Son's 2017 2.0L is slowly losing coolant--a few questions

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My son is in college and was recently home for Christmas. I changed the oil in his 2017 2.0L Escape like I always do. This time, however, I saw that the coolant was below the low line. That has never been the case. It has 53K miles on it, so my first instinct is to have him take it to a dealer ASAP in case it is something major since it is still under the powertrain warranty (and since he is currently on Christmas break). Does this seem like the appropriate course of action? Does anyone know if Ford will charge a diagnostic fee if they don't find anything wrong? I'm not in a hurry to spend money for nothing, but it seems like it is something that we should get checked out.

I've done some googling and see that there are issues with some of these engines where the coolant is leaking into one of the cylinders. So far, his engine is running fine and there are no check engine lights so I'm hopeful this coolant leak is something more minor. Has anyone else out there with this engine experienced a slow coolant leak that turned out to be a relatively minor issue? This is more just to satisfy my curiosity. I guess I'm just curious who out there has had coolant slowly disappear in their Escape and what the issue turned out to be.

Thanks in advance!
 
I'd get it checked just to be safe. Should be no charge, but even 70-100 bucks for piece of mind......
 
Originally Posted by daves87rs
I'd get it checked just to be safe. Should be no charge, but even 70-100 bucks for piece of mind......

+1
 
I've had a slight loss over summers but its been ever so minimal. I guess you could have it analyzed to see if its just losing its ability to function. Occasional times a lower or upper can ever so slightly seep especially in local city driving during summer. My guess is just a clamp loosened up and thats it.
 
My old boss had a 2016 1.6 Ecoboost Escape.
Despite being low mileage and used only for highway commuting, it also started mysteriously consuming coolant.
She tried taking it back to Ford, but after being given the typical excuses "oh, we have to monitor it for so many miles/months blah, blah blah..." she decided to trade it in on a new Hyundai Santa Fe.
 
I'd bring it in asap and tell them that it's definitely losing coolant (rather than "it might be losing coolant").
I made that mistake with my 2011 Chevy Cruze and the dealer BS'd me all the way until the warranty expired...I eventually traded it in. I can't see how they can charge you when it's under warranty and there is an issue.
 
If under warranty I'd get it checked by the dealer honoring the warranty. Out of warranty I'd pressure test the cooling system myself to either rule out a leak, or find it. If I were afraid of a diagnostic charge I'd pressure test the cooling system myself, then if I found a leak depending on what was leaking, eg head gasket, I'd bring it in for warranty repair, and play dumb.
 
Originally Posted by mrdctaylor
My son is in college and was recently home for Christmas. I changed the oil in his 2017 2.0L Escape like I always do. This time, however, I saw that the coolant was below the low line. That has never been the case. It has 53K miles on it, so my first instinct is to have him take it to a dealer ASAP in case it is something major since it is still under the powertrain warranty (and since he is currently on Christmas break). Does this seem like the appropriate course of action? Does anyone know if Ford will charge a diagnostic fee if they don't find anything wrong? I'm not in a hurry to spend money for nothing, but it seems like it is something that we should get checked out.

I've done some googling and see that there are issues with some of these engines where the coolant is leaking into one of the cylinders. So far, his engine is running fine and there are no check engine lights so I'm hopeful this coolant leak is something more minor. Has anyone else out there with this engine experienced a slow coolant leak that turned out to be a relatively minor issue? This is more just to satisfy my curiosity. I guess I'm just curious who out there has had coolant slowly disappear in their Escape and what the issue turned out to be.

Thanks in advance!


Why haven't you showed your son how to change the oil?
 
Originally Posted by mrdctaylor
My son is in college and was recently home for Christmas. I changed the oil in his 2017 2.0L Escape like I always do. This time, however, I saw that the coolant was below the low line. That has never been the case. It has 53K miles on it, so my first instinct is to have him take it to a dealer ASAP in case it is something major since it is still under the powertrain warranty (and since he is currently on Christmas break). Does this seem like the appropriate course of action? Does anyone know if Ford will charge a diagnostic fee if they don't find anything wrong? I'm not in a hurry to spend money for nothing, but it seems like it is something that we should get checked out.

I've done some googling and see that there are issues with some of these engines where the coolant is leaking into one of the cylinders. So far, his engine is running fine and there are no check engine lights so I'm hopeful this coolant leak is something more minor. Has anyone else out there with this engine experienced a slow coolant leak that turned out to be a relatively minor issue? This is more just to satisfy my curiosity. I guess I'm just curious who out there has had coolant slowly disappear in their Escape and what the issue turned out to be.

Thanks in advance!
I have a feeling you're out of powertrain warranty, would have been 5 years/50,000 miles. O'Reilly actually has a nice loaner coolant pressure tester, pump it up & see what drips. My Transit 250 actually has a degas tank leaking & a heater hose quick disconnect bad, it's going into the dealer before it hits 50K.
 
I've owned the following Ford vehicles

'81 Merc Capri 2.3 L
'87 Taurus 3.0 L
'98 Windstar 3.8L (intake manifold leak repaired at 50,000 miles)
'15 Fiesta 1.0 L

All four had coolant leaks. The first two were towards the end of life so I didn't have them fixed. I'm taking in the Fiesta this month.

Why is it Ford can't figure out how to build and engine that holds water over the long term?

BTW, I've never had a valve cover leak on any of my cars although I keep them as long as 17 years.
 
Originally Posted by Donald


Why haven't you showed your son how to change the oil?


I have. He lives in an apartment and cannot do it himself while at school. When he's at home I like to do it just to check out the car and make sure everything is OK--for this reason. It is a teachable moment.
 
Both my '13 and '14 Focus STs did this. It was never a dramatic loss, but every few weeks, the level would drop below the line. Now that I see it's more widespread, it may be safe to assume the mark on the bottle is incorrect, and the missing coolant may be exiting through the overflow.

I know the mark on my GMC's is incorrect, because GMC has a TSB for a bottle replacement on that truck to eliminate air ingestion.
 
I have a feeling you're out of powertrain warranty, would have been 5 years/50,000 miles. O'Reilly actually has a nice loaner coolant pressure tester, pump it up & see what drips. My Transit 250 actually has a degas tank leaking & a heater hose quick disconnect bad, it's going into the dealer before it hits 50K.
[/quote]
The power train warranty is 5 years/60,000 miles. Our 2017 2.3 EcoBoost Explorer developed a slowish leak. It turned out the actual water pump was leaking. They replaced it under warranty. thankfully the water pumps on the 4 cylinder engines are easy and water pump is relatively inexpensive, unlike the V6 engines in the front wheel drive vehicles. Have it checked out to make sure it's not something serious like a head gasket. I rented from Avis a 2016 Escape with the 1.5 EcoBoost and the coolant tank was empty
crazy2.gif
.

Whimsey
 
Originally Posted by WylieCoyote
Both my '13 and '14 Focus STs did this. It was never a dramatic loss, but every few weeks, the level would drop below the line. Now that I see it's more widespread, it may be safe to assume the mark on the bottle is incorrect, and the missing coolant may be exiting through the overflow.

I know the mark on my GMC's is incorrect, because GMC has a TSB for a bottle replacement on that truck to eliminate air ingestion.


Interesting, but this just started during the last OCI. He'd owned it for about 2 years and I'd not seen the coolant level drop.
 
Originally Posted by WylieCoyote
Now that I see it's more widespread, it may be safe to assume the mark on the bottle is incorrect, and the missing coolant may be exiting through the overflow.


What overflow? Isn't this a sealed system? Are you saying if you fill to max, it expands and purges all the air (and some coolant too?) when hot, only to contract below minimum mark when cool? Sounds hard to believe.
 
My wife's former 03' Malibu did this for the last three years of ownership. We would top it-off and once a month would only need about 8 ounces. Used more in the summer and the hot temps may have contributed to it.
I see you are in hot Texas and I suspect your son goes to college there also? Does he use the car AC a-lot, or is it broke?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Burt
Originally Posted by WylieCoyote
Now that I see it's more widespread, it may be safe to assume the mark on the bottle is incorrect, and the missing coolant may be exiting through the overflow.


What overflow? Isn't this a sealed system? Are you saying if you fill to max, it expands and purges all the air (and some coolant too?) when hot, only to contract below minimum mark when cool? Sounds hard to believe.

Sounds like something a dealer/service dept. might say
lol.gif
 
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