Hey,

I'm putting my hoses and pipes together to try and get my rad plumbed in. I have a fireblade engine which is ally and I'm planning on using some steel pipes to go from the water pump to the rad and then from the rad to the stat.

I know that ally corodes if mated to a steel surface. Would I get any simailar issues by using these two in a cooling system together even though they aren't actually touching?

Thanks
Mark

Provided you use decent antifreeze there shouldn't be any problems using steel in the cooling circuit. Peugeot for one use/used steel link pipes in their cooling systems (albeit plated steel).

Don't recall seeing any posts about disintergrating header tanks, or alloy radiators used with engines with iron blocks. HTH.

Wonderful, Thanks chaps.

Like said use antifreeze or something like Water Wetter which stops the electrolis

You are correct that galvanic corrosion will occur if disimilar metals are submersed in water. However, you will probably find that some of the stubs in the block that the hoses fit onto are made of steel. Furthermore, copper/brass is often used for radiators and the risk of corrosion is consequently greater.

Consequently, the use of steel or copper tubing should not result in a corrosion problem.

As already stated above use anti-freeze which should have anti-corrosion additives in it, or alternatively if you do not want to use anti-freeze then use "water-wetter" or similar which also contains anti-corrosion addtives.

I figured the antifreeze would do the trick but just wanted to ask first before I made a horrible mush in the engine.

Thanks guys.

These days it is best to use OAT coolant in a new system --- longer life (4 to 5 years) and better corrosion protection. Also claimed to be better for the tree huggers.

Personally i cant see a mixture of ally and steel pipes causing a major issue as long as they arent in contact with each other.

As an alternative option i got a kit from Mac#1 for my car that was a combination of ali pipes with flares pre-made and samco silicon hoses. I seem to remember a post recently where people have used a cheap flaring tool from B&Q to make up ali pipes for cooling system. You will just need to source ali tube and maybe see if local motor factors have a bin of hoses that you can select from to make up what you need if you dont want to use steel.



My take on it is that whilst my tubes and hoses arent steel, the engine is. As long as car is correctly serviced and looked after it shouldnt cause too many problems.