Here's pics of my '06 with 214,000 km for comparison. Although I have no crystal ball I believe mine were very close to costing me a transmission. I went with the Spectra because of the brass fittings and immediate availability. 2 hours and $375 plus tax. Next day I changed my trans fluid. Nova Scotia and Mass share similar corrosion factors.

The way I looked at it was $375 vs $4,000.....

 

Just curious why you needed to change tranny fluid next day (After rad swap)? Was it just overdue for a change? All I did after my radiator swap was top off tranny fluid for small amount lost when moving Tranny lines from old rad to new rad.

 

OMG DRL! Those are the worst I've seen yet. I think you were lucky they never failed.

 

Yep, the O ring was the only thing holding it together. The fitting pulled out when the tech lightly wiggled it by hand. As you can see by pic 2, the steel flat washer is completely gone allowing the Belleville washer to distort leading to ultimate failure of the connection.

JMO, but on any RL, Pilot or MDX that uses the Denso radiator and is over 5 years old should have an inspection of these trans line fittings and if there is corrosion, replace the rad as preventative maintenance.

Regular antifreeze changes and trans fluid changes have nothing to do with and will not alter the outcome with this built in failure.

It's the hidden corrosion that'll get you.

 

DRL, thanks for sharing. Yours look worse than mine, but I am not taking any chances on mine. I bought mine used with cash and plan on keeping it for many years (even as a 3rd vehicle later on for trash duty).

Maybe we can use this thread to compile everyone's pictures in 1 spot.

 

I have to do mine too, I will take pictures as well.

 

Parsec, from all the photos I have seen on this forum those are not yet in the "OMG" zone like DRL. DRL was flat out lucky they didn't blow on his way to the shop... If it was my truck, I would book the appointment like you did and just get it over with.

 

DRL was definitely lucky for sure! Parsec, I might be wrong, but it looks like there may be some cracking of the washer in the initial picture. May want to look into that

 

Those looked real rusted, now makes me have to check them and if they look rusted well its time to put more money into it

 

I got my radiator replaced yesterday with a CSF 2830 radiator (according to the invoice). It shares the same p/n with some other brands, so I suspect they're all the same (i.e. Spectra).

I was charged retail for the radiator ($199, even though I found it online for around $100), $160 for 2 hours of labor (remove and replace radiator, check tranny fluid, and bleed cooling system), $19 for Honda Type 2 coolant, $9 for Honda DW-1 fluid, and about $20 in shop supplies for a total of $418.

Attached are some more pics of the corroded fittings on my old radiator and a pic of the brass fitting on my new radiator. Got everything replaced on this truck in the past year (timing belt, all fluids, tires, brake pads and radiator). Now looking forward to another few years of maintenance-free driving! :act035:

 

Your fittings are the same as the Spectra installed in my RL. I sprayed mine with Rust Check Coat & Protect from underneath the truck just to give them a little more protection and I plan on repeated spraying once a year.

BTW your old fittings, at least on the outside don't look that much better than mine did. It would be interesting to see how much twist/pull action it would take to pop your old ones out.

 

is honda still using this same radiator today, or did they correct the problem?

 

Same radiator.

 

Duhh! :act060: Honda

 

I purchased my RL in January with 130k miles, all the radiator posts had me curious so I took some pictures of the fittings this morning. What does everyone think? In need of replacement?

 

Wow, it looks like new. You must live in Arizona or somewhere dry.

 

Of course the 64k dollar question, but mine looked quite a bit worse than that when I replaced it and when I pulled the fittings apart to get an even better look there was no evidence of the threads beginning to pull apart. Looking at yours, I don't see any evidence yet of the suspect washer corroding to the point where it swells and pulls the threads out. That's the final failure when the washer swells to the point where it physically rips the threads out of the internal ATF cooler/temp "conditioner" Personally I'd watch it and make the swap when you have time. It will need to be done eventually and there isn't any real savings by waiting so even if you figure you have a few years, why not just get it done when convenient rather than in fire fight mode? I was just beginning to obsess on fishing trips on logging roads etc and not wanting to get stranded and also figuring that more jiggly conditions might make it fail sooner, but I don't think you are in any immediate danger....

 

Mine failed about a year and a half ago. If the radiator goes on you and you stop and shut off the truck quickly enough, you should be OK. I attempted driving for another mile on the freeway before I pulled over, yet my transmission is fine. It took it about a month for it to get used to the fresh fluid, but it's been going strong ever since. Now I just have to replace that worn out motor mount...

 

your right "ridge?" I should have done my research first....I bought a 2012 Pilot for the wife, and a 2012 Ridgeline for myself....after reading all this I could be in for a real mess in 5 years or so. I should have went with a Toyota Highlander for the wife, and a Toyota Tacoma for myself.

 

I own a Toyota. They are having their own issues! I don't know if there is a Make or Model out there that isn't having some kind of problem of their own after five years? Honda seems to be as good as anyone else. At least they hold their resale value........

 

What years are prone to the radiator failure as shown in posts.
Regards

 

Tiggar, I went through a failure with my 06 and still went with another RL. I did consider the Tacoma, but the RL was hands down the one for me. If you didn't drive a Tacoma, I suggest you go take a test drive in one. Maybe it'll make you feel better about your purchase. This radiator thing is not a big deal.

 

Ditto on the Highlander! I bought one new in 2007 and it has had exactly 0, that's zero, Nil, Nix, issues with anything. Never been in the shop except for the oil changes and tire rotations I didn't feel like doing myself. I like my Ridge, but it will be a long hard look before I choose another Honda product. Speaking of which, I'm going to do the radiator in mine this spring. 2008 with 90k. If I can get pix I'll post but they don't look bad but I figure it's best to be preventative than reactive!

 

2006 RL with 76,000 mi at the time of swap. New England = Heavy corrosion!!

 

2006 RL with 76,000 mi at the time of swap. New England = Heavy corrosion!!

View attachment 70802

View attachment 70810

View attachment 70818

What rad is that one looks nice with brass fittings?

 

I still feel like there are two issues here. One, the obvious external corrosion associated with the Belleville washer. But the other hidden aspect is that the internal threads can't be inspected short of removing (and replacing) the radiator. I'm wondering if very mild external corrosion could mask a larger problem with the internal threads?

I do not have this settled in my mind yet.

FuriousGeorge? Yes, your external corrosion looks pretty severe. How do the internal threads look when you remove the fittings?

 

Getting ready to do a 100,000 mile service, thinking of going to a trans. cooler instead of a radiator change, completely eliminating the issue with trans/coolant failure.Leaving the radiator plugged where the trans. line connect. Any issues with this set-up? Paul

 

Bump, any thoughts??

 

A radiator is marginally more expensive than a transmission cooler. The ones i saw were around 60. I got a whole radiator for 120.

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Coolers run from $35 up, if I replace the radiator, I still have the potential of the same issue down the road. Thought was to eliminate the whole trans/coolant thing all together.

 

Unfortunately bypassing the internal ATF heat exchanger only prevents part of the problem. It will prevent mixing ATF and antifreeze but on a corroding radiator it won't prevent losing antifreeze so you are stranded just the same but without possible tranny damage which of course is a great thing!

That's the problem with the design in that if it fails you spill and possibly mix both fluids. I do consider it an enhancement if you separate the two and add a separate 2nd external ATF cooler because there is already one in the front grill.

I ran out of time, but my ideal fix would have included a replacement radiator, bypassing the internal ATF temp conditioner, and the addition of a second external ATF cooler somewhere in the front grill.

 

Don't use an oem radiator. There are some links on another thread to some aftermarket ones.

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