My wife's 2008 Mountaineer with the 4.6 auto, has developed a radiator leak. It seems that the crimped plastic and aluminum design, along with running 20 psi, is failure prone. This reminds me of the stupid spark plug design on the engine.
A Ford tech on youtube recommends OEM or Spectra Premium over TYC and other cheaper brands. He also recommends upgrading to the Dorman transmission cooler line fitting, because it has two o-rings vs one stock.
My question is who makes the best replacement radiator? Has someone made a better mousetrap (all aluminum) radiator that does away with the crimps, for the Explorer / Mountaineer, or one that at least holds up better?

Thanks in advance for any advise.
RT

 

Well, let me start by saying, I understand what you are saying, and the "modern radiators" have a design life of 7-10 years.

I have always purchased from US Radiator, but when the radiator plastic part began failing on my wifes 97 Cougar Sport (which lasted 17 years with an anode), called them and it's too new of a car and they recommended:

Radiator Express
RadiatorExpress.com | Radiators for Sale
Irvine, CA
866-723-3977

I was very pleased with the product, it was built exactly to the oem specs. What I liked about this place is when I spoke to their support staff, the person I spoke with had definitely experienced getting their hands dirty on a car.......when I asked questions, I got answers....no hesitation. Whit I also liked is they track installation issues that both mechanics & customers have so when you place your order, they order the brand/mfg that has the least amount of reported issues.

 

Thanks Beechkid, I checked them out and they don't list a brand, but the price was competitive.
I've heard that Ford updated the radiator over the years, does anyone know what was changed and what the last upgraded OEM part number is?

 

If you've kept your cooling system clean with a flush every couple of years, just throw a tube of Alumaseal in it and motor on.

 

Thanks 87 XLT, but I've alway thought of Bar's or Alumaseal as bandaids, not permanent fixes. I would always feel it was damaging the water pump or going to leak again, wether it was or wasn't. It's my wife's car, and I don't want her stranded because I didn't fix it right.

I'm just trying to find out if there was a consensus on the best quality replacement radiator for the 2006-2010 Explorers and Mountaineers with the 4.6L, although the six cylinder may use the same radiator. With the stupid spark plugs design on this 3v engine, that break apart in the cylinder head, Champion built a better one piece electrode plug that prevents this. I was hoping that someone might be making a better, less failure prone, radiator. I was hoping to get some first hand knowledge from someone with experience, with this, on these specific vehicles.

 

When my wifes 95 Taurus failed it's weekly test where i make sure the level in the overflow bottle drops as the engine cools down, I took a closer look & it was the seam where the plastic tanks are crimped onto the radiator core. A 1/2 tube of Alumaseal kept it sealed for the next 50 K miles when we sold the car.

Some guys claim that the old pinch of ground pepper in the radiator trick does the same, but i've never tried that.

Glad to see that you have found a better plug, what was Ford thinking with the 2 piece plug??

FWIW my BIL owns an auto parts store & builds racing engines. He likes Modine radiators.

 

87 XLT, thats good to know. I've always been skeptical and wary of mechanical fixes in a bottle, ever since I wasted the better part of a pay check on Slick 50 when I was a kid. I know there are a few that work, I'll add Alumaseal to the list. I had heard of using black pepper or even an egg white in a pinch.
My wife bought the truck new, so we plan on driving it for as long as possible. I think I'm going to replace it this time around and put the Alumaseal in the roadside kit for piece of mind.
I think Ford has a TSB on these vehicles for an electrolysis problem with the cooling system, so I need to check for that as well. I'm going to check to see if Modine offers a replacement as well as Silla. I'm still trying to find the part number for the last OEM 8005 revision.

 

OOPS, just got an update from BIL, he now sez Koyo makes the better radiators.

 

No problem 87 XLT, I'll check Koyo out. Thanks for the input.

 

You have to call them and they will tell you......because they carry a very wide base and will recommend the one that according to their data base has the best customer satisfaction

 

I just wanted to give an update. I went ahead and bought the OEM part # 8L2Z-8005-A.
The local dealership let me have it for $225.00, which I felt was fair for a made in America part. I also wanted to take advantage of the great weather we've been having in north Texas, and didn't want to wait for shipping or risk a shipping damaged part on the doorstep.
The only hang up was the transmission cooler lines. None of the disconnect tools I had or made would work, I ended up buying a Lisle 39960 disconnect tools at O'Rileys, and it worked like a charm. FordTechMakuloco's video on YouTube for installing the radiator was very informative. If you haven't done this before, I would invest 10 minutes and watch his video.
I lost about a 1/2 quart of trans fluid, so with 120k on the Mountaineer, the next project will be a transmission filter and fluid change. Again FordTechMakuloco has a great video for this as well.

 

Thanks for the update, glad to hear you got it squared away. Yeah, Makuloco does have some very interesting how to videos