Radiator leaking after tranmissn job

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I had the cd4e in my 02 Cougar rebuilt last week. Picked the car up today. The shop tells me that the radiator is leaking. It looks to be along the seam by the cooler lines. I'm wondering now if they caused it, maybe from prying on the lines, as they had to be disconnected for the job. It's an original radiator, so it's quite possible that it was on the way out. I just don't know.
 
I'm sure removing and replacing the cooler lines caused it, now the question is can you blame the shop when 13 year old plastics (that have been sitting in front of an engine their entire life) fail.
 
Probably on it's way out. It's a 13 year old car. Rubber parts dry out and plastics crack. My car is 14 years old and ended up having to replace the radiator since it leaks at high revs at the top portion where it's plastic. On replacing it, the mechanic recommended replacing the hoses too. Didn't cost much more and his daughter my age was cute, so I went back again.
smile.gif
 
See if they'll put a new one in at cost. If you go in for surgery and there are complications you get billed for them.
 
They told me $300 to replace it, which seems like the regular price.
 
I called the shop, and the mechanic who did the work said that he didn't touch the cooler lines. Oh, well...
 
I had same thing happen with my LX450 recently... finally had my mechanic replace my power steering cooling coils at the bottom of the radiator which had been leaking for a while, and when I picked up the truck the radiator was leaking. I can't quite prove whether that leak was there before or not, because the radiator was the original radiator about 19 years old. I suspect he caused the leak, because when I bought the radiator for $105 from rockauto and took in, he offered to replace it for $50. seemed a little low to me..
 
Thing is they could have dropped the engine cradle to get the trans out, and had the radiator hanging from "something unusual". Not sure if the rad sits in the engine cradle on your car, but some do.

Chalk it up to stuff getting bumped around. You'd never be able to prove it was malfeasance, and the shop might be being honest.
 
Originally Posted By: ET16
I called the shop, and the mechanic who did the work said that he didn't touch the cooler lines. Oh, well...


lol, of course they didn't otherwise they would be replacing it for free. Even if he did or didn't I am not surprised given the age of the vehicle. Unfortunately items like that start to degrade so there is a good chance that they were on it's way out anyways.
 
Order the radiator from RockAuto and replace it yourself. You got cable actuated hose clamp pliers? They got them at Sears.
 
I found a new Ford OEM for about $100. I see that the radiator drops from the bottom. The fans look like the biggest trouble. I guess the trick is to get the car high enough. I wonder whether I could do it on ramps.
 
You shouldn't have to raise the car at all to pull the radiator. Can't you get to everything from up top? On my car, I'll have to pull the electric fans just so I got room to get to the lower radiator hose clamp.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
You shouldn't have to raise the car at all to pull the radiator. Can't you get to everything from up top? On my car, I'll have to pull the electric fans just so I got room to get to the lower radiator hose clamp.
not on this car. It only comes out the bottom.pays 4.5 hrs and is quite a job.I cringe when I see one pull in.
 
Transmission shop quoted me $140 labor. I can bring in the OEM radiator. I guess I should jump on it.
 
The radiator has to come out the bottom? That's crazy. You'll probably have to remove the splash shield that's between the bumper and the engine.
 
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
Apparently a relatively common problem. Were the old metal tank radiators any better?
worse! New cars flex more than older cars did. Flexing tears the solder out of the metal rads
 
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