i tested my coolant for voltage today after my radiator sprung a mysterious leak. i installed the new rad, and filled it up ran the car for a bit to get rid of airbubbles. and then i tested it

got .6 - .7 volts!!!!

took the battery out of the car .6 volts!!!

WTF this will destroy my car

 

Check all grounds and maybe add a grounding wire to the rad itself. Does sound strange, but the only problem I have heard as a result of that would be corrosion.
This might be a stupid question but did you zero the voltmeter before measuring (toutch both leads together till it reads zero or close to it). Some cheap volt meters will stray from zero and give you a faulty reading, especially at lowwer readings.

 

i checked it again after the car sat for a bit and it was reading .2v
strange. i dont know what to think, im gonna ask the guys at the dyno what they think.

 

I would think if your coolant was more acidic it would hold a charge. Did you use distilled water? If your water is acidic it is gaining electrons from somewhere which would mean it is stripping them from something...like your radiator. You also may have a faulty sensor that is charging the coolant (ex. coolant temp sensors).

http://www.rondavisradiators.com/tech.htm

 

what did you put in your radiator? urine?

if it's not a mix of distilled water + other commercially available cooling system specific additives, then you're wrong

edit: and how did you go about cleaning the radiator before you installed it?

 

im running distilled water and peak anti freeze and a bottle of water wetter
i didnt flush the rad, its brand new. i flushed out the motor by riging up a garden hose to it, not running though. my rings arnt even seated im trying to limit the idle time until i have the rings seated on the dyno. after it sat the voltage decreased. im gonna start with my grounds. i gotta trace them all, cause of the tube front end i may have missed some. so i need to start there. and then figure out whats causeing it

 

It may very well be a bad ground to your head. Have you tried checking the voltage in it when the car is running to see if the voltage is higher, lower, slowly raises, or quickly raises? If it appears when the car is started then it would be coming from a sensor or similar. If it slowly raises I would think it would be a bad ground. Maaaybe you could also do a ph test.

 

Do you have any kind of computer/alarm system/gauge etc with a back-up battery?