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What is the best way to stop cast aluminum deterioration in the cooling system?
Always a problem with these models, electrolysis.
I use plain tap water in my Series 33 to which is added Pencool 3000 as specified on the container. This will stop the interaction between the different metals. You’ll find this product at truck parts houses. There are other products of the type on the market, however, at least some of them cause foaming. Pencool does not. Pencool can also be used with anti-freeze, however, plain water cools better than anti-freze.
I install the same $6.95 waste metal cathode I use in my Model T. It is described in the Snyder’s Antique Auto Parts catalog as follows:
“Whenever you install an aluminum head, it is a good idea to install this waste metal cathode in the coolant system. The cathode will deteriorate instead of the head.”
Copy this link to get to the catalog page: http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/3913
a restoration guy here in cleveland put me on to a product five years ago called no-rosion made by applied chemical solutions. i have been very happy with it and have never experienced any foaming. google the name and they have very good descriptions of their products.
george quay
That’s interesting that you don’t have foaming, George. I bought some No-Rosion a few years ago but switched to the PenCool 3000 (also available as NapaCool and WixCool) when I had a foaming problem. I took our Pierce on a 4 day tour this past week and decided to give No-Rosion another chance as I had one bottle left. Sure enough, it foamed again, as it had before. I controlled the problem for the last couple of days of the tour by adding a shot of Rug Doctor Anti-Foam each morning, but have now drained the system and put in distilled water with WixCool. I gave it a quick test yesterday and all seemed fine.
I spoke to a chemist at Pen-Ray last week. I told him what I drove and he said either 2000 or 3000 would work for our cars but, suggested 2000 as it is formulated for non anti-freeze applications.
I too used No-Rosion for many years without problems but, have had to look elsewhere as I started having trouble with foaming.
The Pen-Ray folks also mentioned they use an anti-foaming agent their products.
Happy Motoring,
Rick
it makes me wonder what conditions are different to cause the foaming as we all have similar cars. i have used no rosion in my series 81 runabout for 5 years or so and in my series 36 touring for 4 years of so with no problems. also talking with eric rosenau in california the subject came up and he has used it in his series 33 pierces and hispos for 20 years with no problems.
Have chemical test run on coolant to see if you have a leaky head gasket or crack in head or block. Water pump probably allows air to get in the sysem – worn barings. Some of us solved this with inserting SEALED bearings.
I have used NoRosion (with soft water) in my 1912 and 1915 48HP Pierces for years. These cars have been driven at elevation during summertime. There has been no problem with foaming.
Last week the foaming occured in my system when I backed off the gas after a long uphill pull (yes, North Dakota does have at least one long hill). My guess is a little air was drawn into the system through the water pump, which I packed with fresh packing just before the tour. The packing had settled and the nut on the pump needed to be tightened a notch. Conversion to sealed bearings would probably solve the problem. Anyone know a good shop to do that? I understand some machining is involved. I have a spare water pump I could ship off without having to wait for the winter down-time. As for now, switching to WixCool with their anti-foam compnent seems to have done the trick, although that’s just treating symptoms rather than the cause.