I love my Element-but I can't believe that after 4 mos. of ownership and 2600 miles that I'm expected to pay 1600 for a new radiator because "a rock flew up and hit it" as Canyon Honda in Glenwood Springs, Co. says. Any help or suggestions?

In either case, the job should be about $750-800. The part (condensor or radiator) costs them roughly $200 (list should be $265 for the condensor, $290 for the radiator), and there's about four hours labor to replace.

They're gouging. Get a quote from another dealer or an independent shop. Bottom line is to take it elsewhere.

($2 and a few minutes of your time for the rain gutter screen mod would have saved all of this.)

my chysler sebring convertible suffered such damage in fall and when detected the next warm day, the system took on enough damage to require a new clutch and compressor, dryer, condenser, and other odd ends and bits. the total repair cost was quoted to me as 1800.00. now the E has a much more vulnurable design to it and i was paranoid of it from the day i took possession. i opted to spend 85.00 for the two peice grille insert set (black powder coat) from coastal metals . http://www.my-element.com/two_piece_element_grill_guard.htm

im pretty happy with it. and after notching out a small bit from the bottom one (so i could retain the front lisence plate ) it all went together pretty easy.

sorry to hear that you caught the magic bullet. good luck

best
D.

Yep... I didn't consider that there could be collateral damage... but even if the compressor was trashed, too, it should not cost $1600 to fix. That kind of money will get you the entire air conditioning system (inside and outside parts) including the installation.

It would be "please explain what I'm getting for my $1600."

May I reccommend a Cloud Rider Grill for future damage prevention? I love mine and they are one of our sponsors!!!
Amy

This subject came up last may and there were many solutions.

Here is one from summit racing called a universal grill and works great.

But we all know that it is a bad design. The condensor is incredibly vulnerable. We're all having to buy grill guards out of necessity, regardless of whether we spend <$5 for the Home Depot solution or go for the more expensive versions.

I got a Cloud Rider myself, and I really like it, but I don't think I should have had to buy it.

[$2 and a few minutes of your time for the rain gutter screen mod would have saved all of this.)quote]

Would you please elaborate?[/quote]

Try this one (http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3803) for starters.

The #1 mod on the forum is making your own lower grille from rain gutter screen to prevent damage to the A/C condensor (or radiator, for those without A/C). The first errand in our E after bringing it home was to Home Depot (and then Ace Hardware, HD only had brown and white) for black plastic gutter screen.

The lower radiator area is astoundingly vulnerable to road debris. Even in just the trip home from the dealer and the round trip to the hardware stores there were three "hits" on the condensor fins.

Why Honda has not responded to this glaring design defect completely mystifies me.

coule be for a number of reasons. the least of which is planned obsolesence. one reason could be bean counters, (remember those? the death of the american auto industry could be attributed to these jokers, nice to see they found employment with the japanese ;) )
a number of honda models are driving around with no protection to the condenser these days. its foolish. plain and simple. and frankly it isnt cultural is it? i mean really, the japanese roads are free of road debris?

i personally chalk it up to what seems to be hondas corporate attitude of burying its head in the sand when it comes to listening to its customer base. the dealerships know, and nod in sad agreement. why isnt honda listening and reacting? guess business must be good!

best
D.

Thanks for the prompt reply. After my nap I'm off to the hardware store.

Another glaring omission, IMO, is the absence of a skid plate protecting the gas tank. Honda rightly warns that the E is not an off road vehicle but hazards remain for the average driver such as highway debris or being high-boarded on a muddy, secondary road. Punctured gas tank + source of ignition =Molotov ****tail.

The Element is a Honda first for me and I'm somewhat taken aback at Honda's lethargy at addressing the grill vulnerability as well as the windshield issues. And I disagree that the problem is with American mfg. Nonsense. I bet they are well aware of the situation but somehow think they can wait it out and the issue and it will fade away. Classic.

I've experienced none of these problems and I'm pleased with its performance. No rattles or cracks so far but I await July when spring arrives and the thing thaws out.

i would love some sort of well made skidplate to protect my E's fuel tank. if i had a plasma cutter, id make one!

i even think plate aluminum would be better than what is there now.

anyone got facilities etc. to make something like this?

best
D.

(i would love some sort of well made skidplate to protect my E's fuel tank. if i had a plasma cutter, id make one!)

If I was still on the farm I think making a skidplate would be fairly easy as I had all the stuff needed to do so. The tricky part might be attachment-I'm paranoid about welding anywhere around gas. I guess it would'nt be too difficult removing the tank but then it becomes a project. A neighboring farmer is a master welder but old fashioned. He would want to make one double strength and weigh 50 lbs. But if I frequently drove freeways or rough secondary roads I'd get/make one for sure. [/quote]

AN style wire harness clamps to mount to the cage surrounding the fuel tank. you can get them in steel with rubber insulation too?

then it would be a matter of bolting it up. or tricker yet. use camlocs or dzus fasteners to attach for quick release to service the fuel system if one had to in a pinch..

just some idears. lol

best
d.

