It's been a year or two since I've read anyone using this aftermarket radiator to replace the factory leaker.

Anyone out there have one installed? How's it holding up?

Anyone know anyone else with one? Heard anything new about good or bad?

 

Now that you bring it up, I've haven't seen reports in the last several months of radiators.... I'd be curious too.

 

Replaced mine about a month ago. No problem, no issues, except a week after doig it, secondary water pump started leaking. 120,000 started leaking. have 125k on it now.

 

There was a thread about a person going through OEM radiators, went to a Mishimoto one and it too leaked. One would have to do an online search though to find it....

 

Yea dak, that's kind of why I'm asking. Wondering if there's been more of that...

 

Thanks Scott. My 2011 truck lost both 1 radiator and the main water pump and they both happened pretty close to one another.

My current truck has 119,000 on it and best I can tell, I'm just losing maybe 1/2oz. Of coolant whenever the engine cools down overnight, only evidence I can find is the driver side bottom corner. Maybe I should voluntarily replace the water pump too when I finally decide to square this up.

 

My original stock radiator started leaking around 37 or 40k miles. Of course by then not covered by warranty.

Figured got to buy a radiator anyway, so found a decent deal on a Mishimoto, figuring I'd never have to worry about that again.

That one started leaking after about 25k miles. Went back and forth with Mishi before they would send me a replacement. $100 shipping and I get to replace. Changed it in my driveway New Years day, luckily it did warm up to about 28 that afternoon.

Come April, what do I see under the front of the truck, it's spotting again (after about 7k miles). It was real sporadic so I let it go to see if it was some fluke. Would come and go, and would appear at strange times. Sometimes after light driving but then not after heavy work (hauling camper and towing over passes, etc). Only the primary system is losing coolant so I know it's not through the secondary system. Now it's pretty consistent, constant dripping, can always tell where I parked because of the drip marks. Luckily so far not a major leak, just need to top off the coolant once a week.

I have tried to submit for another warranty replacement (yep, another $100 to ship, maybe more), but they want pictures of the leak. The pictures of the spots under the truck and drips running down the side tank aren't good enough (funny, they were last time). You figure out how to get a picture of that radiator in place. They will gladly send me another one and I can send pictures after I replace it but I only have 30 days before they will charge me (full price of course). And of course, who's to say they accept the pictures then. As I live in Seattle, and will be doing this in the uncovered driveway, this is not the time of year you want to be doing anything more than absolutely necessary in the rain. So for now I will live with the leaking radiator till spring when I have a better chance of a window of weather.

End of the day, wish I stayed with a stock radiator and just had the dealer do it. I don't think I've heard of a stock replacement leaking, but there's a few accounts of the Mishimotos leaking. Truck doesn't run any cooler that I've noticed, it's not built up though so maybe if running some extreme tune and/or working real hard all the time. Other than than that it's not worth it

 

In the original thread, two other members report failure of their Mishimoto radiator too. (Blapensee and JReinert). I think that is three failures if you count Hopeless Diamond's failure.

bruce...

Link back to previous thread

 

On the threads I've read on bad radiators, the first sentence above is key. It seemed they were going through multiple (OEM) radiators and hoped that the Mishimoto would cure the problem. IMO, there is a problem with certain trucks flexing or ??? causing the radiators (OEM or aftermarket) to fail. In other words, on these particular trucks, it isn't a radiator problem but a truck problem with the leaking radiator the end result.

 

Mine had the OEM leak. I put in a Mishi about 13 months ago and 16k miles and no troubles yet. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Thanks for the info HD

 

Although I do not own a diesel, for the rest of my cars, trucks, etc. 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.

 

This has been a strange issue going back through 2008 with the 6.4 diesel. I had a 2008 truck that went through 5 radiators and a set of thermostats, traded it in for a 2011 truck in late 2010 with 140,000 miles on it.

Some folks never have an issue at all.

I think the problem is a little of both. The radiator itself is built just well enough to hold together as long as nobody touches it.

People who tow reasonably heavy do get the frame twist on take off, I think it comes into play. But, now that I make this statement, someone is gonna say "I've got 86,000 miles towing my 40,000lb fifth wheel and never had an issue".

I guess it's safe to say I'm no closer to deciding if I go with the oem or aftermarket.

 

Curious, what is Ford's warranty on a new radiator today? I know at one point they had a lifetime warranty on certain replacement parts, but not sure if that applies in Canada, still is on, applies to radiators...

Second, is there a place that sells Mishimoto near you or are they ONLY mail order. A "lifetime" warranty that is tough to use, is really worthless, IMHO.

Third, I have heard of some radiator shops that can rebuild the stock OEM radiator - might be worth looking into. Cheaper and you have a place to go back to if you still have issues.

Originally, I, too, thought the radiators were failing with people that pulled heavy loads and off road - and then of course someone chimes in that they pull their off road trailer over mountain roads for the past 200k miles without any issues and the next guy comes on and says he never had pulled a trailer and goes through radiators every 20k-30k miles... So I give up on trying to figure it out as well...

 

To get a warranty replacement you have to go direct to Mishimoto. You need to send them a picture of where it's leaking, drips running down the side aren't good enough. They'll send you a replacement and you can send them the pictures after you take the problem radiator out, of course by then you really have to hope they will accept the pictures. Otherwise they charge you the full list price. In any case you have to pay for shipping, last time it was $100.

I too don't understand why some leak and others don't. Looking at how the radiator is supported, it doesn't seem like there should be a problem being transferred to the radiator itself. There's the 2 upper posts that hold the radiator in place with rubber bushings. At the bottom there are 2 posts that slide vertically into too bushings, no solid attachment there, they can slide up and down as necessary. I supposed the radiator opening could rack and that would put different stresses on the radiator that could cause problems, but by eyeballing it, it doesn't look like it would.