Check the hose that crosses on top of the radiator under the air intake molding. The flimsy little plastic bracket broke, hose sagged and was hitting the radiator fan (very little clearance under there)...finally sliced a hole in the hose. Spewed antifreeze all over the engine compartment...luckily, had an exit to pull off safely and wait for flatbed (this was on Sunday). Only problem was that I was 180 miles away from home on the way back from visiting far away relatives. If you have a 5.7 (not sure if 6 cylinder designed the same way or not), I would advise you to check that once in awhile to make sure this poor design doesn't leave you on the side of the road.

 

Sorry for your troubles, but thanks for the heads up. I’ll take a look at mine tonight. Is the dealer covering this under warranty or was there something that caused the bracket to break other than a weak design?

Update: Checked my upper hose for clearance and was surprised to find the hose is only about 1/4" from the fan. You can't see the area without removing the intake, but you can feel it by reaching under the hose from the passenger side; it was pretty tight for me though.

-- Thanks MosDRT now I'm gonna be paranoid.

 

Could you wrap a metal sheath around that portion of hose to protect it in the event the mount fails or perhaps just add an industrial zip tie and eliminate any stress on the mount? <belt and suspenders method>

 

I am thinking of forming a 4”x6” piece of 8 ga aluminum to cradle the hose in place and mount it to the top of the fan shroud. I just need to figure out the most aesthetically pleasing way to mount it.

 

I'll take a look this weekend and rig something up to give me a little piece of mind. I think checking periodically as a habit would probably be just fine but we all know how likely that is! As ZCR1 noted, there is very little clearance there so need to be carfeul

 

So did you get any kind of warning light when it broke, other than an over-temp light after the coolant was gone?

If this part is really that susceptible to breaking, I would expect a recall, or a TSB on it soon.

 

no warning really, no steam blowing out of the hood (although I was going at highway speeds)...just saw my temp needle move up, then warning light went on (but by that time I was pulling off the exit)...temp got up to about 270 before I shut it off. They should have a TSB...they need to put 2 more brackets to hold the hose in place versus the one in the center.