WJ Radiator Woes

[buddy072]

Hi guys & gals. I have just replaced my radiator for the second time in 12 months. Much faster this time but not something I want to keep doing. It seems I have some stray current going through the coolant. On 2 different multimeters I am getting .3 of a volt even with the battery disconnected. Browsing the internet has shown that the coolant is turning into an electrolyte and then electrolysis is happening in the radiator. After installing the new radiator I thought I had flushed the engine clean of all the old coolant. The new coolant was genuine Mopar green coolant. I am pulling my hair out as to why this is still happening. Did I not flush the system well enough before???? Should I drain the system refill with demineralised water and a coolant neutraliser and then flush again with demineralised water then refill with coolant???? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Scott

[wildturkey]

Same thing happened to me. 3rd radiator fitted in 18mths. Stray voltage.

You need to earth out your radiator. I screwed some earth strap (braided stuff) from the radiator frame to the chassis. Now it's been over 2 years & not a single radiator problem.

[MRGC]

Whats the symptom when this happens.

[carvesdodo]

Originally Posted by MRGC

Whats the symptom when this happens.

Leaks

From internet info and local radiator bloke .......

1/. Causes are bad earthing of electrical harness / accessories.( bodgy backyard wiring by owners is worst cause )
2/. Mixing coolant brands and types
3/. Not backflushing properly at service times.

Testing tool is available or just use a multimeter ... Test contacts points are battery negative and coolant fluid ... to see what voltage is being carried in the coolant ... 0.05v is OK ( after charging system etc has settled down to normal operation ) ... so they say

Surprise ... Surprise ....

Its not just a Jeep thing ... can and does happen with any brand ... Its an aluminium radiator thing. Jeeps though ... are known for their regular electrical earthing issues.

[buddy072]

Hi guys thanks for the replies but as mentioned in original post this electrical current of .3 of a volt is present even when battery is disconnected. Multimeter contact points are positive in coolant and negative to jeep body as earthing point. I am leaning towards coolant mixing even though when radiator was changed 13 months ago genuine mopar coolant was used as was this time. The only thing I can think of is I didn't flush well enough the whole cooling circuit prior to adding new coolant.

Thanks guys all input is very much appreciated

Scott

[Turismo07]

I've never heard of this. What exactly is this electrolyte and electrolysis?

And I take it from what carvesdodo said, the radiator leaks when you have this problem...

PS. I don't have any issues with my cooling system, just interested to know what this is about.

[wrench]

As. a quick warning you will always get a reading around 0.2 - 0.5 volts with a digital multimeter. The only accurate test for stray electrolysis is with a quality analoge meter or the proper tester. Earthing the rediator is a good move as is checking all body & engine earths. While I have heard of radiators being destroyed by stray current in as little as 4 weeks, I personally think it is an overused excuse by radiator manufacturers to cover the increasing poor quality of their product. It is virtually impossible to get an importer to honour warranty on radiators these days.