'07 Limited Leaking Radiator warranty?

[Lou M]

Just found out that my radiator has a slow leak. 53K miles. Dealer says that it isn't covered under 5yr 60K engine and powertrain warranty.

Agree? I thought there was a recall on this part.



Thanks.

Lou...

 

[EddieS'04]

Common problem for the gen2 trac and its explorer cousin. There is an electrolosis problem. Ford wont admit it. Current is somehow created in the cooling system. wreaking havoc on the alluminum core.



Save more than $100 dollars for the part elsewhere. Not a hard job.

 

[RJ]

Here's the warranty link for the 2007 ST:



http://www.motorcraftservice.com/pubs/content/~WO7P27/~MUS~LEN/41/07frdwa5e.pdf



On pages 12-13 of the PDF (printed pp. 10-11), unfortunately the radiator isn't expressly listed in the 5yr/60K drivetrain warranty in the fine print.



My 08 ST warranty expires in 4 days, and I've been mulling over getting an extended service plan from Ford; interestingly the radiator is included in only Premium and ExtraCare service plans (click "Engine" for comparison among the plans):



http://www.flmowner.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/ESPWizardStep1





Who knows, from hearing what you're going through I may pull the trigger on getting an ESP.

 

[Oldtimer]

Link is a dead end.

 

[Richard L]

Wow, I would have thought Ford woul have resolved this problem years ago. It was a common problem when the first aluminum block engines came out. Back in 1963 Buick made a small aluminum block V8 that was put into their Buick Specials (small/mid size car like the Tempest and Olds F85) Later they had a lot of cooling issues because the aluminum block was not compatible with the cast iron heads. The coolant produced an electrolitic action that started eat at the aluminum and corroding the cooling passages.



This happens when certain metals are exposed to the same liquid (coolant) with an electric current present (engines are grounded as part of the electical system). This is the same process used to electro plate metals with zinc, gold, copper, nickel and chrome, etc. This problem was solved back in the 1960's with special additives to the coolant, and later with using different alloys in the aluminum block, and not using incompatible metals that contact the coolant.



I certainly would have thought that Ford would have enough forethought to not run into this same old problem again???



...Rich

 

[OLE442]

Maybe FORD did think about it and decided to sell some expensive radiators!

 

[scott degroot]

I haven't had an electrolysis problem with Fords for a long time now. Typically the ones that did have an issue it caused the heater cores to leak and on most Fords that involves yanking the whole dash out...I got good at F150s. FWIW the issue could almost always be tracked down to a poor ground.



Eddie, are you sure you aren't referring to older models.

 

[RJ]

Link works. It's a PDF download, click it again until it starts streaming, might be a little slow depending on PC.



BTW here's the other link which I couldn't put in (only one at a time):

 

[MikeSondra Grossen]

First link says:

An Error has been detected.





You do not have permissions to this site/page or

Your access permission may have timed out.



We have a small leak we are watching. So far, not enough to do anything about yet.

Sondra

 

[EddieS'04]

Scott, I read this in an online tech article afew months ago. I wish I could remember where. They were only refering to the explorer that the gen 2 trac is built from. It did mention not all had the problem. The ones that did were corrected with special grounding or sujestested anotic protection, I think. The research was done by several independents. Not ford. Then again this is the internet. They might have been sponsored by radiator folks..LOL

I kinda let the site slip my mind because I have a gen 1.

 

[scott degroot]

^^^



Good to know. This first started to become a real problem, that I was aware of anyway, in the mid 90's. It wasn't until after I had to redo a few of them that I started searching for a reason for the failure. 3 things seemed to be the problem that I found, poor ground connections, defective starters and cheap batteries. After the root cause was found then the PIA task of flushing the cooling system to get rid of the voltage in it followed, sometimes this took longer than the actual repair.

 

[Don Hay]

I too had a leak in my 07 V8, & had it replaced with a new radiator. My luck the radiator would have failed while on vacation or at the most inconveinent time, so I didn't take that chance & had it replaced. :driving:

 

[RJ]

Well ... as it turns out, after getting the premium extended warranty on the last day of my regular warranty on 5/30 (last day of 3yr/36K), this past weekend my airbag lights up on my 2008 ST:



[Broken External Image]:



Pro'ly just a sensor, or a faulty in-line connector. BUT AT 22K miles??? Kinda kicks the all-vehicles-nowadays-are-high-quality argument out the door. :cry:



Doubtful that this would have cost the entire price of the extended warranty had I not gotten it, but at least now I got peace of mind the next 5 years.