Coolant Eats Gasket?

[C170B]

I just read a thread from 2003 and somewhere the statement was made that coolant (old?) had eated a head gasket; rust was also mentioned.


At first reading this does not seem reasonable. In an age of technology no company would knowingly mfg an advanced engine design w parts that would rust through. Am I naive, late to the party or what?

Does anyone believe that the afore mentioned has elements of an urban myth?

[Ranger]

Not sure what you read, but coolant does not eat head gaskets. When it gets old, it looses it's anti corrosion capabilities. When that happens, corrosion begins from the inside and that is what causes head gaskets to fail, thus the reason for regular coolant changes (every 2 yrs for green and 5 yrs for Dex).

[zonie77]

Originally Posted by C170B

A)I just read a thread from 2003 and somewhere the statement was made that coolant (old?) had eated a head gasket; rust was also mentioned.


B)At first reading this does not seem reasonable. In an age of technology no company would knowingly mfg an advanced engine design w parts that would rust through. Am I naive, late to the party or what?

C)Does anyone believe that the afore mentioned has elements of an urban myth?

A)Coolant doesn't "eat" head gaskets. Since,as Ranger said, you didn't reference the post I can't see exactly what was said but that statement is wrong.
B) Try to design an affordable car that is totally impervious to corrosion and rust without any maintainence. Yes,yes, and there is plenty to read on this.
C)Worse than an urban legend...total BS.

There are plenty of articles on Dexcool that expalin it's strong and weak points. Probably the biggest problem is owners are not made aware that it must be changed at 5yrs in an aluminum engine, and an iron engine cannot be run with low coolant.