Heh..I never said that I thought it worked. I said that the technology is sound and has been used by the military and civil engineers for many, many years.

We sold a lot of them. There's one on my dad's 1979 Town Car (30K miles)

 

Those type of electronic protection systems work great on bridges, pipe lines and ships BUT they don’t work on cars and trucks because they need a ground to complete the circuit. The bridges and pipes are grounded and salt water has enough minerals in it to act as a ground but the tires on a truck/car provide too much insulation to provide a good ground to complete the circuit for the electrolysis to work.

 

I was suckered into this scam back in 2000. The dealer no longer offers the electronic device because they do not work. 1956MarkII, What is your opinion/experience with spray ons such as Ziebart etc.? Thanks!

 

Can't say if they work or not, but a family member has had these devices on his last two Camry's, both went well past the warranty term, never any trouble and no rust. In both cases the dealer installed them.

As far as boats are concerned Mercruiser has a similar device which it calls Mercathode system. It works well and keep electrolysis to a minimum. The zincs on underwater gear last a lot longer then without the Mercathode system.

These devices on a car do have a ground, I would agree if the difference in potential was between earth ground and the auto body. In this case the auto body and the oxidizing agent is not part of earth ground therefore the theory holds. The car ground is part of the bonding system.The rust takes place due to two dissimilar metals and a catalyst. In this case water from the road loaded with minerals or salt gets on the car and start the electrolysis between two dissimilar metals. What it will not do is counter rust from a corrosive material alone.

As far as a lot of current, that is false, it only needs a few milliamps to counter the electrolysis.

 

I have a coworker that has the one from JC Whitney, an he thinks that it does work. It has been on the car for 5 yrs, last year he had a recall done and the mech. said that his car was the only car that did not have frozen bolts. I know this sounds too good to be true but he could be just pulling my leg to.

 

Spray-on rustproofing is only as good as the person applying it. You'll RARELY hear me use the words "never" or always," as this business has so many variables that prevent anything from being just black or white. But here's one of those rare times: NEVER have rustproofing done by a dealer! The poor guy that gets stuck with this job is ALWAYS the one that's a few fries short of a Happy Meal, and the effect of rust-proofing chemicals doesn't help him. Due to his mis-application of the product, your car will probably rust FASTER than if you didn't have it rustproofed at all.

Ziebart is a franchise, so the quality can vary from one town to another. I've worked with my local Ziebart stores for many years; outstanding business people, and their work is top-notch. I recommend them all the time to people who plan on keeping their vehicle a long time (10+ years). Ford will guarantee your vehicle against rust-through for 5 years/ unlimited mileage, but read the warranty's fine print: they exclude damage from road salt. Ziebart does cover damage due to salt, and they guarantee the vehicle for as long as you own it. The longer you plan on keeping it, the more sense it makes to get it rust-proofed.

 

dont let anyone kid you i bought one for my new truck and had installed at the dealership befor i took it home and i swear my truck is rusting worse than any other truck i have looked at i have holes thru my bed not just the wheel wells but thru the bottom of the bed as well and the cross members of the bed are in really bad shape as well and the ironic thing about it all is that the power lead going to the rust preventer corroded in half and my truck is a 2002 i am going to see if there is a law suit against the manufacture of my ddevice i had planned on keeping this truck a lot longer than 10 years but in its current shape i am looking to trade it off for a truck that had the undercoating sprayed on

 

I had a very expensive toy at one point in time (78 CJ7). I don't think there is any true way to PREVENT rust other than to store it in a climate controlled moisture free environment all its life, but as stated earlier keep an eye on it and if it starts to rust put some good ole POR-15 on it. POR-15 was my savior with my Jeep, and it worked well, really well.

 

I'm interested in installing some rust protection, but I don't wanna go with the dealership's offer - it's really overpriced. If I go to an independent local guy, am I at risk of voiding my warranty?

 

I keep going back and forth between what the best rust protection is for my car because the weather conditions and the salt on the roads in Toronto just destroys my car. I've recently been looking into the electronic rust protection but I'm a little bit skeptical.

I found a great article in the globe and mail (http://www.theglobea.../article535224/) showing how overpriced the erp's are when the dealer sells them. so i decided to check out the krown blog to hear their thoughts on electronic rust proofing (Thinking of Electronic Rust Protection? Think again..) and came across the list of products recommended by the Automobile Protection Agency - thought I should post it here for folks:

http://www.apa.ca/se...ustproofing.asp

They give a pretty good run-down on how dealers profit but drivers are overcharged with these devices. They also list some trusted rustproofers from Canada.