So I pulled the head today after blowing the gasket yesterday, and found that the head has fallen victim to electrolysis, a new and expensive lesson to me. Will someone please tell me how to prevent it? This was my first engine build and it seemed to run great (but not perfectly I'm sure) for 20k miles until yesterday when the gasket went. The head had serious etching around the water jackets on the exhaust side and around a couple of the head bolt holes. I had some supervision when I was building the motor from a "friend of a friend" who was a Toyota tech for supposedly 10 years, and he never mentioned anything about the lack of ground leads to the head to prevent electrolysis. So, what should I do when/after I get the motor back together? Or while I'm putting it back together? Gurus - HELP! Please. :confused:

Ground the back of the head to the firewall, the front driver's side from the power steering brackets to the frame and the front passenger side to the frame. Make sure your grounds are to clean metal and you shouldn't have any more problems.

along with the grounding straps, iv'e had a recomendation to use a radiator cap with a zinc on it like on the bottom of boats. it will erode instead of your head, then just replace the zinc as needed.

along with the grounding straps, iv'e had a recomendation to use a radiator cap with a zinc on it like on the bottom of boats. it will erode instead of your head, then just replace the zinc as needed.


That would be a cathode and wouldn't be needed if your head is properly grounded.

That would be a cathode and wouldn't be needed if your head is properly grounded.


Actually, that would be a sacrificial ANODE, and I agree, it should not be needed if everything is properly grounded. Also, running the proper coolant can help reduce the effects of electrolysis.

Also, running the proper coolant can help reduce the effects of electrolysis.

Yep, this is a biggie too, run John Deere antifreeze. It has the elements in it to defete electrolysis. Ford recommends using John Deere antifreeze in their PowerStroke Diesels to prevent the same thing. Plus - ground that fawker good.

I had a head off of a 22re and it only got into one of the intake ports I beleive. The machine shop welded it up better than new. I don't know for sure if it was related to electrolysis or not but the machinest said it was common on 22r / 22re's, but it was the first one I saw out of - eh - maybe ten.

Thats from running the same Antifreeze for WAY to long. Antifreeze should be changed every 2-5 years depending on brand. The antifreeze has corrosion inhibitors and chemicals to help fight this sort of damage. When that chemical starts to be used up the antifreeze becomes acidic.

If you do some research on Big Rig maintenance this is a problem they take very serious. They have additives for the Coolant and even the oil to help combat this.