Can someone explain why my rad is doing this?

GeorgesBlazah · Post by **GeorgesBlazah** » Tue May 27, 2008 9:41 pm

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y208/G ... fcd29f.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y208/G ... 34f01c.jpg

OK those pics are about 2 years old...not as old as they are dated. It has only gotten worse...no leaks yet. I already had the tanks replaced once when i first got it. I am going to replace the rad, however I wanted to know what was causing this.

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed May 28, 2008 3:52 am

Battery acid.

What are you running for a battery?

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Wed May 28, 2008 4:35 am

I hope your camera is not set correctly and you haven't waited 6 1/2 yrs to address the problem

GeorgesBlazah · Post by **GeorgesBlazah** » Wed May 28, 2008 7:30 am

Right now I have an Optima, however the issue was there before I put this battery in there. Thats werid that is happend twice, but it make sense because im pretty sure I had the same batt in there both times.

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Wed May 28, 2008 8:40 am

How high is your voltage running? I have seen this in overcharging as well as leakage problems before. The rusting I see around the area is also an indication of likely overcharging. This causes excess gassing of the battery which causes corrosion on everything near it. Pay close attention to any AC lines near there as well. And yes, before anybody jumps me with it sealed batteries will do this also. Some of em aint as "sealed" as they would like you to believe. Even a gel-cel will "cook" and do this although to a lesser degree unless severely overcharged.

GeorgesBlazah · Post by **GeorgesBlazah** » Wed May 28, 2008 8:45 am

Voltage was always normal on the gauge. I did have a high output alt, but that died a few months ago.

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Wed May 28, 2008 9:07 am

GeorgesBlazah wrote:Voltage was always normal on the gauge. I did have a high output alt, but that died a few months ago.

Don't depend entirely on the dash guage they can be a good indicator but sometimes aren't particularly accurate of the voltages at the battery. Hook a voltmeter directly up to the battery to find out what is truly going on and compare this reading to the dash unit. You will find they vary as the dash guage is affected by electrical loads and losses inside the truck and from being that far away from the battery.
Additional causes could be but not limited to undersized or weak battery (causing deeper than normal discharge/recharge cycle), excessive starter draw or cranking time, corroded or dirty cable connections at the battery or on the body and block or even at the alternator, and an erratic regulator in the alternator (causing occasional overcharging). I have also seen batteries which seem to work properly have one weak cell which will gas excessively and cause this without any other outward signs of a problem. Hope some of this helps you out.