Wow! So much good information here, glad I got the discussion going!
I am glad you started this too! I have spent many many hours and some days researching this since I last posted and I have a lot more important and interesting information to add, I'm writing it offline and hopefully I will get it all posted tonight.
Electrolysis in cooling systems is one of the most misunderstood issues that I have yet encountered. There are lots of websites that give information about it, most of them you would think are reliable but they are not! It became very clear to me that some of these sites don't fully understand electrolysis in diesel engines, sometimes get it wrong, have misleading information and may give bad advice. It's more critical in diesel engines because it CAN and DOES cause catastrophic engine failure and it can do that
very quickly. A document from CAT Diesel states that electrolysis
in the cooling system can destroy an engine in 24,000 miles and that report documents numerous premature engine failures and lots of other damage due to electrolysis through the engine coolant.
In one documented case reported by a diesel engine coolant testing laboratory electrolysis caused by a short in a starter in a well maintained Class 8 tractor/trailer combination caused catastrophic engine failure due to cavitation failure IN ALL 8 CYLINDERS at the end of a 6,000 mile trip from California to the East Coast!
What happens is that stray electrical current that has found a path through the coolant in the cooling system
rapidly destroys NITRITE anti-cavitation additives. The engine is no longer protected against cylinder liner cavitation and rapid cavitation occurs leading to catastrophic engine failures. It seems that this also occurs with the more modern Nitrite-Free diesel engine coolants.
In one case reported in the Caterpillar document, a fleet of about 24 trucks was experiencing catastrophic engine failures every 100,000 miles until the source of the stray current was identified. That was: electric suspension air-bags in the rear suspension were leaking current which travelled through the drive train to the engine and engine coolant.
One of the BOTTOM LINES of my research is just as
the 2nd Ford TSB on electrolysis and failing heater cores VERY CLEARLY STATES, IN
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS BOLD TYPE:
CAUTION
DO NOT GROUND HEATER CORE. IF THE
HEATER CORE IS GROUNDED, YOU HAVE
PROVIDED THE ELECTROLYSIS A PATH
THROUGH THE HEATER CORE. THIS WOULD
CAUSE THE HEATER CORE TO BECOME AN
ANODE OR RECEIVER AND IT WOULD
PROMOTE THE ELECTROLYSIS, OR ANY
STRAY VOLTAGE TO USE THE COOLANT AS
THE GROUND PATH.
I have copies of BOTH of the Ford TSBs in question which address the failing heater cores/electrolysis issues. The first
TSB 01-15-6 wrongly suggested the following in paragraph number 5, in the event that other checks did not solve the problem. :
...it may be necessary to add extra grounds to the heater core and
engine.
THAT
TSB 01-15-6 WAS
SUPERSEDED BY THE SECOND
TSB 06-21-19. That means that the first TSB 01-15-6 is to be set aside as no longer valid and has been replaced by the second,
TSB 06-21-19 which 'supersedes' it. The second,
TSB 06-21-19 ALSO APPLIES to all of the years and models listed in the first
TSB 01-15-6.
That is the proper way to interpret the second TSB. There is also a note in the second TSB which supports and clarifies this which states:
This article supersedes TSB 01-15-6 to update the
vehicle model years and Service Procedure.
This TSB
simply added a lot of models & years that were not reported in the first TSB because they didn't exist at that time. The models and years listed in the first TSB definitely
ARE covered in the second TSB even though they are not specifically listed.
In fact,
the makes, models and years of vehicles don't matter. Those listed by Ford were only those models and years where this issue was officially reported numerous times and confirmed as being a common problem.
THIS ISSUE applies TO ALL engines with conventional cooling systems. In diesels it's much more critical than leaking heater core issues in gas engine vehicles due to the much higher potential for catastrophic engine failure caused by rapid depletion of anti-cavitation additives in Diesel Engine Coolants, which can lead to premature and sometimes rapid catastrophic engine failures.
By the way, Gas Engines also experience cavitation and some cavitation damage to cylinders, just nowhere near as intense as in diesel engines, with a possible exception in high performance gas engines.
All conventional engine coolants, for gas or diesel have anti-cavitation additives and corrosion inhibitors, but diesel engines require formulations specifically for diesel engines.
I don't have the time and convenience right now to post any of the additional information or links that I had been working on off-line. That will have to wait for later tonight.
I have to get outside right now before dark and insert my new heater core and put the cover back on. That is all prepared and ready.
In the next two days I will be completely flushing the cooling system, adding NEW heater hoses and radiator hoses, NAPA Brand which are made by GATES. and then refilling with FINAL CHARGE GLOBAL extended life coolant. I have made a LOT of comparisons of diesel engine coolants, and
especially their manufacturers over the past few years I am MOST IMPRESSED by the research and development from 'Old World Industries' who own the PEAK brand which makes FLEET CHARGE Pre-charged with SCAs and FINAL CHARGE GLOBAL Extended Life anti-freeze/coolant, NITRITE-FREE for all heavy duty engines.
They have fleet management programs where fleets of trucks are running a million miles on the same original coolant fill. To understand exactly what that means you will need to go to their website and do some searching..
This is NOT to say that FINAL CHARGE GLOBAL is the only ELC coolant that can manage that under some kind of similar maintenance programs, (I'm not sure if any one else is claiming that) or that FINAL CHARGE GLOBAL is with certainty on my part, the best diesel engine coolant. They do have some
technical thing in the formulation that no other manufacturers can claim, maybe it's something patented and I can't remember what that is exactly, BUT I can only say that based on my own personal research and digging into the research, development and manufacturing of diesel engine coolants , these particular PEAK brand labels are the ones that I personally felt most confident in.
I'll be glad when this repair project is finished! I keep getting side tracked! I am also very meticulous and want to do everything as close to perfect as I can manage to do which, along with some chronic pain issues, bad weather, very low income, and spending a lot of time researching things and writing posts to forums, it often takes a long time to get repair projects finished.
Sorry this post was so long. It probably took me 100 (or
more) times longer to write it than it will for you to read it, not including the time I spent researching the subject since I last posted, trying to get all of this right.
