FYI PEOPLE,

THE NEW TSB 11-1-7 STATES THAT UNLESS IT IS THE THERMOSATS THAT CAUSES THE RADIATOR TO LEAK NO NEW RADIATOR! IT FALLS UNDER 36MONTHS/36,000 MILES WARRANTY

WE ARE ALL SOL $$$$$$$$

TSB O9-23-01 DOES NOT APPLY ANYMORE.

THE REASON I KNOW THIS IS BECAUSE MY TRUCK IS AT THE DEALER FOR ANOTHER ISSUE THAT IS COVERED UND THE 5 YR/100,000 MILE WARRANTY.

 

My 2008 F350 had the radiator replaced under warranty 2 years ago when it had 30,000 miles. Now, it has 39,000 miles and is leaking again. The dealer wants $550 to test the thermostats to see if they are at fault. Radiator replacement with labor is $1600.
Is this what all 2008 owners are going through???

Not happy. Obviously defective radiators seeing they are all splitting at the seam.

 

Nope, I am at 49K still on my orginal.

 

I'm on my original also but, dig around on here for some late info. one entry this week froom cheezit or valoney (both ford techs) stated that they were now just doing a visual inspection of the stats. Is that what they want the $500 for? I have no idea how hard they are to get at but that seems like a lot of money for pulling two stats. Thats what, 4 hours labor. Seems it would be cheaper to hook up the computer and take a ride. If you brought the truck in warmed up the ride should be less than an hour. Try asking them to do that.

 

I just posted this this morning.. i had an issue with my radiator after warranty.. and i'm in the process of moving my issue up the chain with ford.. i'll be keeping that thread updated as i get more info.. it might help you get some progress..


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tor-story.html

 

I really would have thought that enough people would have complained to ford and to NHTSA and forced a recall/re-design.

 

Yeah, either that or it's along the lines of, "I'm not having the problem, so it doesn't concern me. I'll let others who are having the problem complain."

 

Just curious;

they say the failure is caused by cavitation caused by the T-STAT?

What if someone made a small pipe with a slight restriction, that bolts inline just before the rad, to increase pressure causing the cavitation bubbles to collapse?

 

Shouldnt Ford carry that burden? Im not a Toyota fan but geez they bought back 10 year old trucks when they realized the frame issue. Do you ever see Ford doing anything close to that without Uncle Sam puting them in a headlock?

 

Non-safety related recalls are extremely rare. Most of the time companies will initiate safety recalls without government involvement to prevent liability.

Potential frame failure is a huge safety risk. A leaky radiator isn't even in the same ballpark.

 

The problem with the hyper extended thermostat is that the bypass thermostat becomes hyper extended or open when it isn't suppose to be open; this causes the primary thermostat to cycle from closed to open stressing the coolant system with pressure spikes. That is the short version from what the TSB says.

IIRC, I have also read that sometimes the thermostat housing breaks when trying to separate same to visually check the thermostats; not a cheap fix.

When mine was in the shop for my slow coolant leak (which I never could identify on the external engine or either side of the radiator) they came back and told me it was leaking on the right side of the radiator

Told me it would be $1,700 to replace radiator; or I could pay to check the thermostats to see if they were hyper-extended. I declined because if it wasn't thermostat and if the housing broke even more money.

I had also just got the new flash update; on the Interstate same day; engine goes to reduced power and check engine (or whatever it says). Took it back next morning, they called and said code was for thermostats; call me back later and said they took picture of my hyper-extended thermostat to send to FORD for warranty authorization.

Prior to service visit, I had changed oil, so after the radiator has been replaced, Blackstone called me to tell me I have high potassium; my wear has gone up even more than last time too; all indications of coolant getting into oil, probably from EGR since no visible coolant in oil. My coolant level is continuing to drop......

I haven't gone back to dealer; previous results trying to get action with another truck based on oil analysis went nowhere.

I wish the EGR valve would just stick shut or something and throw a code so they would replace it as I have the original coolant cooled EGR valve.

Bob

 

Wow, wish I would have known about these pos's in 08.
so I have a question, if I dump 1400 into my truck for a new radiator, how long is it covered for ??

I see some people dumping the 08's for 11's, and I did that with my 05 when I picked up the 08...... but is the radiator any better in the 11's ??? what else is going to fall apart after the 3/36 is history and we'll get hit with ??

Is there any way a person can tell if its the thermostats w/o taking it to the dealer and have them do the $400 check ?

 

The dealer tells me that the replacement radiator will be covered for 12 months or 12,000 miles. I only got 9,000 miles out of the last one they replaced. Unfortunately, that was over a year ago.
They did say that they will discount the cost of the job by $600. I still don't like paying anything for a second replacement, but they got me over a barrel.

 

Haven't seen any radiator repair reports on the 11's

Sam

 

Actually there are some...same old story


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...d-leaking.html