To Replace The Radiator, or not

[sojodave]

I've been having strange engine revving and my heater didn't come on as fast as it used to. I had a minor problem and I took it into the Ford dealer. They said I had a hole in the radiator and I should replace the radiator. I put some radiator sealant with pellets and I don't notice any leaks. My engine revving problem has stopped and my heater works quickly. Should I bite the bullet and get another radiator, or wait until it's a problem?

 

[edwx]

I suggest waiting.

 

[sojodave]

I took it to a radiator shop and they said that Ford has to flash an update after you install a radiator. I've done a ton of reading on this site, I've never heard that before.

 

[Town]

I took it to a radiator shop and they said that Ford has to flash an update after you install a radiator. I've done a ton of reading on this site, I've never heard that before.

The workshop manual does not say anything about a module program update after changing the coolant radiator. A couple of people have done the replacement and wrote of their experiences on here but I don't remember anything about a module update. It does not sound reasonable.

Before putting the stop leak material in your cooling system did you notice the leak, did you need to top-up the coolant? If you did have a leak then it would be better to replace the radiator. A number of people have complained of a leak at the radiator mounting points due apparently to poor alignment stressing the material. If this is your problem then your solution is not going to last long.

Stop leak is not a good solution over the longer term. When next you change coolant there is a good chance the stop leak will be eliminated from the radiator. I returned a used radiator for that reason.

Good luck.

 

[guilateen]

Take the time you have with stop leak in it to shop around and find the best price. I've heard that stop leak will block the hole but can also cause your cooling system to clog easily. Besides if you don't have a spare vehicle and it fails you can end up having to fork over high dollars in a time pinch.

 

[richardodie2]

replace the radiator go to the dealer to reflash ECM with TSB 09-8-1 update. This update ghanges the fan set points so that it comes on sooner thus the pressure in the rad is lower, i also installed a 16 PSI rad cap on mine and have been running with no problems for 2 years now, the rad cap is a STANT # 10233 ( 16 PSI ) , good luck

 

[Town]

The TSB 09-8-1 in this thread: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210523&page=10 appears to refer to the V6 rather than the V8 of sojodave. The V6 appears to suffer from a number of cooling system issues.