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Minnesotans wouldn’t be able to drive in the winter without road salt, but it’s not a perfect solution. Salt lowers water’s freezing point, keeping icy patches off the road, but the salty mixture also causes corrosion to your vehicle. Today, we’ve compiled a couple of tips to help ensure your car’s undercarriage remains corrosion free. But first, let’s look at why road salt breaks down your vehicle.
Salt damages your car’s undercarriage through an electrochemical reaction between iron and oxygen. Iron is compromised of excess electrons, while oxygen is always looking to take on extra electrons. When they combine, corrosion is inevitable.
Enter water and salt. Water helps speed up the chemical reaction by bringing more oxygen and carbon dioxide to the so called corrosion party. The problem is that water alone doesn’t speed up the process all that much. Pure water without many ions doesn’t function well as an electrolyte . When salt is added to the mix, the free floating ions in its composition add a lot of ions to the equation. These excess ions rapidly increase the corrosive reaction.
Carbon dioxide in the watery mix combines with the iron on your vehicle’s undercarriage to create iron hydroxide, a form of rust that separates itself from the original metal base. This process will continue until the corrosion is removed and the open metal is sealed with an anti-corrosive product. So let’s discuss how to protect your car from these destructive road salts.
Although winter is already in full swing, you can still prep your car to prevent any future corrosion. Typically this is preformed in late autumn, but if the weather warms up, consider these steps.
If you didn’t have time to prep your car for winter, you can still take some steps to stop road salt from corroding your vehicle. Some tips to consider include:
Related source: Hemmings Daily
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