sacrificial anode

Those of with boats know all about corrosion and the practice of using sacrificial anodes

I am thinking of buying a new aluminium rad, and the sad condition of my old timing chain cover and water neck. No doubt years of coolant abuse helped corrode the aluminium, but this time I am taking no chances and wonder if the boating anode practice is applicable to our cars?

It seems a simple matter to exchange a drain cock for a common engine style zinc anode.
Anyone use a sacrificial anode in their cooling system?

Some input from Mustang forums

Hog,
I appreciate a number of your posts causing me to run wide internet searches. It helps me learn & also kills my time. thanks heh...

Found a number of long explanations on galvanic corrosion. And why stuff like distilled water should/would/may/may not help a number of issues in this regard. Al rad v. Al intakes / WP, etc. Grounding rads, heads, block, heater cores, etc, etc.

Decent discussion here corral.net

Heres one seller's simple, but less than pretty commercial solution.

You Tube video of JTM Corrosion Guard

YMMV, let us know what you decide...

Given that our rads are grounded, and my limited understanding of the problem backed by boating experience, I see no reason why this is not a good thing

A 20.00 1/4 NPT pencil anode screwed into the rad drain hole in place of the cock, seems like cheap insurance for the new aluminium rad, timing cover, water neck, and milled F4B intake that was corroded away at the water jackets.

I have wasted 20.00 before

Keep up

The good postings. Boaters have a saying it's called use it or loose it. Parked cars go to He__ just by father time action. Thanks for keeping us using our brains. I had not thought about it too much when changing out my Davis to a Fluidyne recently.

Boats and Cop cars which have major problems with huge amounts of electricity they use. Now boat E wants to not travel back through the wire back to the ground on land but loves to eat propellers and everything connected along the easiest path to ground. Since a cop car is sitting on rubber tires has a Jiggawatt alternator and the e consumption to boot I see the rub.

My car came with rubber pads under the feet of the Davis and I thought first of vibration rather then anything else as the bolts made contact. I did not think about the coolant acting as electrolyte.. My car's PO was a lighting engineer for a film crew and owned hardware stores so I got a much nicer car to go over then the Walmart dependent PO. But back to the car

Hoghead I've had the Fluidyne in for nearly 6 months now and with much more thought will have another look. I was totally leaning on the distilled water and clean coolant and rad hoses keeping the motor and alloy rad apart.

Thanks for making me think and like Derek says read up on the WWW.