Are there any tricks to avoiding electrolytic death of the
alumin[i]um parts, other than using distilled water and an
appropriate coolant mixed in the right proportion?
Yes indeedy. This is a real problem for ALFAs, which have all Al; the
thinnest part of the head casting is in the exhaust ports (I can't
remember if it's #3 or #4). At any rate, the metal eventually
electrolizes away, to the point where coolant starts to mysteriously
disappear and you hear a sizzle on shutdown. Jack Hagerty had this
happen after about 200K miles.
For the ALFA, specifically, there is a sacrificial anode that can be
put into one of the (threaded) freeze plug holes. In general, you can
buy one of the J.C. Whitney radiator savers. These are designed for all
Fe systems, but there's a guy in Boulder who sells a replacement
element made of of magnesium. I just ordered a couple - they're about $5.
I can dig up all the info; I don't have it here at work today.
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