielectric union is used that seperates the two materials with a washer or seperator made of plastic or rubber.
I'll see if I can find the radiator cap I was talking about and post back later.
Good luck!

[ChiefRocka]

I think I will purchase one of those caps for my truck...ASAP

[tomlamb]

Originally Posted by PrerunnerRob

Electrolysis isn't necessaraily being caused by the ground issue. Anytime you pass a fluid through different metals the are coupled together, you will create a slight electrical charge, causing the damage you see over time. Even an aluminum or copper waterneck on a cast iron block will do the same, but there is a radiator cap that has a sacrifical anode that will give itself up to combat this. I believe it is called the "rad cap" and I think summit sells it. You can check for this by using a sensitive digital voltage meter, grounding one side, and dipping the other into the coolant.
When pipes are fit together of differnt materials(in building construction), a dielectric union is used that seperates the two materials with a washer or seperator made of plastic or rubber.
I'll see if I can find the radiator cap I was talking about and post back later.
Good luck!

Is somthing like this what you are talking about? If so, it looks like cheep insurance.

[ChiefRocka]

Originally Posted by tomlamb

Is somthing like this what you are talking about? If so, it looks like cheep insurance.

Yes, that is the one.