Not putting you down, just that we all are having to turn into engineers and mechanics now with GM leaving us high and dry last year. At least we will always have "Tricia" around in case we have trouble with our vehicles...

 

T.R.I.C.I.A,,,The Right Information Can Identify Anyone !

dont tell"her" anything

 

im getting ready to purchase an 07 h3x with 70k on it and found out it has to have radiator replaced. small hairline crack on bottom is what the gm dealership found. any tips on keeping this from happening on new radiator?

 

You have two options for avoiding the dreaded crack-
1) Don't drive the Hummer.
2) Get an all metal radiator.
I wish there was some type of conditioner you could use to keep the plastic from cracking, but I don't think anything will help. It seems the plastic cracks from age, vibration, heating/cooling cycles and system pressure. All related to usage, so if you don't drive it then it shouldn't crack, right?

 

Over 87,000 miles on our '07 no radiator problems and 37,000 on my '08 Alpha with out a problem.

 

I'm pretty sure those WI summers aren't bumping 110F everyday either. This summer we hit a record for consecutive 100+ days (around 70, had a break for a day and then another 3 weeks of them) but the temps were slightly cooler at 105-107 instead of having a couple weeks at 110-115 and then back down. At about 104 I see the radiator start struggling to cool things down unless I'm on the hwy. I think a larger all metal radiator and oil cooler is needed. I'm watching another thread about a custom aluminum radiator to see how that goes, the external tranny cooler they tried didn't cool as well as they had expected in the hills.

 

Ive been using Hummerforums to learn about how to tweek my H3. Found all I ever needed to know just from doing searches. But this tread saved me $750.00! Thank you all! Long story short. I took my 2007 H3 (49,300) to my local Caddy ( Hummer) dealer last week for the cracked radiator (stress cracked on the same drivers side and wear marks under the bolted support just like everone else). I showed up with this tread memorized and was ready for any arguement they may give. But after I showed and desrcibed the issue the service person actually admitted it was not the first time she'd seen it. I proceeded to tell her I fully expect GM to pay them for the repair and neither of us should foot the bill. If they couldnt work with me or if GM wouldnt come correct on a known issue, id just replace it myself and then everyone losses because they would lose a customer for life and Id have to spend $250.00 for an OEM radiator online and half my Saturday. Now all that said she said they should be able to work something out. Dropped it off, got a nice Caddy loaner for a day. She calls and says well...its gonna cost $850.00 to replace the radiator...pause...but we will only charge you a $100.00 "deductable". Sweet! I say. She goes on to say one of their tech thought it was my Volant intake and exhaust, and 35" mudders creating all the vibrations and inflating the issue somehow. But umm no. Anyway I came away with a new radiator, oil change and tire rotation for $160 ish. Thank you Hummer Forums!
PS. I took a "rat tail" file to the metal flang and trimmed it back about 16th inch to give the new one room to breath because even this one was right on the metal again.

 

Just checked my 06 that i purchased a couple of weeks ago. The top support does have the thick rubber grommet and did see a small wear spot in just below the support. Someone mentioned elongating the hole in the support but I was able to push mine forward enough to keep the radiator from touching the sheet metal. I know drtom will not approve but the radiator is still "free floating". When the bracket was removed the radiator actually moved away from the sheet metal, like there was stress there to begin with. There is now a gap between the foam where it use to touch, about 3/16". So hopefully thanks to the knowledge from you guys I have solved a problem before it happened. Now if I could just figure out the fargin braking problem I'll be in good shape.

 

The dealer is replacing the radiator this afternoon under warranty. 2008 H3, 40k miles
One thing - they wanted to charge me for a radiator flush ($150.00), seems to me they would include that with a new radiator?

ps - I just purchased the extended GM warranty for bumper to bumper 4yrs 48K ($2400), that should get me to 2016

 

If it under the factory warranty then you should not be any charge for a radaitor flush. Dont pay it, just an extra way for the dealer to take your money. My 08 H2 was in for warranty repair of the power steering pump, they tried to charge me for a power steering flush but I know better then that. The job was completed 100% amd all under warranty with no charge to me and yes the flush was included 'UNDER WARRANTY"