No need to apologize. I agree with you.
When I put the aluminum rad in my car it was at the same time I rebuilt the motor and it was brand new and as was the antifreeze sold from Napa mixed to the temperature I need in my area (-40c).
After all these post I still don’t know what to do! 
There’s no such thing as lifetime or fill for life coolant. Even in this era where auto manufacturers are reducing maintenance requirements to show lowest cost of ownership, most coolant changes are recommended at 5 years and then every 2 after the original coolant. The recommendation to replace the coolant and flush is valid and is the best first step, however, before and after the coolant change you can monitor the voltage of the coolant. There are plenty of opinions on that I’m sure, but over .3 volts you should look to take other actions previously discussed
Is it true that can turn on your accessories and if the multimeter go’s up. You turn them off one at a time and when it drops. That’s the accessory that has a bad ground.
I put a multimeter in the antifreeze and it had a reading of .03 but quickly dropped to .01-.00
A reading of .4 volts or less means the coolant is good. Replace the coolant if the reading is higher than .4 volts.
Ok thanks guys for the help
It’s always entertaining when folks attack Royce, He irritated me once, but he’s a solid source of knowledge. Just relax.
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Our engines, radiators, heater cores, and fittings are a mismatch of dissimilar metals. And aluminum is one of the most affected. Galvanic corrosion starts happening when the coolant breaks down and becomes an electrolyte (which has higher electrical conductivity due to the ions it contains). Fresh coolant helps a lot since it has both less ions (lower electrical conductivity) and better anti-corrosion properties. I like the idea of vinegar rinse to neutralize acidity when changing coolant - gonna try that this fall.
I would just flush out the radiator really good with the drain plugs dont run it leave car cold flush good making sure to get all the corrisive stuff cleaned away then close drain and replace with quality anti freeze and the proper mixture and monitor it after that
Thanks
Well…you eliminate the first and last sentence,…than that is a civilized response.
Aluminum is the least affected since it is right next to cast iron on the galvanic chart. Brass (like the OEM radiator for example) is more susceptible, as is monel and (even more susceptible) stainless steel.
Link: Galvanic corrosion chart
Keeping the anti freeze in good condition makes none of this possible. It needs to be changed every five or so years for ethylene glycol / water mixtures.
Link :
Is everyone still using ole green coolant? That’s what I’ll use, but just wondering what the consensus on here was.
Jon
I am and maybe that’s my problem
Yes because it’s the best.
Whenever customers at my dealership ask me about the 100k coolant and high mileage oil changes, I always tell them those who recommend that are the same people that sell engines…
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Lol no doubt
Agree! There is no such thing as lifetime fluids in new cars - let alone in our old ones!
Ron Davis Racing Products builds very high end very effective aluminum radiators for race cars. Several years ago Ron hired Tony Candela to do the research into problems with galvanic corrosion in his radiators. This was a long tern study to see what worked.
While they did do measurements of voltage and many other factors one of the easy to understand tests was simple. Put samples of aluminum, steel, brass and copper in different solutions of coolant in sealed glass jars and then see what you had a year later.
The first is straight tap water. Not good.
Distilled water seems even worse.
Adding Water Wetter did not help.
Then Prestone Green mixed with tap water
Dexcool Red with tap water
Since the make up of tap water varies greatly from location to location they wanted to see how premix would compare. From the testing this produced the best results. The thinking was that the water is actually a very specific blend and definitely not distilled water.
Prestone green premix
Dexcool red premix
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