Anyone else have a Radiator leak?

[dco43054]

Hit the remote start when I left the office, 5 minute walk to the garage, saw steam coming out of the grill. I thought "hmmmm, that's odd". It was wet and rainy today and I thought there was an off chance some water collected and was steaming off.

Well, I really didn't believe that as it wouldn't jet out the way this cloud was, but I thought that it would be a good thing to think on the drive home.

Since it was pretty cold out, I didn't really worry about overheating as there was not a puddle of coolant under the Explorer.

Took a look when I got it in the garage at home and indeed, there is a jet of steam coming forward from the radiator. I checked all the hoses I could see and none are leaking. No damage to the grill, so it's not a case of something coming up from the road. Must be a split seam or something. Very strange. Right about 12K miles on the vehicle.

All in all, an interesting day. None of it good. It started with an MFT black screen of death, a couple other fun things, and then this..

Off to the dealership with it. Wonder how long it will take to get a new radiator in?

 

[jrmexplorer]

Hit the remote start when I left the office, 5 minute walk to the garage, saw steam coming out of the grill. I thought "hmmmm, that's odd". It was wet and rainy today and I thought there was an off chance some water collected and was steaming off.

Well, I really didn't believe that as it wouldn't jet out the way this cloud was, but I thought that it would be a good thing to think on the drive home.

Since it was pretty cold out, I didn't really worry about overheating as there was not a puddle of coolant under the Explorer.

Took a look when I got it in the garage at home and indeed, there is a jet of steam coming forward from the radiator. I checked all the hoses I could see and none are leaking. No damage to the grill, so it's not a case of something coming up from the road. Must be a split seam or something. Very strange. Right about 12K miles on the vehicle.

All in all, an interesting day. None of it good. It started with an MFT black screen of death, a couple other fun things, and then this..

Off to the dealership with it. Wonder how long it will take to get a new radiator in?

That's not a leak, its the new steam iron feature. It's there to de-wrinkle your clothes after you get them all wrinkled from fits of rage over MFT.

 

[cnsheets]

that or its the Sauna for jDrapers mouse!

 

[EX-SV]

Hey, at least the radiator in my 2007 Exlorer made it to 52K miles, I guess I should be happy.

 

[dco43054]

That's not a leak, its the new steam iron feature. It's there to de-wrinkle your clothes after you get them all wrinkled from fits of rage over MFT.

It sure fogged my glasses up well. I guess it doubles as a steam lens cleaner?

Thanks to Tropicvi for instructions on how to remove the grill without having to take off the whole front fascia. I'm going to pull the grill tomorrow and see where the leak is coming from. I've been keeping an eye on the coolant level and haven't been losing all that much.

Hopefully can identify whether or not it really is the radiator. If so, the dealer can order one before I take it in and swap it out quickly next week.

 

[GWA1]

that or its the Sauna for jDrapers mouse!

Good one!!!!!

 

[dco43054]

So this is really strange - and I am not losing my mind - the Explorer was emitting a steady stream of steam out the front of the grill on Thursday night. Temps were about 40 degrees.

Come Friday, Saturday, Sunday, temps were in the 20 to 40 range and nothing. Not a drop of coolant or steam

Engine temps were in the normal range, so it was not indicating it was overheating, and didn't show any other signs.

The fans didn't seem to be blowing anything backwards, but then again, they didn't seem to be on at all.

There is not "radiator cap" in the radiator - it is over on the coolant reservoir. Can't find the overflow. I wouldn't think it pointed toward the front of the grill.

The transmission cooler is so large that you can only get a look at the top inch or so of the radiator, but what I could see didn't have any signs of a leak.

Very strange.

Anyone have anything similar happen?