Great question that deserves an answer.

Also, if a radiator does NOT have the rust problem, can a washer be changed to keep the issue from happening?

 

Not an answer to your main question, but you can take a phone and click a few pictures in the general area of the fittings. The passenger side is a bit easier and the drivers side. My drivers side had more rust than the passenger side.

 

I swapped out the radiator in my 09 with an aftermarket one at 110,000kms. I took pictures of the original(easier to see with digital camera) and the connections for the transmission heater looked non corroded. I swapped it out anyway after reading the problems on this form. When I looked closely at the original fittings when disassembled I would have to say they still looked like new. I think the rad change is preventative maintenance if you are keeping the vehicle for the long term.

 

Thanks, Kootbiker. My 2009 doesn't have the distance on it yet, but it's interesting to hear how it's going. Let's here from some more preventative maintainers.

 

They have the same fitting and it rusts from the inside out. I just replaced my 06 at 114k and it looked near brand new.

I'm not sure if it's just coastal and super cold areas or if a garage plays a part but mine were nothing like pics I've seen of rusted ones and looked like they had 25k on them.

 

They have the same fitting and it rusts from the inside out. I just replaced my 06 at 114k and it looked near brand new.

Ok so this is the answer then? They are exactly the same radiator, with the same problem?

 

Since I can get a new Radiator for $109 for my 2006 with a lifetime warranty, I'm just about to make the purchase and call it preventative maintenance.

However, I know when I take mine apart it will be fine as the Ridgeline has never been exposed to a salty road or extreme temperatures for any significant duration.

It seems like all we need is a washer that will not corrode and new o-rings to remedy this issue.

Will a copper "crush type washer" be better?

 

However, I know when I take mine apart it will be fine as the Ridgeline has never been exposed to a salty road or extreme temperatures for any significant duration.

The problem experienced with older ones is not an environmental issue. It is a design issue with dissimilar metals experiencing a galvanic reaction inside the fitting.

 

You won't have a washer. The new one will have fittings already installed and you just put the hoses on it.

 

Did you replace hoses along with the radiator? I think we have similar mileage.

 

Radiator hoses but not tranny ones.

 

That is good to know about it rusting from the inside.

On that note, I am a bit fanatical about using distilled water with a 50/50 mix of HOAT antifreeze. I know from other vehicles, that water from different areas of the country can wreak havoc with aluminum cooling systems.

I can take a picture and show the mineral deposits that collected inside a cooling system pipe on a vehicle that spent the first 18 years using coolant mixed with water from Tarrant County TX. I guess there is something in a particular water source's Ph that reacts differently with cooling system metals.

I remember the local water in Brandon FL was extremely hard and people used water softeners with salt tablets to soften the water.

 

my inlaws live near there in the lakeland area. their water is horrible. it's full of phosphate. you can smell their water from across the room, especially if you are taking a shower. all of the faucets get some nasty crud on them from the water.

 

What is HOAT AF?

Of course the Honda coolant is pre-mixed... no need to add water of any flavor.

Regarding distilled water, we've learned to use that in our coffee maker too.

 

Regarding distilled water, we've learned to use that in our coffee maker too.

Off-topic: Distilled water has no minerals and other "impurities" that some claim our bodies actually need. Of course, companies selling distillation systems disagree. I remember bottles of distilled water used to contain a printed message that said something to the effect of "not suitable/recommended for drinking". I don't know if they still do or not since I've not purchased distilled water since steam irons started requiring tap water several years ago. It is usually stocked on the shelves right beside bottles that are specifically labeled "drinking water".

 

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Back on topic:

You can safely bypass the "Transmission" part of the radiator by running the lines directly to\from the transmission fluid cooler.

To keep the radiator leak free if it develops an internal issue, Loop the transmission part of the radiator back into itself.

No fuss, no muss. Problem solved permanantly.

Really? After seeing it up close swapping it how would one pull this off?

 

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Why didn't Honda do that? What is the reason for running it through the radiator? My dad lost a 35k tranny in an aerial truck (he sells them, not his bill) with the same setup. There must be some logic behind the thinking.

 

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Thanks Tribble. Since you did this and live in a colder part of the state than me I guess I could try it. Only problem is I replaced mine and it's all hooked up.

 

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Don't get me wrong, I have not done it on my ridge yet. I have however, done it on my old Xterra. And i do plan to do it to the ridge when i do the TB/WP/etc service.

