How does Magnesium Chloride compare with salt on roads? Will it eat my car?

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Live in Denver, Colorado where city and state use magnesium chloride to keeps the roads clear in winter. I remember from high school chemistry that a salt is a salt and therefore I assume this will eat my car, just like sodium chloride. Am I right or wrong?
1997 Honda Civic, no rust
2000 Ford Contour, no rust
2005 Ford Ranger, brand new, no rust.
 
I've wondered about this as well. I also live in the Denver area, and most cars don't rust much at all. I know when I lived in NY where they used, I believe, NaCl, EVERYTHING rusted. But it was also more humid there.
 
Looks like it's just as bad as Sodium Cloride to me:

MAGNESIUM CHRLORIDE
Magnesium Chloride and Sodium Chloride are both very corrosive to the metal surfaces of your vehicle. Depending on what type of metals we're talking about, the amount of corrosion and the effects will be different. For instance your body could be steel or various alloys and your wheels could be aluminum, magnesium or a combination. Your wires could be copper and so on. The effects vary on each one and then you have to take into consideration the coatings.

According to a long winded 2 Phase study done by CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation) the difference in the corrosive effects between the Mag. Chloride and Sod. Chlorides were quite different. After studying their test, it was clear they came up with 2 very different conclusions. To make a long story short, the 2 studies both showed that the two chemicals were very hard on metals of all types. But where each one differed was which was worse. It all came down to the environment they were used in. In the wet stage, the magnesium was more corrosive and in the immersion stage the sodium was. Since both solutions are used on the roads in Colorado you can figure out for yourself that your vehicle is in trouble since the majority of you vehicle is made up of some type of metal.

Mechanics have noticed severe rust build up on the brake shoe table called rust jacking by brake engineers, and it is causing break linings to deform and work boots to crack and break. They are also finding break lines that weren't 50% worn, but were cracked and showed uneven wear.

In press releases and product brochures, these chemical companies promise these chemicals are less harmful to metals that rock salt. Most professional drivers disagree. Seasoned truckers say these chemicals eat away wheels, housings, and gas tanks and are rusting the truck where it pits the paint.

As a professional car care specialist for over 24 years, we saw the beginning of the use of Magnesium Chloride, and we've seen the effects. Not sure at first if our hunch was right, BUT, the past few years proved it was. You may notice little rust looking spots on your expensive rims and chrome or paint chips rusting over night. Mag. Chloride is the cause. It is also thicker than sodium chloride, so it sticks to your cars finish and is next to impossible to wash off. Even by hand!

http://www.aautodetail.com/code/magchloride.html
 
Both the salt and mag chloride are corrosive. I use it on the roads here in Kansas. Work for Kansas Dept of Transportation. Mag Chloride accelerates the melting process of the salt. It is only good at a certain temperature. It will eat the heck out of the dumptruck beds if they are not washed off after every storm.
 
quote:

but what bothers me is not knowing when salt will crack the frame, break a spring, eat through a brake line, dissolve a fuel line, or fracture a steering link.

rolleyes.gif


salt cracking a frame? breaking a spring? gimme a ***ing break. my 17 year old truck's frame and springs are just fine after 17 maine winters. I will say though, that Maine, unlike NH uses about a 80%/20% sand/salt mix that works significantly better than the straight rock salt used in NH. I remember many times having a decent road driving from home in Maine to the NH line.. from the line to work was a completely different story.. nothing but a slushy no traction mess.


quote:

In reinforced concrete structures, including highway bridges, salt seeps through porous concrete and attacks the steel reinforcing rods.

that's why rebar used in bridges is coated in a green epoxy, to protect it from corrosion.
 
Bret, I don't think you have the experience many of us have with corrosion. If the green epoxy indeed worked in stopping corrosion, then there'd be no worries in crumbling bridges. If you lived in an old city such as Detroit, you'd see plenty of roads, bridges, and other structures where rebar is attacked by salt and the structures are rotting away. This is discussed in newspapers and engineering journals as an unstoppable problem. Epoxy coating is only a temporary measure to delay corrosion.

I had a 72 Ford that had its frame rusted so badly after 10 years, that the sheet metal started buckling every time I jacked the car up for service. It was so perforated I could poke hole in the frame with my screwdriver. This made the car unsafe for me to work on and I had it towed to the junk yard.

At the moment, I'm repairing a third fuel line leak in my 91 Marquis from corrosion.
 
I live in New England, my neighber lives in a 295 year old house.. Detroit isn't an old city compared to what's here. Besides, my inlaws live in Warren, and my mother is from a small town 20 miles north of Port Huron.. I'm very familiar with the area. if road salt was Detroit's biggest problem they'd be golden.

the Rebar isn't the problem, salt also attacks the concrete itself. (been in commercial construction for 16 years) I'm not defending salt, it's the guy's chicken little attitude that bothers me. I've done my fair share of body work to patch holes and welded plates to repair the frame in our old rodeo.
 
Bret:

Salt won't crack a frame or bust a spring? Really? I just filed salvage certificates for 15 B350 Dodge vans that were used on a college campus in upper East TN for frame/spring damage due to salt. Both rear leaf springs and the front and rear attach points on the frame are essentially held on with rust. THP took one look at the units and parked them. We had to haul them from Johnson City to Nashville - they were (and are) undriveable.
 
I hate f'in salt. I wonder what it would be like to be a mechanic in the sun belt where rust is a non issue. Most of those shops probably dont even own oxyacetylene torches because they have no use for them.

Around here it becomes hard to do a 4 wheel alignment on a vehicle after 3-4 years because the rear eccentrics to adjust the toe usually seize after that. Not to mention the rotten exhaust systems and the corrosion that builds up on everything underneath the vehicle and in the engine bay. And having suspension components break because they are so rotten after 10 years is another fun side effect of using way too much salt.
 
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