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QUESTION:I purchased a home two years ago that has an eight year old Goodman
GMPN120-5 gas furnace that was just diagnosed with a cracked heat
exchanger. When you look inside three of the heat exchanger tubes you
see straight line "seams" that run up the left side of the tubes about
six inches away from the opening of the tubes. None of the other tubes
have these "seams". I call them "seams" because they are straight
lines and not jagged lines that one might expect from corrosion- or
stress-induced cracks. Upon discovering these "seams", the technician
condemned the furnace without doing a CO test and is recommending
total replacement (at an estimated cost of $2,600) rather
than replacement of the heat exchanger which is under parts warranty
but would be costly to replace due to excessive labor involved (about
8 hours he says).
My questions are: Is this a reasonable diagnosis? Are these "seams" a
problem? Should a CO test be performed even with a visual inspection
revealing cracks?
ANSWER: 1) If you dont like the diagnosis, get a second opinion.
2) If you want to get a new furnace from the first guy, tell him you
want to see the cracked heat exchanger when it is removed to satisfy
your curiousity.
3) If you want to replace only the heat exchanger, get another bid.
This way, you will get to look at the heat exchanger but you most
likely wont be able to keep it as it has to be sent back under
warranty.
4) Dump the Goodman and get a real furnace.
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