I replaced my oil furnace two years ago - it was 37 years old

The A/C I replaced with a Heat Pump at the same time was twenty-two years old.

Both my oil furnace and A/C were working fine when I replaced them. I made a preemptive strike. lol

many new residential furnaces have 20 year warranty on their heat exchangers

secsteve,

I would get a 2nd opinion.

Where is the furnace located?

The furnace depending on model has a 20 year warranty.But you don't see to many cracked ones in 10 years unless it is in a package unit.

Well, I was right. Called American Standard and sure enough, the heat exchanger is under a lifetime warranty. So it'll only cost us about $400 for the part, freight, and labor.

Sure beats the heck out of replacing the whole furnace.

I think a lot of heat exchangers crack due to a poor installation. If the furnace is running too hot it puts more stress on the metal. Verify the furnace is operating below the maximum allowable temperature. The furnace temperature is a function of the blower fan speed. If the speed is too low, the furnace will run hot. The furnance venting should also be checked. Inadequate venting will also cause the furnace to run too hot.

My Carrier furnaces were 25 years old when I replaced them. I never had the heat exchangers inspected, but they were preforming well the day I replaced them.

You are lucky that American Standard honored the lifetime warranty on the heat exchanger and it only cost you $400. Typically, labor is much higher than that.

I've come to realize that manufacturers typically look for excuses to void the warranty. The most common excuse is "bad installation". They will find something wrong even one of their certified installers performed the work.

How do u replace the heat exchanger? Your getting a new part? What part is that? I thought a new part would be new furnace?

joe, I have no idea how the heat exchanger is replaced and that's the tech's job. The new part is a heat exchanger.

American Standard said the part can be replaced, not a whole new furnace.

hamconsulting, as it turns out what you wrote was part of the problem. You mentioned to have the venting checked and as it turns out, the ventilation is inadequate. The repairman noted that the space was small and when the doors are shut, the furnace has to work harder. He's checking on a couple of ways to fix that problem. It could be as simple as putting a grill and vent above the furnace to allow fresh air to get in. There is a metal plate above the furnace where this could be installed.

Thanks for the tip.

Thanks for giving me the credit, but it was mike_home who suggested that the venting be checked.

SECSTEVE, GO GOOGLE "HEAT EXCHANGER SCAMS" I think this guy was trying to pull a fast one on you. also, look here on these forums:http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hvac/msg1018203516670.html?11

I'd think hard about using the people who just wanted to replace the thing, to replace the heat exchanger. If they were a decent company, they'd look at the warranty situation or by rights should know about stuff like that.

Tech said heat exchanger was bad. U did not say tech mentioned it could be fixed. U only said tech said u could replace furnace for 3k. U find heat exchanger can be fixed under warranty for 400 after contacting furnace manufacturer? My house had 37yr old furnace with no fresh air intake. Used house air for combustion. I added fresh air intake 10yrs ago. Central air died last yr. furnace was still working fine. This low air intake flow sounds like bunk.

Have him show you the crack when the exchanger is pulled...