Radiator Wore Through $$$$$$

[rbattelle]

I'm glad this thread came up again. I did a very thorough inspection on my truck this evening and I *think* I'm okay. The wire bundle that runs up to the fan clutch runs through a molded-in shield in the fan shroud. It runs about 1/8" away from the radiator, and I was not able to see any wear marks on the radiator. I did not bother pulling the shroud.



My truck was born on 28 February 2003.



-Ryan

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

My truck was built in August 2003. The closest part was a sensor, and must have rubbed occasionally, as I posted above.

 

[gjacobs]

Same here my '03 rubbed through at 99K. Temp fiixed it with bars leak.

 

[SBothner]

I went to a local radiator shop to pick up a replacement radiator for my girlfriends Jeep. The guy at the shop said he has seen a dozen or more of the new Dodges with the shroud rubbing a hole in the radiator core. We walked outside so he could point out where the shroud rubs through. Sure as sh#t mine was leaking from that exact spot. Luckily DC paid for mine even with it out of warranty. Its good to have friends in the right places.

 

[Tony T.]

I'm glad this thread came up again. I did a very thorough inspection on my truck this evening and I *think* I'm okay. The wire bundle that runs up to the fan clutch runs through a molded-in shield in the fan shroud. It runs about 1/8" away from the radiator, and I was not able to see any wear marks on the radiator. I did not bother pulling the shroud.



My truck was born on 28 February 2003.



-Ryan

I have done the same with mine for the second time, have not found any indication of any rubbing of shroud or anything else showing wear "yet".



Mine is a early 03 11/15/02.



Tony

 

[Matt400]

Thanks Brian for the heads up!

I just checked mine and sure enough the molded tube for the fan clutch harness was up against the radiator. 30K on mine and no leak just yet.



I cut a small piece of 1/2" heater hose and clipped it over the shroud next to the harness connector (see below) which pulled the shroud back from the radiator and made for plenty clearance.



Thanks a bunch Brian for posting this!

 

[radar doctor]

Thank you for the picture. . this will help. .

 

[Matt400]

No problem, just so you know that pic was taken with my head by the right front tire and the wear point on my truck was up about 6" from where I clipped the hose on to pull the shroud back a little.

 

[MMeier]

With 71. 6k on mine, guess I had better crawl underneath it and scope things out.

 

[Elite1]

With 71. 6k on mine, guess I had better crawl underneath it and scope things out.

Me too, I have 52K on mine, I will take a look in the morning... did the fuel tank (tubing & filter) fix last week... I love this site for learning about these imperfections, doing a simple fix now could save us some major coin later!

 

[ImCooter]

Luckily DC paid for mine even with it out of warranty. Its good to have friends in the right places.

Seth,



If I hadn't been able to get it welded it up cheaply and quickly, I guarantee that I would have been on the phone with Jack asap. :-laf



Stacy

 

[SBothner]

Seth,



If I hadn't been able to get it welded it up cheaply and quickly, I guarantee that I would have been on the phone with Jack asap. :-laf



Stacy

Shhhhhh. Jack had nothing to do with it.

 

[Gypsyman]

I just went out and checked my April '03 and it looks like the area that showed wear on my buddy's truck has been machined off on mine. There is a small area that is missing and you can see the wires inside so it would appear that DC knew about the problem and corrected it.



Richard

 

[rbattelle]

If they knew, it's nice of them to inform us. I dream of a world where the manufacturer sends TSB-type information out directly to customers who sign up for it. Nothing like a recall, but just a little note that says "hey, you might want to check this out on your vehicle so it doesn't bite you down the road".



I guess that's why we all subscribe here.



-Ryan

 

[radar doctor]

Hey RB, That would be nice... . Would that work on Jet Engine Engenerrs??? ha Good to see your still truckin Doc in KS... ...

 

[hbowers]

after reading this thread I checked my early 04 out. had plenty of clearance between

wiring tube and radiator core. thanks for the heads up.

 

[brianidaho]

I haven't been on line in a while, and was supprised to see all the updates to this thread. Thanks for the input, sorry to hear some others have had the same problem, but it gives me a bit more leverage to have a nice chat with DC. In the old days, there were local "zone reps" for the big 3, does anyone know if there is still something like this in place?



I'll pull the shroud and modify the part that has been hitting, before the new core wears through as well. I wish the dealer had taken the time to check this out and fix the underlying cause of the problem, not just replace the radiator.



Thanks for all the comments.



Brian

 

[J_Melton]

Been there done that!

Same thing happened to me while on vacation. Only had 31006 miles. I did two postings on the other 3rd gen chat. I believe this is a chronic problem. At least DC stepped up to the plate and paid for my out of pocket expenses to get it fixed. Guess it was better that towing the fiver and truck 65 miles to the nearest dealer. I encourage all 2003 owners to check where the actuator arm comes up from the lower left side of the shroud to the fan clutch. I really think this should be a recall or at least a TSB.

 

[MaryZ]

Fan shroud rubbing hole in Radiator - Fix...

I too had a problem where the wiring holder on the fan shroud caused the radiator to leak. My mechanic took the fan shroud out and, with a high speed grinder, ground off about 1/4 inch of the plastic.



He added alum-a-seal for the leak. So far, OK.



Hope this helps!

 

[jwduke]

Any good welding shop can weld aluminum. Wonder why dealer didn't take and get it fixed? (DUH!!! They wanted to sell you a $800 radiator, rather than fix it for a few hundred bucks!, boy what a dumb @$$ I am! Sorry! :--) )