Has anyone heard of an electronic module that inhibits rust? Sounds like a crock of SH*T to me, but a friend of mine just bought an '06 and paid $300 to have a module installed into the computer that sends an electronic signal through the car that is supposed to inhibit rust.

Anyone???

 

They used to have these on ships, but I never heard about them on cars. They basically are the anode to the chemical oxidation equation. No anode = no chemical reaction.

 

Generally BS. Plus if you're really interested they can be purchased for less than 1/3rd that aftermarket.

 

There is no "used to" about it. We have one on our boat right now, a 57' wooden boat built in 1972.

Boaters commonly refer to them as "bonding systems," but the proper term is Galvanic Isolator. It blocks currents from flowing in the ground conductor of your shore power hookup. It isolates electrolytic voltages from the dock but allows them to pass safely to ground if there's a short circuit or power leakage on the boat. This is very important because of all the stray voltage common in most marinas and also because of all the dissimilar metals found in boats.

Why is a chick such a expert on this, you guys may ask? Because when we bought our boat it wasn't properly bonded. It cost more than to get it fixed, that's for sure.

Anyhow, is this relevant for a 2006 Acura? Doesn't sound like it to me, but then again I know a heck of a lot more about boats' electrical systems than I do about cars'.

 

On boats in seawater, they're very real and called sacrificial anodes and are made of zinc. You never, ever let them completely dissappear! They have no place whatsoever on cars.

 

I've never seen a cathodic protection system on a car. These systems are mostly used to protect pipelines and metal equipment underground or in the water from corrosion. I'd be interested to see how the system works electronically on a car. Smells a little fishy.

 

for a car that's total bs. doesn't the acura have a standard 5 year warranty on rust?

 

I can't believe they're still trying to sell those things. I had one on my '92 Honda Civic. My father got suckered into paying for it when he bought the car new. It even came with a warranty. Guess what . . . the car rusted. The company that backed the warranty went out of business.

So yeah, they exist . . . and they're crap. It's pretty much a scam.

-Brian

 

Take a look at this link. Apparently the acura dealer had a whole presentation on it.

http://www.ruststoponline.com/ruststop-kit.html

 

Interesting . . . the system on my old Honda was of the capacative coupling type

taken from that site:

Limitations of Capacitive Coupling Rustproofing

Capacitive Coupling, used by some products, relies on the paint as a dielectric or barrier to the free electrons, causing the metal to be at a lower potential difference, theoretically slowing rust formation.

Contrary to the false claims you may have seen, the facts are, there are two main problems with Capacitive Coupling for vehicles.

Firstly, if there are stone chips or cracks in the paint, the dielectric (barrier) is broken and hence the charge is lost. So you need to make sure that there is no bare metal, chips or cracks on the vehicle, which is impractical.

Another problem is that it is almost impossible to hold a charge (potential difference) on a sharp thin edge of metal, and so this technology is not really suited for vehicles, which are made up of many irregular shapes. Because of this, it is also ineffective on existing rust and the areas surrounding it, as rust always causes sharp edges and damaged paint work.

One ridiculous claim out there about Capacitive Coupling says that the problem areas (mentioned above) get even greater protection. If that is truly the case, why is the paint needed as a dielectric or barrier in the first place?


Who knows . . . maybe they have better products these days. But I highly doubt it. I'd love to see their data proving that the stuff works. Hmmm, sounds like a Mythbusters episode.

-Brian

 

You might want to be careful about dealers pushing aftermarket products like this as this is in no way an Approval by Acura/Honda.

THe dealers are profit centres and some of them will even sell their mothers if they can make a profit!

Those electronic rustproofing systems somehow does not sound right for Automotive applications like cars & trucks as the whole body is a mass of isolated conductor that is not tied in anyway to earth ground.

These system might be good for boats and grounded steel structures like bridges, but for the steel structure of a car, how do you reference to earth ground?

I seriously think that it's only a matter of time before the distributor/manufacturers of these unit get sued by the Consumer Prtotection Agencies for making false claims.

Best regards

frenchnew

 

They fall into the same catagory as the paint protection scam the dealers peddal for anywhere up to $800 .. a good detailer will do a better job of applying a better sealant for $150 and it will last just as long ... a few months ..