Originally Posted by Inked
Relative is considering buying a 2013 MKT with the 3.5 dual turbo. It has over 90,000 miles and is being offered for a little over $12,000. Carfax looks good with all services being provided at Ford dealerships and on a timely basis. Any known issues with this vehicle and or engine?
that's a transverse layout engine.. the water pump is $1200-$2k to change., unless it you don't catch it in time, and it kills the engine(dumps all the coolant right into the sump), then it's about $5k. (to fit the engine in the bay longitudinally, they moved the pump inside the block. in the valley between the heads, driven by the timing chain.)
Just say no to any Transverse (ie FWD/AWD) 3.5/3.7's NA, or Boosted, over 90k mi, unless you have documentation showing the water pump has been changed.
some people get lucky...My Uncle recently sold his '13 MKX, with the 3.7 at 175k, and he'd never done the water pump(sold it to a buddy for $4k, same as the Lincoln Dealer offered him on trade in)... some folks, it hits in the 90's to low 100's.. if it shows ANY signs of coolant weep-age, get it fixed immediately.
it's a known bad design, ford is facing a few class-action suits over it...
RWD 3.5/3.7's use a different, more traditional external belt driven water pump.
(the FWD engines are made here locally, the RWD versions in Cleveland)
