I dropped my car off at the dealership this past weekend for an oil change and rear diff oil change. A few hours later the service advisor called me and said that the technician found my "thermostat housing" to be broken, and also coolant to be leaking from some hose. My warranty just expired near the end of last month.


Has anyone had this issue? What exactly is this part? It doesn't seem right to me since my car has never overheated. I haven't even see any leaking on my garage floor. My car is fairly new (2012 w/ 35K) and is always parked in the garage. I am thinking they are just trying to find non-existing issues to get me to pay since my warranty is expired.


Can anyone give me advice on what I should do to see this problem is real? I currently have their loaner car and planning to stop by today after work. Thank you.

 

Seems odd to me. Post photos please. It' is possible that they broke it?

If it's a small leak near a clamp you might not lose enough fluid to overheat but you'd very possibly smell it or have some leakage on the floor when you park.

 

Ask them to take you to your vehicle and show it to you.... It's your vehicle. You have the right to see it.

 

When I got to the dealership to inspect my car, the service advisor somewhat changed the story. He was saying that my coolant was leaking, but nothing was broken. I asked to see the issue in person with a technician. They brought my car to a service bay and showed me that my coolant was leaking from the connection between the hose and thermostat. With their extended mirror and flashlight, I was able to see the greenish-white calcium looking build up that accumulated on the underside of the hose.

They advised me that the issue is not that big a deal yet, but should probably look into getting new parts to fix the leak. I would need to buy a new hose (connecting from radiator to thermostat) and also a new thermostat housing.

The technician claimed that if I attempted to put a new hose on the mouth of the "corroding" (from the dried up coolant) thermostat, then the seal would not be 100% and could leak again. Is this a true statement? Can't I Just clean the thermostat fitting and squeeze on a new hose without buying a completely new housing?

 

No need to replace the rad hose.

Simply remove the hose from the thermostat housing, scrape/remove any crud on the thermostat housing and check/remove any buildup inside the hose. Attach hose and tighten clamp to spec.

The dealer may not want to do this, as they don't get to sell any parts. BUT rad hoses on Japanese cars last a looooooong time and your car is not old enough to have a lot of corrosion on the thermostat housing.

 

Unless the housing is cracked, no it's not true. Yes, you certainly can. Replace the clamp as well and make sure it's positioned properly when you reinstall it.