For those who had to replace a radiator on a Spartan chassis, what mileage?

[Craneboy302]

As I said before when I called Spartan it was after hours & the guy asked where I was & i told him that I was going to Mesa Az. He said I could drive there adding water along the way. I said didn’t think so since if it runs out of water it is a $43K engine. The drip wasn’t large but when I got back to Spokane & it sat over night when I started the engine to put it into the shop the check engine light came on so the radiator was empty.

[Jpcoleman]

With regard to the steering, I think I plan to get up under the coach and check all of the steering joints as well as any U-joints along the steering shaft prior to the steering box. I’ll bet there’s a loose ball joint. The ball joint recall was down this summer. I have read of too many occurrences of loose nuts/joints along the drag link and tie rods to not check that.

[Chuck1957]

Ours was replaced at approximately 15000 miles at Beaver coach in Bend OR
We put on another 15000 miles last year with no issues

We did stop in Orlando at a highly recommended alignment shop Josam truck after just leaving Middlebury
They checked the alignment as well as the drivetrain to find one of the u bolts broken on a rear axle
Said it was a good catch as it could have been catastrophe failure on the highway

Probably a good idea to have the drive train inspected professionally every few years

[Zenasitgets]

Originally Posted by rbr

First one at ~2400 in May 2015, again at ~24000 in October 2017.

We had our first rad replaced on our first trip in our then brand new 2015 Cornerstone. Say 2000 miles. The next one at about 18,000 July of 17.
We now require a 3rd radiator and are being told the labor is our expense. I'm not happy with Spartan and can't see how they could justify this being my expense. Not withstanding the warranty expiry 8 months prior. 4 radiators in less than 30,000 miles?
What a terrible way to treat a customer,, surely there must be options for us

[brobox]

Originally Posted by Zenasitgets

We had our first rad replaced on our first trip in our then brand new 2015 Cornerstone. Say 2000 miles. The next one at about 18,000 July of 17.
We now require a 3rd radiator and are being told the labor is our expense. I'm not happy with Spartan and can't see how they could justify this being my expense. Not withstanding the warranty expiry 8 months prior. 4 radiators in less than 30,000 miles?
What a terrible way to treat a customer,, surely there must be options for us

The only option that I am aware of if enough people have filed complaints with the NTSB. https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/
It is bad business to not stand behind a known defected product. Most radiators were replaced under warranty, therefore I doubt if many NTSB complaints have been filed.
If Good Sam's or FMCA have been involved in complaints, I don't know, but worth contacting.

I feel sorry for you having to go through this 4 times. Getting a radiator changed is not like going to the corner store for a loaf of bread. I had the expense and time of 500 miles to get mine changed while under warranty. There is not an approved Spartan Service Center on every corner and some do not what to change radiators.

Not good if the "new and improved" radiators are also failing.

[99phantoms]

Originally Posted by brobox

Not good if the "new and improved" radiators are also failing.

Are they?

[nagias]

Our 2016 Anthem has just developed a leak at 16K. We noticed a few red drops on the ground when we arrived at our current location. I placed a collection tray underneath but nothing has accumulated on it over night.



We have our 3 year service coming up in August at Spartan and am wondering if we should wait or try to get the issue addressed immediately. Will the leak get progressively worse over time?

[DeeGee]

Maybe, maybe not. That is, it could stay just dribbling when hot, or you could have all the coolant dump in one glorious flood. You pays your money and you takes your chances. I would get it looked at now. It's a warranty repair and can be done in many locations. August is a long time from now.

[tmark1955]

Originally Posted by Jpcoleman

My wife and I are considering a 2016 Anthem with 10,000 miles on the odometer. At what mileage did most owners experience the radiator failure that I’ve read about? The coach is just off warranty and I want to make sure enough mileage has accrued that this problem will show up.

We have a 2015. Replaced radiator at about 16,000. Spartan had some bad radiators in the system. They replaced ours under the 3 yr Warranty. Since you have a 16, hopefully your okay. That being said, hope you can also do it under the chassis warranty.

[lowejug]

on my 14 it was at about 30k when mine started to drip.. in my knowledge of this continuing radiator issue most reported in this mileage range but have read
at all milage it happening and some unlucky owners have had multiple replacements... I would budget 3 to 4 grand for replacement..

[RayPillar]

Got back from Winnipeg Lake trip and found my radiator was leaking. I am about 6 weeks out of the Spartan 3 year warranty. Spartan said they would cover the part but not the labor. So I was wondering if anyone had the the entire thing covered when JUST out of warranty and is there any recourse for this well known ongoing problem?

[lp5151]

1st one at 3000, 2nd one at 10,000, third one at 11,000...4th one....didn't wait for another failure....sold coach.

[philnail]

Only replaced one time at 70,000

I worked a deal with spartan on the cost then paid $800 to install

[lowejug]

Originally Posted by RayPillar

Got back from Winnipeg Lake trip and found my radiator was leaking. I am about 6 weeks out of the Spartan 3 year warranty. Spartan said they would cover the part but not the labor. So I was wondering if anyone had the the entire thing covered when JUST out of warranty and is there any recourse for this well known ongoing problem?

I had my radiator do the now famous drip at cool down and I was also just out of warranty.. I was able to get the whole job completed by spartan only because I had complained about this issue early on in my ownership and thankfully it was documented in there notes.. If I remember I had to kick and scream a bit but they did it... keep kicken and screaming.. you never know
as I also believe they should honor these junk radiators in definitely...