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Ford Explorer Community - Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer ST, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
Must have been like this for a while before i bought it. I could smell coolant after it ran, but could never find a leak.
Removal was not the hardest ever, but not easy either. New Motorcraft one going in tomorrow
It is a terrible design too. The radiator is rotated 90 degrees so the tank flexes. Also it is a 20psi system. A recipe for disaster. The trans fittings are a poor design too.
My trans fittings are the later all plastic kind and are even harder to remove without the exact right tool, which I don't have. Saw a video where a guy just melted them off with a propane torch after he removed the fitting from the old radiator and that is what I did too! I put them back on for the photo and you can see them melted.
I also did a complete flush right before radiator removal so I can get a nice clean start.
My trans fittings are the later all plastic kind and are even harder to remove without the exact right tool, which I don't have. Saw a video where a guy just melted them off with a propane torch after he removed the fitting from the old radiator and that is what I did too! I put them back on for the photo and you can see them melted.
I also did a complete flush right before radiator removal so I can get a nice clean start.
Radiator is something you definetly don't want to get the lowest price one of! Of course people are not always generous at sell time.
Ford did do some improvement after 2006, but you can tell from posts, it did not address every issue. Just checked Rockauto and it is the same radiator for v6 and v8.
Not understanding about cooler torque. You mean during manufacturing?
It should be noted electrolysis is the main problem with these radiators, eating pin holes though, and Ford doesn't have a fix. I have seen -4 volts between the coolant and the negative battery terminal. I have replaced the radiator 7 times in the same 06 Explorer. Changing the coolant yearly helps. Grounding the radiator core makes it worse. Sure makes you think about the price of the next one.
Interesting. I have only heard about this when I researched replacing the head gasket in my daughter's Subaru. Up to 2003 they only had one engine ground strap, on the same side as the battery. That side's cylinder head gasket was the most common to fail with it's contaminated fluid creating the circuit of least resistance. Of course the boxer engine has the double whammy of coolant always in contact with the head gasket when not running.
My engine was all cleaned and detailed with a new battery before I bought it. Maybe the old battery looked like the one in this photo! My coolant was really dirty, probably original at 127k miles
It should be noted electrolysis is the main problem with these radiators, eating pin holes though, and Ford doesn't have a fix. I have seen -4 volts between the coolant and the negative battery terminal. I have replaced the radiator 7 times in the same 06 Explorer. Changing the coolant yearly helps. Grounding the radiator core makes it worse. Sure makes you think about the price of the next one.
Can you explain to me how the corrosion in the above photo happens in relation to old dirty coolant? Or is it a ground issue?
I have this same problem on my 96 Escort, the battery holddown bracket builds up with corrosion even though both terminals are free of it.
It’s had me stumped, and I never heard this concept before, and I realize an escort is not an Explorer, but maybe the cause is the same. Trying to learn something.
It is a terrible design too. The radiator is rotated 90 degrees so the tank flexes. Also it is a 20psi system. A recipe for disaster. The trans fittings are a poor design too.
