whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

some history first, new brassworks radiator, flushed when received. i have no running water in my shop, so i collect rain/snow in buckets, should be pure water. block was scraped, vacuumed, pres tested, found casting flaw and had it spray welded, which in the heating process (i assume) loosened up more crud, vacuumed, blew, scraped some more, should be the cleanest block in the western hemisphere. new motor was filled with rain water last year for first fire up, driven about 30 miles up and down my country road this fall, life ends in summer for me...work, now i am removing the radiator to drill a hole in the water pump for hot water heat, and i find this. i expected rust brown water, but this stuff seems more like a chemical reaction, or electrolysis, ...or somthin! the tubing is aluminum i got from the neighbors junk pile, he's a farmer, could be some old chemical residue? stuff probably was out side for decades before i got it. polished with mothers, antiseize applied to the pipes under the rubber. any ideas from the sharp guys here? i will clean it all up, and this should be the final time so it will get antifreeze next. just wonder what the heck. its late, i am going to bed, will check back in the morning...not 5 months from now!

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

Not a sharp guy but. Something in the rain I guess... Have some build up. Distilled was what I was taught.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

Man, I hope that's not some of that stuff that made the DOW drop 5,000 points this past week. DD

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

maybe the water, something doesnt like the aluminum

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

Coop, I don't want to go there but you might want to look at opac lowering oil prices today. Never been a bad thing over all for us, for lower oil prices here. What comes down, goes up. Go do some burnouts!


China closing production matters also. It's a bump in the road, not a panic.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

Rain water is some of the dirtiest water there is. Each droplet is formed on a particle of dust, dirt or pollutant which the atmospheric winds can carry for hundreds of miles. While in the navy in Cal if we were caught out in the rain with our white uniforms on, they would be covered with black specs that would never wash out. Tinker is correct..........

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

In five yrs we will all be here talking fords. Distilled water, from your dehumidifier will work better.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

Doesn't MN have acid rain? That's what we hear on the west coast.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

Looks like aluminum wasn´t to happy about something...
If everything else is iron on the engine...i would clean and go steel tubing.
Even if the water has some impurities anti freeze should be able to handle it.
Fast check is to measure freezing point...if it starts to change the additives in the antifreeze is used up and time to change.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

The aluminum is acting as a sacrificial anode. The white jstuff is aluminum hydroxide. Jack E/NJ

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

Some of the peddlers sell a sacrificial anode you can put in your rad that should help stop that stuff. I have seen the same thing happen with alum. heads on a engine.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

I didn't see anything about antifreeze or water conditioner. Pure water in a system with dissimilar metals is going to react.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

Looks like electrolysis to me caused by the aluminum.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

Where is your ground cable from the battery attached? Also there should be a ground from the body (usually the firewall) to the engine , where is that attached to the engine?
If your tap water is full of calcium or some other impurity, buy some deionized water from the store. As others have said, rethink the rainwater.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

I don't know if I'm missing something but I'm perfectly happy to use tap water and common anti-freeze/summer coolant like all the other millions of everyday motorists out there.

Mart.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

come on guys, your going to tell me our beautiful "land of ten thousand lakes" has dirty rain water? just kidding, could be. i've seen acid rain on cars in a junk yard out east with holes in the roofs and hoods...we dont have that, thank goodness. the water was only supposed to be in for first fire up, then switch to antifreeze, but sadly that has been a year and not a few weeks as planned. i am aware of problems with aluminum heads, but it never occurred to me i would have an issue with my aluminum tubes. so, either i replace them with some other metal, or what? get a sacrificial anode to take the hit? it will get antifreeze, and it will have proper ground straps.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

Maybe that block wasn't as clean as you thought it was.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

This is a wild stab in the dark but could it be the result of mixing two different mixtures of antifreeze? Also, wouldn't rain water and melted snow contain lots of minerals.

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

Back in the day, we used Hamm's Beer, "From the Land of Sky Blue Waters.";)

Re: whats this fuzz growing in my new radiator?
 

its never had any antifreeze in it yet. minnesota has lots of iron in the well water, people have trouble with that. in my case, i always thought my water from the sky would be better than water from the ground, but what do i know. i wash my hands in it every day, i suppose i'll get the virus now :eek: