Rednroll

I've been monitoring this thread because I had a feeling I was going to need a radiator replacement and was looking for an upgrade while I was at it and the Mishimoto was at the top of my list.

I work in the development of OEM parts, where part of my job over the course of an 8 year span was to support our warranty department in doing analysis on the hard to reproduce intermittent reported failures. So I've become very acquainted in using warranty data in doing data analysis to give myself further insight when doing those deep dive failure analysis and working closely with warranty departments. I would generally agree with Steve's statements above in that if you've sold a lot of parts a majority would not fail but they are aware of a problem and are investigating to correct that problem.

For myself in speaking in warranty terms, an identified problem with somewhat good quality overall would generally fall into a baseline of 500 PPM (Parts Per Million) failure rate range. That's 500 parts out of every 1 Million parts sold or a more simplified understanding often discussed in the Warranty terms is C/1000 (Claims per 1000 parts) where 500 PPM would then calculate out to be a .5 C/1000 or 1 failure out of every 2000 parts sold may see some type of failure. Anything over that and the OEMs are in your azz and telling you that you have a major quality problem that is driving our warranty claims and needs to be addressed immediately with urgency. I was often brought in at those times when there was a difficult to analyze problem and we were going over 500 PPM to do my deep dive analysis and get things turned around quickly and diffuse the situation with our OEM customer. I was also brought in on times to additionally increase our quality performance when it was consistently hoovering around that 500 PPM baseline range, since our real end goal like everyone else is to achieve a 0 PPM failure rate. BTW, the customer I supported the most during my analysis was Toyota/Lexus where quality and reliability are a top priority.

The point I'm getting at with all this background, is that although I would generally agree with Steve that the "majority" of parts are not seeing a failure, it's when I see quite a few of you reporting having a failure and receiving a replacement part and then seeing the same repeated failure. The odds of that happening for any part which has even somewhat good quality are unfathomable. Therefore those reports lead me to believe that Mishimoto really has a major quality problem with this JK radiator. So while Steve's statement of a "Majority" of parts aren't seeing a problem are likely truthful, that only really means that >50% of the parts aren't seeing a failure and at that, Mishimoto could be seeing a 499K PPM failure rate which in the OEM world, they would stop their production of vehicles if necessary. I'm not saying Mishimoto is a 499K PPM but without having the exact failure rate information, I'm able to conclude based upon the same customer reporting the same problem on multiple parts, it's a very high failure rate that most in the OEM business would say your quality is out of control.

I wish Mishimoto the best of luck in getting this turned around, but that's the major reason I decided to go with an OEM radiator instead of taking a chance on the Mishimoto. I felt my odds were likely better on winning big on a casino roulette table betting red or black. I also wish the best of luck to those of you who decided to purchase a Mushimoto radiator.

Rednroll

P.S. Also as a side note for this discussion thread. Please try to be civil with Steve. I can tell you from experience, Steve has a very tough job right now and what Steve is doing is very admirable. Everyone understands you are likely upset if you are dealing with a prematurely failed radiator. It's an inconvenience but it's not the end of the world. Steve is the guy who is here to assist you with the problem and providing you with insight and is likely not the guy in charge of getting the problems corrected. Steve is the guy who has the balls to have an open discussion with you about the problems you're experiencing and being the face of Mishimoto. That doesn't mean he's the person that deserves to get punched in the face and kicked in the balls by you and for you to take all your frustrations out on. If you start attacking him, since he is that customer face person, I would not blame him for not responding to you and leaving you on your own to deal with the problem which could also impact others as well.

Mishimoto

Thanks Rednroll; I don't take any of this personally. Having worked on and built cars for over 10 years, I've had my fair share of product failures and I completely understand the frustration it causes. I take a lot of pride in my work and the work that my coworkers do, so I want to make sure they're represented well. We want to get these issues resolved just as much as our customers because we do put a lot of work into our products and we want them to be representative of that. I appreciate your insight in your previous post as well. We hold our warranty rate far lower than 50% and we are definitely looking to resolve these issues as quickly as possible; but as I'm sure you're aware, that sometimes takes a long time to do right.

We agree. You should be able to trust that our products won't fail you when you need them most, and we're working to make sure that's the case for every product and every customer. Right now, however, the most that I can do is make sure that you're getting what you need from us. I'm going to shoot you a PM so we can talk about the best way to make this right for you.

If anybody else has any questions, feel free to ask, I'll do my best to answer them completely.

-Steve

bkundingerii

All, it's been a little bit since I popped in on this thread but wanted to say:

The Griffin is working fantastically with no leaks!

Its been in for over 3,000 miles.

If anyone is looking into an all aluminum replacement to the Mishimoto

Griffin Part Number: 5-00152

I have it installed in a 2015 JKU Rubi and it fit perfectly. Just saying, if you want to cut your losses (and coolant) and most importantly stop with the 3+ hours on installing a new one every 2k miles.

gmag16

Now I'm nervous. I ordered the mishmoto based on the price I was able to get it for and the lifetime warranty. Usually I'll read reviews first but I was in such a panic because my 2nd OEM replacement by CSF failed after less than 3 years after the stock one started leaking (first replacement started leaking less than a year in), and having a 10+ hour drive coming up in a couple weeks, I didn't do as much research as I normally would. I bought this thinking it would be the last time I would have to replace a radiator. Please tell me improvements were made?? I have my winch cabling going thru my grille which means it takes longer to get the grille out so I can get the radiator out. Not to sound like a girl or anything but I will probably cry if this one starts leaking less than 2 years in.

Mishimoto

Hi gmag16,

We're still working on updates for this radiator, but it's important to remember that we have sold many of these radiators over the years that have never had an issue. So it's likely you may never have to replace this radiator. If you do have to replace it down the road, our lifetime warranty will cover your replacement and you will always get the most up to date design.

Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks!

-Steve

gmag16

Thanks for getting back to me Steve. I'll think positive and keep my fingers crossed. 😊

Mishimoto

No problem! You can always PM me here or email our customer service as well. I'm curious to know a little more about your other rad failures too, if you don't mind. How did the other rads fail (leak from the core, cracked weld) / did they fail in the same way?

Thanks!

-Steve

jsmittyund03

And....another leak, same place, same channel, third Mishimoto radiator...this is getting ridiculous. Now to decide whether it is a futile enterprise of getting a fourth replacement or just chalk it up as a bad investment.

Tightdog

Mine's leaking to and I guess I'm screwed because the previous owner installed it. Less than 10k miles. Smh