Cracked Radiator Core

[stevecg08]

Seriously?
If there was a design flaw we would have had a lot of coolant on the ground by now...
WOT

Just to be the devil's advocate, I would argue that the (now retired) space shuttles, had a design flaw in the solid rocket booster (SRB) O-rings. the extent of the damage from those was not found until STS-51-L or the 25th shuttle flight in a very big way (challenger breakup). Just because there hasn't been a string of problems, doesn't mean there's not a design flaw.

[dwvoss]

dwvoss, do you drive a lot of gravel roads?

We have family in Iowa, and I debated this last Easter whether to drive the Volt or not because of the large amount of gravel roads we would need to travel. Not so much because of radiator damage, but because of the general damage and rock dust infiltration.

Thanks, Bruce

No, I don't do a lot of miles on gravel roads. Maybe a couple of miles a week. And, for the most part, in these cases I'm not either following or meeting other vehicles that would kick up any rocks.

[fishhawk]

I took our Volt to the dealer yesterday for the battery mod etc. The service manager told me that he would need it a little longer due to a bew bulletin from GM. This instals a new guard in front of the battery cooling radiator. They need to remove the front bumper to make this change. Apparently the new one extends a bit higher or something like that. this mod just came out.

Hmm. Thanks for the tip. I'll have to ask my dealer about this when I take it in to get a dent fixed (happened when they replaced the rear emblem).

[scottf200]

I took our Volt to the dealer yesterday for the battery mod etc. The service manager told me that he would need it a little longer due to a bew bulletin from GM. This instals a new guard in front of the battery cooling radiator. They need to remove the front bumper to make this change. Apparently the new one extends a bit higher or something like that. this mod just came out.

Please expand on this: "bew bulletin" -- what is "bew" and can you get a bulletin number?!? (or was bew supposed to be new?)

[DonC]

I took our Volt to the dealer yesterday for the battery mod etc. The service manager told me that he would need it a little longer due to a bew bulletin from GM. This instals a new guard in front of the battery cooling radiator. They need to remove the front bumper to make this change. Apparently the new one extends a bit higher or something like that. this mod just came out.

Most interesting Maynard. Thanks for the alert.

[an_outsider]

The new coolant radiator guard goes up an additional 3" or so.

Hi,

Is it too much asking, if reasonably feasible, to have a picture of the new updated radiator guard?

Thanks in advance

[scottf200]

Yes, it is not an easy thing to see. You can see the guard, but unless I had taken a before and after photo, you would not see the difference. If WOT or someone from GM could take a picture of the old and new guard sitting on a bench or floor next to each other, that would be much better than trying to see the difference from the ground in front of the car. The idea is simple. This battery coolant radiator hangs below the grill area and just above that flexible air dam that everyone complains about scraping on their driveway. You can see it clearly by looking in the opening at the lower part of the bumper. If you slam into a high parking lot curb you could break it open. If a rock flies up it could easily hit the guard that sits in front of the cooler to protect it from those stones. The new guard goes up 3" higher. The real important deal is the item in the battery tunnel mod, (which is a stupid media driven deal as I see it), that upgrades your coolant level sensor and will shut the car down if you ignore the warning.

Does your paperwork list a bulletin number or can you get it from your dealer. It would be nice for other users to know and make sure we have a list of all things we want done (with numbers) before we go in. Thanks much!

[fishhawk]

Does your paperwork list a bulletin number or can you get it from your dealer. It would be nice for other users to know and make sure we have a list of all things we want done (with numbers) before we go in. Thanks much!

Yes, please. My dealer was unable to find any such bulletin.

[voltowner]

They found mine leaking when I brought it in for the upgrades too. They saw where the bumper had been pushed upwards on the drivers side and thought it hit the bottom of the radiator jarring it. Not enough to do any visable damage to the radiator at all. They told me that it is a metal core with plastic wells on the sides and the junction between them is sensetive.
It was a very slow leak somewhere in the seal between them. Since I was having to pay $1,200. for both the part and labor I had them replace the plastic bumper while they were at it. The only damage there was not visable unless looking from under the car, a crack on the bottom on the drivers side. But I hope that it would make it stronger. It seemed that the plastic straps that hold the fins down the center of the front grill had come loose from the fins inside so had them replace that too since they had to take everything off. So it all same to around $2,000. There was no sign of any hit from the front so must have been someting from the bottom pushing up. I watch the parking bumpers and they don't seem tall enough but the only thing I can think of. Roy Volt #1019

[voltowner]

Maynard, Than you for this. I asked the service guy if the radiator could be moved up a bit. But of course not.... Hopefully this guard will save me another costky repair... Actually after reading about all the others that have had problems and the dealer saying that the plastic to metal was delicate I was surprised that GM didn't at least compensate for the part. Labor was the most expensive part of the repair. Roy. Volt #1019