I was just reading through some accessory magazines and I saw this thing you put down the radiator neck that hangs from the cap and its supposed to prevent corrosion/build up. Does it really work, and if so anybody care to explain the process? I took chemistry so I understand the concept, but there is no info on it so I can't see the prevention really working.

 

The best prevention against corrosion and scale is to change your coolant and use distilled H20. I assume the product is supposed to buffer the acidity of the system and thus prevent corrosion.

 

I use distilled-ionized water and fresh coolant every 15-20K, but I was just thinking about how it would work.

 

That item that hangs from the radiator cap is supposed to act as a sacrificial anode and provide some level of galvanic corrosion protection.

Sacrificial anodes are standard items in really corrosive environments. The anode has to be electrically connected to the rest of the system and the material chosen for the anode has to have a higher potential than the rest of the metals in the system. If the wrong material is chosen, system corrosion can be made worse.

I doubt that the radiator thingy was designed or engineered after looking at the rest of the metals in all the different cooling systems that are out there. I'd pass on installing one of those.

Lou Braun

 

I read once where they wrote these are okay to use in large trucks, such as dump trucks, garbage trucks, etc. because their radiators are deep and wide. They said not to use them in a light duty pick-up or car radiator, where in some cases, the hanging
anodes restricted cooling flow. In one case, causing a 3/4 ton pickup to overheat and blow a head gasket, while towing a boat. The problem was directed toward the just installed anode as described as the culprit.