After having three radiators fail in this truck I finally put in a Mishimoto. After nine months it started leaking from the lower drivers side mount. It looks like it has cracked just above the mount. I'm beginning to think there might be some kind mistake when Ford engineered this. There must be more force put on this side than the radiators can handle. This Mishimoto was a quality piece and it couldn't take the stress. The good news is that Mishimoto has been very good to deal with. A couple of emails and a picture and there is another one on the way. On the down side I have to pay $100 for shipping, I don't agree with that, and I have to spend another 4 hrs installing it. I don't have alot of confidence in the new one holding up either but there are no other options that I know of. Maybe the new one will be reinforced in that area.

 

much better than it could be.

 

As much as this is commercial... The powerstroke help guy had a truck that kept going thru radiators and it too broke a couple of mishimotos. I am NOT saying you are doing this and I agree that there seems to be a radiator design issue.

In his case, the owner was towing very heavy and off-road or on rough/uneven roads. It was causing his dually to flex enough to break the radiators within thousands of miles, instead of tens of thousands of miles....

If you are towing heavy and over uneven surfaces, then you might want to consider some frame stiffening... I don't remember what the powerstrokeguy did or recommended. I get tired of infomercials - and once it starts to sound like one, I tune it out.

 

My 08 never had a leak and my 13 has not either. Even though my 13 is drw I have been off road a lot as well.


No leaks. I don't think that is the cause.


Just a poor cheap design.

 

this might sound crazy, but a friend of mine works for ford and told me to check and see if there is a current running through the radiator, I was like what do you mean. He said if there is there might be a ground problem and that might be causing them to fail.. I dont know what or how that would be happening or if that sounds crazy to anybody else. let me know what you all think and I can ask him what questions come up with that.

 

That particular video blamed the root cause on the front body mounts be thrashed, causing extra body flex.

 

Gotcha Chad.. and thanks... I knew it was due to flexing chassis and carrying heavy loads off road and something else wrong.

The OP may want to check out their front body mounts then...

 

Flex was the original theory that proved to be wrong.


Everyone was removing one of the lower mounts and that didn't help.

 

Most of the driving I do is not towing,probably 95% empty. We do have some rough roads that I travel every day. I do tow a 15K lb camper probably 10 times a year and there is one trip every year for deer hunting that is pretty uneven. I don't know, its always the drivers side! When I get this one out i will have to look at the mount on the radiator for signs of stress. I don't have to send this one back so maybe I can get is welded up and have a spare. Not that I want to be replacing this thing every nine months.

 

My replacement Mishimoto is sitting in the garage waiting for me to put it in. I have drips running down both sides of the radiator. The driver's side seems to be the biggest leak.

I use it as my DD so mainly city roads and highways. Occasionally haul a slide in camper, pretty lightweight though, under 3k Lbs fully loaded. Did some towing cross country with the camper on and that when's the Mishimoto pooped the sheets. I do take it on mildly rough roads (fire service, etc) but if that's enough to cause problems with a radiator the way I use the truck, there's some big issues with design. The oil service guys and most ranch/farm use is a lot rougher than what I see.

Mine is a '12 with now ~65k. Stock started leaking (at least when I noticed it) ~38k, the Mishimoto after about another 15k (so the stock one lasted twice as long as the Mishi). My business partner has a '13 that was replaced at ~22k, no problems with stock replacement yet (he's probably close to 50k now).

It seems if a truck has the problem with radiators, they seem more likely to continue having problems. If it was body flex or heavy hauling, you think it would be popping up more across the board, not just a few trucks used in different conditions.

Thinking I should have stayed with a stock one, Ford would have replaced it this time around (I had the local dealer install the Mishi for me). Now I got to pay the $100 shipping fee and then change it out in the rain myself.

 

Ouch... I would be so mad....

 

Don't know if I missed, is your truck a job 1 or job 2?

 

I really think it has something to do with the frame flexing.


Can we just weld a cross bar between the and mount points.




I don't have this problem so I know nothing about it. Just thinking.

 

And Job2's get frame stiffening, hence the increase in towing capacity.
August of 2010 I think

 

Guys, this is actually a valid theory and in the diesel textbook. Dealers have a way to test for current in the coolant - it can eat through metal over time and is not an unheard of problem. I would certainly perform this check before installing another radiator.