What I am going to say came from my large truck dealer where I had my radiator replaced.

Today, he told me, the radiator will only be replaced if it is caused by another failure. I said to him, to me, that sounds ludicrous. What other failure could cause the radiator to fail? He said, a water pump could cause excessive pressure in the rad.

My contact contacted his FORD warranty rep and said this is the policy in the Southern region.

My concern is that I am away from home, have a radiator go out, and then I get the two week wait in line story.

Comments please...

 

I work in the Southern Region(Florida) so that Ford warranty rep is incorrect. Once again, the basic part number is for the thermostats which are covered by the diesel powertrain warranty so the radiator is covered. I have confirmed this with my warranty rep and my FSE.

 

Where are you at Jboczar? I'm in Alabama (mobile) and i might need you to get mine fixed under warranty. On its 2nd rad with 67K and these yahoos around here are ignorant to the fact.

 

Is there some number or reference that we can print and hang our hat on?

I am on my second, first repair, but just want to be prepared. PLEASE. We need your follow up.

Thanks,

 

I have 76,000 and mine just started leaking. Would mine be covered? If not where's the cheapest place to get one. Are there any aftermarket options?
Thanks
Jeremy

 

Check on TSB 10-5-2 and 09-23-1. If the thermostat caused failure its covered.

 

UPDATE:

Good old Ford, they realized their mistake and just updated that TSB to 10-5-2. Here is the line copied and pasted for the reason they updated.

This article supersedes TSB 10-4-5 to update the DEALER CODING base part numbers.

And here are the new labor operations that are supposed to be used:

100502A 2008-2010 F-Super Duty 6.4L: Pressure Test Cooling System, Road Test, Monitor PIDS, Replace The Radiator (Do Not Use With Any Labor Operations Outside This Article) 3.0 Hrs.

100502B 2008-2010 F-Super Duty 6.4L: Pressure Test Cooling System, Vehicle Is Not Drivable. Replace The Radiator, And Thermostats (Do Not Use With Any Labor Operations Outside This Article) 3.4 Hrs.

100502C 2008-2010 F-Super Duty 6.4L: Pressure Test Cooling System, Road Test, Monitor PIDS, Replace The Radiator, And Thermostats (Do Not Use With Any Labor Operations Outside This Article) 3.8 Hrs.

100502D 2008-2010 F-Super Duty 6.4L: Install Venturi Tee Kit (Can Be Claimed with Operation A, B, Or C) 0.2 Hr.

DEALER CODING
BASIC PART NO. CONDITION CODE
8009 (Operation A) 42
8575 (Operations B and C ) 42

Now before they updated this tsb you could replace just the radiator and get it covered because they used the 8575 coding which is a thermostat and is covered 5yr/100000 miles. The radiator can still be covered but ONLY if the thermostats are bad per the testing in this tsb. So now if just the radiator is bad then I am sorry to say that you will have to pay out of your own pocket unless you are under 3/36.

I don't agree with this personally because they seem to be guessing on what is causing these repeat radiator failures. First it was the venturi tee and now its the thermostats. I think it is interesting to note that they all leak in the same place. To me that means its a manufacturing flaw.

 

I had mine replaced yesterday thanks to the info here. Also the upper hose and thermostat housing looks to be a new design as well and was also replaced. My degass bottle says 16psi but i thought i had seen the newer trucks with 10psi. If so was this an attempt to keep the pressure down? If so does the cap relief at that pressure?

 

Ohhhh haaaaay....I never noticed the "dual causals"

That's pretty sneaky.

 

I'll go ahead and say the dealers name, because this isn't here say it happened to me and I have paperwork to back it up(always good work there never felt I've been overcharged... till now). Hardy Family Ford, Dallas Ga. Just did my radiator, No warranty, mind you it has 68k on it. I am cool with that, just be up front with me. I spoke to the Service Dept. Manager, and verbatim he told me. "My tuner is at fault for the leak in the radiator because a tuners job is to run the engine hotter to increase performance". In his words "a tuner adjusts the time the fans come on to gain the most performance from the engine". Radiator $788.60. Labor 7 hours. My pet Sheltie can change a radiator in 7 hours. I am to blame here for letting them do the work and not doing it myself because I needed the truck quickly and was busy with an audit at work. Live and learn

 

I dont agree with that reasoning but the point is that a dealer can take that stance for any repair they want. The burden to prove the tuner wasnt at fault falls on you. Im certain that as soon as Ford Motor hears tuner they will take the same stance knowing that most people wont take it to a high enough level to prove them wrong. I dont see the radiator being related to the tuner personally but Bill Clinton and Ford's warranty department have one thing in common...DENY, DENY, DENY

 

Yeah the tuner has nothing to do with the motor running hotter...Heck they can even check that.

 

A tuner certainly can and will cause the engine to run hotter. That's a point the sales rep from Banks even told me about their tunes and why they don't recommend towing with their 6-gun turned to the highest settings.

Lots more fuel being burnt is how you get the increased power. Means lots more heat is produced by the engine.

But I don't see how this could break a radiator. The cooling system is designed to operate at temps above 220 degrees, as these things get HOT when towing in warm weather. I don't see how running hot a bit more frequently should shorten the life of a component designed to handle this on a regular basis anyway...

 

Your combustion temps can possibly get hotter, but the coolant will only get as hot as the thermostat allows. That is another bogus denial, but those are the chances we take with tuners. They realize it's not enough money to fight over.

 

FivePointo,

I would be going back to that dealer and want to know where the hell they came up with 7 HOURS! As a customer pay repair they should have quoted you the Motors Manual labor time which is 3.0 hrs for removing and replacing the radiator and 0.5 hrs for the cooling system pressure test. That price for labor is twice what it should be. They owe you some money back for sure. You have to watch out, some techs will just pull hours out of thin air for however long they think a repair should take. It really is ridiculous and it contributes to dealers having a bad name and makes dealers look like theives.