78k miles and need a new radiator

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Chris G

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Went and had my brakes done and they told me I had a coolant leak that was slow and to keep an eye on it. Two days later I check and my rig has a puddle underneath and it's hemmoraging coolant with non in the reservoir. I've taken it to the dealer and they said I need a new radiator and they are trying to figure out what happened with the original. They said one of the hoses had collapsed, and wasn't sure if that was the problem. I've read on here where some guys have had 200k on their gen 1 stock radiators. Anyone heard of a problem with the gen 2s?



Thanks all!



-Chris
 
Yep. They fail. Ask them to remove the coolant reservoir and look for the crack right on top of the rad right under the long extended part of the reservoir. Just a hunch. That's where my father's 07 cracked @ around 90k iirc. You can't see it with the reservoir in place. Of coarse it can crack elsewhere also. I would ask them if you have the lastest PCM update. I have heard it has updated cooling stagities. Basically to control the speed of the cooling fan. As in it comes on sooner I believe. Anyway, It's a common issues on gen2's and O6+ explorers. Personally, I believe it's related to that 20psi rad cap. But, I'm not a Ford engineer. Oh, and the thermostat housing will be the next thing to go. Not much you can do about that until it happens. Could take awhile. But it will happen within the next 30K I promise.

I used a spectra aftermarket rad. I heard those Ford rads are crazy expensive.

Yeah ,I got around 160K my gen 1 rad.
 
When you got your brakes done. I don't like that they didn't tell you exactly where the coolant was leaking from so you knew exactly what to watch. It would have taken them 5 minutes to pressure test the system to see the exact spot where the leak was. They should've tested it and recommended it be fixed that day.
 
Incase you're interested in what's involved with the repair or if you want to give it a shot yourself.

Video: Ford Explorer coolant leak radiator repair
 
Great videos, gotta love the internet. When i started working on cars there were no cell phones or anything. All you had was a Chilton book. Great info. I am going to have to take a look at my 2010 ST with 46k miles. I had an '07 ST with 51k miles when i traded it in and didn't have any problems yet.
 
Thanks Mark! I wondered why the cap wouldn't have blown if it did over pressurize. They told me the ford radiator is crazy expensive so I said go with the third party one. Plus if it broke at 77 I'm not too happy with the durability. They are doing new hoses and thermostat too
 
Modern radiators are pretty much all the same: Aluminum core with plastic ends. The all-metal ones that could be repaired are long gone. Time before failure varies; if they start leaking the only real fix is replacement. IMO, the only thing we owners can do is to keep the coolant in good shape and watch hoses, belts, etc.
 
Fords mounting of the rad is causing stress on it causing leaks.... I believe 2010 They got it right.

Todd Z
 
Vic, you got it right. I picked up the rig tonight and he showed me the radiator, I had no idea there was so much damn plastic. Thank you EPA and your fuel regs, requiring lighter vehicles.



The top piece had come loose, breaking the seam/seal where the plastic meets the metal. I went with the third party one for cost sake. I bet the road vibrations caused a small break to turn into a large one pretty quickly
 
Mine cracked on the upper tank at 75,000 miles. Still on extended warranty at the time. :supercool:

EddieS'04 said:
I think we have had more low millage radiator failures on the gen 2, than the gen 1.
Click to expand...

After I got a new radiator I replaced the cap with a 16 lb. unit. Gen 2's came with an 18 lb. cap.
 
Memory is fuzzy, it's been a while. Maybe I put on an 18 lb cap then. I don't feel like walking out in the rain right now to look though. :haveabeer:
 
No problem. Just wanted to clear that up. I do understand your thinking with running a lower psi cap. It makes sense and Im sure its just fine.:haveabeer:
 

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