I owned a Mitsubishi Montero before my Element. Let me tell you what a difference this is! Anyway, from owning that vehicle, I am heading to a custom shop here in Columbus that is going to work with me to rig skid plates for the fuel tank and a small one in peices that attaches to that silly bar cage thing under the drivers side. I already have a gouge in that plastic from I don't know what and I haven't been offroad with it!

I really like this vehicle but there are some glaring weaknesses. At any rate, I will do it myself with some help of course, and get what I want. I'll let you guys know how it all works out and then photograph it to show you the look. Plate Aluminum is what we will use to add just a little more protection.

I already did the grille thing from rain gutter guard. GOt a brown one, painted it black with this black plastic paint and it looks great and really works. Stay in touch all! :D

Michael in Ohio

Trust me from experience it will take all of you guys and gals to write letters and call Honda with complaints. I wrote a letter to Honda but they said nothing could be done because, 1) they can't be held responsible for something that flew off another vehicle and hit my condensor, 2) They are not aware of the problem because not enough people have complained and 3) they said Honda is not the only vehicle with a grille like that. Clearly they were smoking the dope when they said #3 to me. I have looked at other SUV's and vehicles in general and I must say the Element is the most vulnerable. It really pisses me off but in order to make noise we need to do it in numbers.

Mr. A

bummer about your radiator. I spent about $8.00 and put in a piece of gutter guard from Lowes and fixed it with black wire ties and it totally protects my condenser. I have in fact seen several SUV's with an open grille underneath. The Porsche Cayenne for one! I couldn't believe it!

Good luck with this.

Michael

Okay, I am in the works with a guy who works in metals and he is designing what may be the berries for a light weight and tough fuel tank cover. It will have a sloping front side and cover the bottom. It is aluminum and very simple. When the thing gets installed, I will photograph it and let you all see it and Bob's your Uncle!

Michael

How are you going to test this aluminum fuel tank shield? Seems that if you ran over a rock big enough to hit the unprotected fuel tank, it would mash the shield into the tank. I'm not sure that would be much of an improvement.

paulj

[quote:3c0aa7abf5=" "]How are you going to test this aluminum fuel tank shield? Seems that if you ran over a rock big enough to hit the unprotected fuel tank, it would mash the shield into the tank. I'm not sure that would be much of an improvement.

paulj[/quote:3c0aa7abf5]

I think that even if it pushed the shield up against the tank, it would at least spread the load and reduce the possibility of a puncture or ripped wires/hoses. Probably still not too great, but better than nothing.

Bill

I think that even if it pushed the shield up against the tank, it would at least spread the load and reduce the possibility of a puncture or ripped wires/hoses. Probably still not too great, but better than nothing.
I agree. I'm not happy with the factory arrangement. It might give some protection against, say, ending-up cattywompus against a curb or a too-high speed bump, but off-road dealing with a pointy big rock? Useless.

Changing this to some manner of mild armor plate - even if aluminum - has the potential of offering more and better protection while improving ground clearance at the same time. This is a "win-win" in my book.

Any idea what the gas tank is made of? It is not magnetic, and has notation on the bottom that looks like molding information. I am guessing some sort of plastic. Sometime in the past I saw a description of the gas tank for either the CRV or Element, but can't find it on the current Honda web site.

I can imagine how a tank made from sheet steel would get damaged from a rock. It would dent, possibly get a hole from a sharp rock, and split at a seam when seriously deformed. But I don't know what would happen to this plastic tank. It might flex or otherwise absorb a pretty hefty impact. In that case, an aluminum sheet might not add much, Maybe a soft deformable coating would add more protection.

There is also the question of what size and shape of a rock would hit the gas tank or its cage before hitting some other part of the car, such as suspension or exhaust parts.

I may have a partial answer. My wife drove over a border stone in a cemetary. I wasn't there so can't say anything about the size or angle of approach. The impact apparently made quite a noise. The stone left gouge marks on the outside edge of the fuel tank cage, on the rear jacking point, and on the underside of the plastic sill. It also broke a tab connecting the sill to the rear fender. I fixed that last bit of damage with a couple of zip ties. So the car probably cross over the rock in a turning motion until it hit something like the cage, and then past the jacking point and rear wheel.

I suspect most aftermarket 'protection' items are good for little more than show. Few are engineered well enough to provide any real protection. I am sure there are fabricators with enough off road experience themselves, who make real protection items for Jeeps and pickups. But even that experience may not be enough to guide them in adding protection to a radically different underbody geometry such as the Element.

paulj