At how many miles have you had to replace your original radiator? Curious as it seems mine it on its way out but before I replace it I am going to make sure it is the problem. I currently have 97,xxx miles on my 2001 CRV.

 

my other crv just got its radiator replaced on the 198k mark on the clock....
if my father havent brought it to one of his friends "recommended" shop, it wouldnt
be replaced still... they did a full lube tune up-all fluids changed but i think they
forgot to replace the water with coolant when they did the flusing... too bad!

 

I've been replacing at least one per week. Mileage has ranged from under 75,000 to over 200,000.

Buy TYC part no. 2051 from Rock Auto for $80 (or anywhere else you may be able to find it). It's a rebadged Koyo. Even comes in a Koyorad box. Very good quality and fit; construction is aluminum single-row core with plastic tanks just like the OE rad.

 

Typically you don't Replace the radiator untill you notice it leaking. Check your radiator cap and thermostat first, most of the time they're the culprit's

 

Ouch! Not bad on the replacement there for having 198k miles.

Do those come with a lifetime warranty?

I checked out the radiator and I noticed that antifreeze has spit out at the top but no cracks. I let it sit idle for a while and didn't find any problems, thermostat seems to be working fine. One thing I did notice was that the fan never kicked on but the temp. needle stayed the same. Head gasket was replaced when the head was replaced by Honda about 2 years ago. Hoses were not leaking either so I think I am going to loop that fan switch to have the fan on all the time until I replace it. Can't think of anything else that might be causing that....

 

Found a crack on the radiator, but I still haven't seen/heard the fan kick on yet so I might as well replace the fan switch too.

 

mine lasted to just over 200k. it's a 97 model year.

started to develop a fine crack running horizontal in the middle just opposite the upper hose neck. looked like the back wall was just eroding away?

 

Hey!! That is exactly where the crack in my radiator is developing at!!

 

What he said.

 

Ok, turns out it was only the radiator. Had a crack in it, thermostat works fine, fan switch works fine, radiator cap is fine too.

 

Mine also recently cracked in the exact same place (165,000 miles). I'm going to say the crack is caused by a worn out/torn rear motor mount. This allows the motor to rock excessively, which in turn pulls repeatedly on the upper rad hose, putting undue stress on the top tank of the radiator leading to the cracks.

 

I had it checked and the motor mount was good though.

 

I just put a timing belt and water pump on mom's and noticed it was just starting to leak, same thing crack across from the water neck. 203,000kms.

 

This is common on all 1st gen crv's. I've been replacing them for 8 yrs @ the dealer I work for. No rhyme or reason- they just fail behind the upper hose outlet. It first starts off as a small spider web cracking then starts to seep coolant until it leaks out. I've done dozens of them that all fail in the same spot. Radiator top tank may not hold up because the plastic in that area was never thick enough(for the stress it goes under) when the tanks were formed from the beginning.

 

Ahhhh ok, so it is pretty common especially in that area! Thanks for the input!

 

FYI there is a quality aluminum radiator available for the CRV that is about the same price as a new OEM one I have one in ours and it has been great! Found it on eBay a while back...

 

Mine is cracked in the same spot. It has 245k on it. I spread some Honda Bond on it because im too lazy to mess with it and knock on wood it hasnt leaked for the past 5 months. Might get around to replacing it one day lol