Noticed small amount of coolant leaking from bottom of radiator on the drivers side.

Took it to the local Ford dealership, they wanted $1,000 for radiator and labor. After mentioning the AWA (After Warranty Assistance) and a conversation with the service manager the dealership agreed to pay half ($500).

Unhappy with the price I took it to my regular mechanic for an estimate - ended up paying $400 for radiator, labor, and system flush.

I have never had to replace a radiator with less than 50,000 miles on the vehicle. This is an obvious design flaw that Ford should be held accountable for.

NEVER AGAIN WILL I BUY A FORD!!!!!!

Bought this 2006 Explorer used in March 2008 with 30,000 miles on it. Noticed the fan would turn on really loudly and there was coolant on the ground at around 34,000 miles. Took it to the dealership (not where we bought it) and was told the radiator had a leak and needed replacement. Luckily it was under warranty and after waiting 3 weeks for the dealer to get a replacement in (hmm, should have been suspicious based on that fact!) the radiator was replaced. In October 2009, started noticing coolant on the ground AGAIN and had a pressure test done by our mechanic and he couldn't find a leak at that time. Last week, we came out from having dinner and there was a huge puddle under the car. Took it in at 51,000 miles to our mechanic who diagnosed a cracked radiator. The local dealership refused to do anything about it and I wasn't about to take it there to have it replaced for double the cost.

Just picked it up this evening and the mechanic mentioned that Ford wanted to sell him a replacement for $800!!! He found one that fit the design of the 2006 Explorer and after $580, this piece of junk is again in my possession. I plan on calling Ford, but am sure that they won't be willing to do anything - especially since I didn't go to one of their dealerships to have the work done.

I have owned many cars in my lifetime and have never had to replace the radiator once, let alone twice. Two radiators in less than 15,000 miles? Ford should own up to their faulty design. If it happens again, I'm dumping it for what I'm sure will be a loss. Guess I'll go back to the trusty foreign cars.....at least I know what I'm getting from them!

I bought this car a year ago, and i have many problems with this vehicle but recently i noticed a coolant leak and i thought it was a hose that came loose but it wasnt i took it to ford dealership to get it fixed since i had an extended waranty, They told me that they were gonna take a look at it, however they were not sure that my waranty was gonna cover the radiator problem, my suprise was that the $1600 extended waranty did not include cooling systems. I would like to see if this problem with this particular vehicle could be recalled because i see alot of complaints. We had to fix it on our own and that was a hastle knowing that we cant rely on the help of ford's waranty and they still charged me ninety-eight dollars to just confirm that the radiator was leaking.I mean common i could of known that. At that point i had to rely on after market parts which is less then half a price from what they were gonna charge me.I tried to get the radiator from many different places however most of them told me that they were in back order with that specific part, I was getting concerned about it, then i realized i wasnt the only one. DONT BUY THIS PIECE OF S#$!@#$^%$#&%$ CAR

We first noticed the leak after a long road trip in November 2009. We had just had the oil changed before the trip so we thought that the radiator had been overfilled. We continued to keep watch over our Explorer and noticed the puddle of coolant get bigger over the next few weeks. We couldn't imagine that our 3 1/2 yr old truck with only 39,000 would have any sort of radiator problems. Once the puddle got large enough for real concern we took it to a friend who owns a repair shop specializing in Ford parts since we have had HORRIBLE service from both the local dealerships in Amarillo. Our friend tells us that our radiator is made of mostly plastic and that it has a small crack in the bottom of it and when it heats up the coolant leaks out. He also tells us that there is a "Special Repair Bulletin" out from Ford but NO RECALL. This repair bulletin states that the radiator MUST be replaced (of course at the owners expense). We couldn't have been more surprised. Of course we were 6 months past our warranty expiring so this repair would be our cost. The mechanic starts looking for a new radiator and can't locate one from their normal suppliers, these suppliers are out of them (sold 60+ in one month) because of all the repairs. They finally find one and when it arrives it's for a 2005 Explorer...So, back to finding another radiator...now we are in week 3 of this repair and have been told the part is on the FedEx truck today...I'll believe it when I see it. We have been without our truck for 5 days now because the leak is so bad we don't want to have any further damage and more costly repairs.

FORD should be responsible for replacing for these faulty radiators. Apparently the "plastic" isn't working...

Wow I'm glad a found this site. I thought I would be one of only a few but apparently this is a Ford Problem! More like a much needed radiator RECALL! Its a overheating nightmare!!!!!!!!!! After reading the comments found on this website I'm looking to definitely get rid of my truck now! I will not nor would I recommend this product line to anyone. Though the truck's exterior is beautiful sitting on the driveway I will say, Thats not enough! If you're like most of us complaining here you purchased this vehicle (or any vehicle) to drive and enjoy it.. and unfortunately..........yup you know the rest... that's not what I received.

I see I'm not the only one. When I bought the car with 36,000 miles I noticed the coolant was empty. Since they were inspecting the car anyways, they did a pressure test and said they aren't sure why it was empty, but they can't find any leaks. 11,000 miles later I was sitting at a stop and my heat started blowing cold air and the thermostat was starting to climb. I checked the coolant and it was empty. I filled it just to find it empty again the next day. I never found any puddles under the car though. Brought it to the dealer today and they said I need a new radiator and it's close to $1000 (the part itself I found at www.rockauto.com for $150 so it's clearly a rip off).

