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View Full Version : Inexplicable Radiator Failure



LewisR
09-30-2008, 07:44 PM
I have a 2008 Subaru Legacy 2.0R with just ~15k miles and I was driving last saturday when the radiator failed without any warning. I just noticed the vapor coming out of the engine bay and the engine temperature started to rise.

When first I opened the hood the top of the engine was splashed with coolant liquid from the front of the car to the back. But I could not see what was wrong. There was no damage on the front of the radiator.

After the car was taken to the dealer they noticed that the radiator had an impact around the fan area, like if something had been launched from the fan against the radiator.

The guy from the dealer said that an external object had damaged the radiator and there is no warranty. But they have confirmed that the plastic blades of the fan are perfectly clean, which means no damage, which for me it means the fan did not throw anything against the radiator.


I can't explain myself how this happend because the impact appears on the back of the radiator, not on the front. The car is completely covered from the bottom with no damage at all to the cover, and there is the little cover around the radiator.

They did not find any object that could have done this. I wonder If the radiator could have been damaged at the factory during assembly, and about 10 months later it failed.

I also wonder If the radiator was damaged during service, but all that has been done until now is oil change service.

I'm not happy at all with the customer service from subaru now.

Do you guys think that an object can damage the back of the radiator without any trace? have you seen anything like it?

Lewis

99SUS SFD
09-30-2008, 08:12 PM
Take it to a different dealer. Or fight with this one, cuz that's BS.

Huffer
10-01-2008, 09:41 AM
And this is why warranties are pointless.

Every dealer will attempt to dodge this one, when all it simply is is a replacement item.

henryq, are you reading this?

To pursue this issue, call and harass the local Subaru representative, and give them the name of the dealership that you sought help from.

If something bounced up into the car and dented the radiator, to a point where it couldn't cool effectively, that's not covered under warranty - it's not a manufacturing defect - it's a "life happens" scenario.

LewisR
10-03-2008, 03:35 PM
Well, I have called the Subaru Customer Service center to explain my case, and it seems like they just give any excuse to make it sound like it is possible to see that kind of failure.

In fact the guy in charge of warranties said they have had a few tribecas and foresters with damaged radiators due to stones or something else, but he couldn't confirm that there has been any failure due to damage to the back of the radiator.

In any case, I'm still waiting for a final answer from customer service guys.

Huffer
10-03-2008, 04:11 PM
The point is - the radiator didn't fail because of a manufacturing or factory installation defects, it failed because something hit it.

It's not a warranty return, so just man up and have it fixed out of your car maintenance fund.

jg09
10-03-2008, 04:48 PM
If it looks like this, then something definitely hit it:

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/09/Outback_broken4-1.jpg

:lol: