My radiator in my car finally crapped out...split the tank seam about 2 inches long...I have just under 148,000 miles on this original radiator...I know it is original because I have all major repair records from the 2 previous owners and could tell it had never been removed as I was taking it out...all clips unbroken, insulation not missing but old etc...Anyway I was wondering is this pretty good life for one of these cars...I think so seeing how much cooling it has to do and of course having the plastic tanks.....the radiator in my 2000 chevy 4x4 gave out at 125,000 and does not have to work nearly as hard I do not think...again just curious to other folks experience

 

I think you are better than average.
Did it split close to the DCCV?

 

you have esp Norri....right next to dccv...i had a hard time diagnosing between the two..finally the split widened and it was obvious...the dccv is only about 2 years old...looks good....hard to dodge the warm coolant...hold a flashlight...and look up...i have a pressure tester i used today with my son pumping it...just to make sure...still got a hairful of coolant but at least cold...working on stands by the way...this diagnosis really needs the car on a lift but oh well clothes and bodies wash up right

 

Back at that time (mid to late 90s when this car was being engineered) Ford's internal SPEC was 150k miles and/or 10yrs. At that same time we were transitioning into "world spec" type of specifications.
So at that timeframe we were increasing calcs and quality of components but were still yrs away from having real world and *public* use cases to study.

To answer your Q, yes I think a 12yr old car with 150k on it is a reasonable life cycle for the rad. (could it be better... yes)

 

I think the radiator did it's job and I would not be disappointed in replacing it at this late date. Just a normal wear and tear item.
Of course I have had radiators last 200K+ miles to so it will vary.
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My Experience: Both S-Types had radiator failure at 9 yrs and each was right around 110K miles.
All 3 X300's are still watertight at 20 + years and 130k to 236K miles, however.

 

just wondering...does the x300 have a single row core like the str