Thankfully my extended warranty is covering because I know Ford will never do a recall if no one has died from it and it's too expensive a fix to do a voluntary recall. With the car industry tanking these days it would be smart of Ford to take a hit and recall something like this to show they stand behind their product and want to keep their customers.

Engine fan started making a ton of noise on acceleration after engine warmed up. I thought the fan clutch was going bad so I took it to dealership and they informed me my coolant reservoir is almost bone dry. They explain the plastic-aluminum couplings and how it is common to get leaks there. I hand the keys back to Ford in two months on lease so I wasn't interested in dropping $1k on repairs. I asked for a warranty extension since it was 800 miles outside of warranty and after negotiating Ford agreed to pay for 90% of the repair, leaving me with a $100 bill. They did the right thing in the end, but a radiator shouldn't fail with 36k miles.

I am so ticked at my local ford dealer. I have had my explorer in for service twice on an issue with leaking fluids. Once when it was only 2 years old, I was told it has "cracked hoses." I mentioned to them how many complaints I saw on the internet concerning radiator problems. Then this past summer (one month after a routine maint. visit) I notice I had no radiator fluid...bone dry!) So I called and told them that I notice that my engine fan kept kicking on/off constantly. I also said I noticed fluids under the vehicle. I was told..."Its summer and the fan/thermostat will do that." Typical, I should have stuck to my better judgment that something was NOT RIGHT!. Seeing the leaking fluid again I took the vehicle back in...I have a bad radiator. And it is not under warranty. $780 I was quoted. Had I forced the issue last time it would have been under warranty. What a bunch of crap. The radiators in these Explorers are junk!

OMG! I can't believe that so many people are having the same problems with their Ford "Exploder" like I am. I have forked out so much money trying to fix this leaking coolant problem. Ford doesn't know what it is so I had to take it to other mechanics to try to fix it. It has been in the shop so many times that I am embarrassed to say. The gear shift gets stuck in park sometimes and of course it always get stuck in the drive thru when I get my order and ready to move on.

With the economy tanking and American auto dealers shutting down, I thought it would be a great idea to support American car dealers. I am happy to say that I will never purchase another Ford ever again. Remember this Mr. Ford CEO: Bad news travels much faster than good news! It's embarrassing that my assistants drive Toyota and I have to depend on them for a ride to work.

Radiator leak hardly noticed 3,000 miles ago in July but recently the extra fan sound came on if the fluid was low when I accelerated. This sound caused me to notice the small leak. Leak was in the seam so it was not damage but failure of the product. I had the 5 yr/60 mile dealer warrenty BUT this was NOT covered since it was not part of the power train. After showing copy of these listed problems, dealer did reduce radiator list price from $674 to $425 and an additional 10% on parts and labor. Car was manufactured 11/28/05 so I think the issue may be a bad batch of radiators in the production line at that date. No other issues to date with the car. This is my 3rd explorer since 1993 and all were without issues.

I have racked my brain over the constant problem with my explorer! I finally found this website. I have the same problem that everyone else has mentioned. This vehicle is a piece of crap! I have replaced the water pump three times in less than a year and just now had to replace the radiator last month and I still have the same problem with it over heating and the fan running all the time. Now I'm being told maybe it needs a head gasket ($920.00). I can't kieep putting more money into a vehicle that is less than 4 years old! The fan stared running all the time over a year and a half ago and the dealership told me that was normal for this ford vehicle that there wasn't a problem. Also the gear shift keep getting stuck when I first bought the vehicle in 2006. Ford needs to do something about these defects. I will not buy another Ford ever!!!!!!

This was the 4th radiator we had replaced since about 37000 miles. we replaced it first in 2007 with an oem from ford. Then at about 52000 or so again with an aftermarket as i didn't want the cost of an oem.At about 61500 another leak, and the aftermarket supplier supplied me with a replacement.This was about feb.2009 and i did only have to pay the ASE certified techs labor at a reduced price.Then in late august it started to leak, so we began to investigate and found that thousands of fords have the same problem. Ford issued a new TSB and a new radiator to repair the problem but are TOTALLY UNRESPONSIVE to any help to remedy the problem. I have found that the original and a/market radiators have no bushings and are rigedlu mounted in the radiator support.The new ford part and tsb shows the correct installation.My conclusion is that there was frame flex from the rigid installation! If you have a new radiator installed make sure it is the updated part number and the tech follows the correct tsb...

It's comforting to know that I'm not alone. On the other hand, this is a big problem! After owning a 1999 Ford F150 for 10 years and putting 350000 kilometres on it, I have to say that it's true. Ford is built tough. That is... until I bought a slightly used 2006 Explorer Eddie Bauer with only 34000 kilometres on it. I have owned this vehicle for exactly 1 month and the radiator has already started leaking and I'm told, after getting it pressure tested, that it has to be replaced. I don't think bitching to Ford about this is going to do much since no one has been killed as a result of this obviously poorly constructed radiator. So no recall. I am wondering if anyone is aware of a better after market product that can be used to replace this piece of crap that Ford is installing? I believe in supporting North American made products, but if this is how Ford is going to stand behind their products, I will be buying foreign next time sad to say.