This is a "Common" problem on vehicles from many different makes, on many different models.

It was a particularly nasty problem on Xterras, but very simple to bypass because the hoses all were easily accessible. and no new hoses were required. So much so that it was a stickied as a recommended maintenance step for any new/used Xterra on my last forum. It's been done thousands of times.

Now, here's a little bit that i left out. "Most" trucks, have a thermostatic bypass built into the ATF cooler. The ATF Cooler is only active when the fluid reaches a certain temperature (only reached when towing etc). This is because ATF works better when it's hot.

Now, there is a small amount of cooling ability lost by bypassing the radiator, but the ATF cooler will kick in as needed (some have installed a secondary ATF cooler without a thermo in very high temp areas like when towing in arizona, most there have the extra one anyway). While i have never heard of a problem without a secondary, it "may" be a good idea to change your ATF fluid on the "Severe" schedule instead of the regular one as the ATF fluid will be reaching the higher "towing" temperature more often.

I've seen people sandwich the Hayden ATF cooler in between the A/C condenser and the radiator. Others will place the cooler between the radiator and the fan. I'm not sure how much clearance we have available for installing the cooler in any location other than in front of the A/C condenser coils. I'll take a look to see how much effort is involved versus just picking up a new radiator for $109.

Actually I found one of the following Hayden cooler in my garage a couple days ago and I have plenty of high temp hydraulic hose so I won't need to purchase anything if I go this route.

 

Ok sorry going to redirect this since it got off topic. Still haven't had a definite answer on my question: Are the radiators the same and have the same exact problem?

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So still no one has a direct absolute answer? Is the fitting the exact same as the 06-08 models? I haven't seen anyone with 09-and up models with this problem, so has anyone with those models had this problem or is this not a problem?

 

To my knowledge no one with a 2009 or later has had a failure on this forum yet.
Is this because they changed something in the 2009's and up, or are they too new yet for this problem to occur?

Time will tell...

 

To my knowledge they still build them the same.

 

Those with new Ridges could take some pictures of their fittings. Particularly those living in the North. Of course, this will not show what is going on around the fitting inside the radiator but the presence of corrosion on the outside would certainly point towards the continued use of a plain steel washer that is prone to corrode both from environmental exposure as well as dissimilar metal reactions.

If corrosion is present then as time goes on it would seem likely that a few failures will occur . . .

 

So I still am trying to find an actual answer to this question. I do see that the part numbers are different for these years of Ridgeline:
06-08: PN#19010-RJE-A52
09-13: PN#19010-RN0-A52
So...... are the metal washers the same? I haven't seen anyone with the newer ones rusting up and killing the transmissions, but wasn't sure if time would just tell but you would think by now there would be some 09-10 starting to blow as well, especially up north. I'm going to take a look at my '10 after my next oil change and see how mine look. Since I'm in Ohio and we have a to of salt used in the winter and I'm around 67,000 miles so I was thinking my would maybe start to show signs of something....
Anyone actually know????

 

Maybe a generic question for Csimo:
Hey Joe, do you know if there is anyway we can get info below part number level.... such as materials lists or spec sheets that might indicate what specific materials are used for various parts.... in this case the interfacing parts between the radiator & fittings???

 

Still no insight into this?

I'm going to try and get some pictures of mine during my next oil change and see if I can get better ones than I did before and then post them on here.


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I've been trying to keep up with all the radiator threads, but I still haven't seen anything on this yet.
Has anyone found any proof that the radiator on the 09+ models have the same problem as the 06-08 models?

I'm heading to the Cleveland auto show next month and if I don't really see anything I really want, or if I decide to not want a car payment again, I'll be keeping my Ridgeline. I'll probably have to get the timing belt and all that done before next winter. If it's still a problem I'll get the radiator swapped out with a Spectra at the same time.


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From what I understand, the cooler connection remained the same and unchanged for all model years.
In 09'+ Honda moved one of the cooling temp. sensors from in front of the thermostat housing down to the lower radiator housing, hence the different model numbers on radiators for different model years.

 

From what I understand, the cooler connection remained the same and unchanged for all model years.

In 09'+ Honda moved one of the cooling temp. sensors from in front of the thermostat housing down to the lower radiator housing, hence the different model numbers on radiators for different model years.

Thank you for the response. I guess if I decide to keep the truck I will get everything replaced at the same time to be safe.


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