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You said that it is a "major leak", so where is the coolant leaking from? Have you looked at the lower radiator hose to make sure that it has a proper seal? I've seen a few instances where the lower hose wasn't snug or the hose clamp wasn't tightened all the way and coolant leaked out.
edit.. I just saw your post above about where the leak was. It sounds like you just need to just get a new one. Unfortunately, that seems like your only option since it is out of warranty.
The shop is installing a new radiator. I just thought it was strange and wondered if anyone had evere heard of anything like this happening with a Honda.
The shop where I took it said it looks like it just came apart at the seams. Said it is made of aluminum and plastic and it just separated. Looks like defect.
They said they have never seen anything like it on a car that has less than 150-200 K miles.
It just started dumping antifreeze on my garage floor. Completely emptied so I put 3 liters in just to drive it to the shop which is 2 miles away.
Typically, the radiator wouldn't be made by "Honda" itself. A defective radiator is hardly Honda's fault. It can happen.
Say Denso made CRV radiators that year. One of the employees at the manufacturing plant dropped a box with a radiator in it. It weakened the seal between the metal and plastic parts, but went unnoticed. (This can easily happen, by the way.) It gets put in a CRV at the assembly plant, and you end up buying the car.
It's unfortunate, but these things happen. You just happened to have purchase one out of possibly 1 million defective radiators...
i agree with an above poster. Buy a radiator online for ~$100, buy a few wrenches and 1 gallon of coolant, and pop it in. It's a generally easy job. If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, ask neighbors. I'm sure someone in your vicinity will be happy to do it for a few bucks.
I replaced the radiator on my 2006 Honda Ridgeline because the fittings were getting corroded and looked like they were about to snap off at any moment. The shop charged about $400 for parts and labor. I got it replaced with an aftermarket one with brass fittings (no corrosion issues with brass) after reading about others who have had the fitting snap off. This has also caused blown transmissions because the culprit was a rusted transmission cooler line connection. I thought this issue was limited to Ridgelines, Pilots and MDX due to the shared design, but who knows... This is what it looked like:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by missik999
The shop is installing a new radiator. I just thought it was strange and wondered if anyone had evere heard of anything like this happening with a Honda.
It is strange but defective parts find their way to all of the automakers. Honda is not above this.
I am very happy to report that Honda has excellent customer service. I had a phone call from customer relations less than 24 hours after I notified them of this issue.
They stated that there was no recall or bulletin, no other radiator issues reported so basically it must have been just a freak occurrence.
Although it was out of warranty I am happy to say that Honda stands behind their vehicles.
I didn't realize auto manufacturers were still offering such poor warranties with new cars given that a few offer 100k mile coverage these days. Our Accord didn't have a any radiator issues but the auto tranny did fail.
I am very happy to report that Honda has excellent customer service. I had a phone call from customer relations less than 24 hours after I notified them of this issue.
They stated that there was no recall or bulletin, no other radiator issues reported so basically it must have been just a freak occurrence.
Although it was out of warranty I am happy to say that Honda stands behind their vehicles.
Yep, sometimes they'll do what I believe is called a courtesy repair.
That radiator and labor won't cost them much but what it does is keep you as a customer for future work. It also might gain them customers when you tell your family and friends about it.
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