[Musclford]

Well, the early gen3 Escapes were plagued by a multitude of coolant leaks. I've now had 2 GREEN, 2013's that have caused a bunch of havoc.

The latest was a friend that had 120K miles and had already replaced the Bypass Valve and the Coolant outlet assy, yet it developed a leak just a short time after.

This one is extremely confusing in that it literally started leaking when just refilling the car with coolant. No pressure, no running etc. It just ran out what appeared to be the NEW (BLACK) Coolant outlet assy. After we removed and replaced it multiple times, inspecting it and even replacing the o-ring, we were able to determine at the correct angle and light that coolant was literally running out of a hole in the head, to the left of the large O-ring hole, and slightly below the brake vacuum pump.

Now I had READ about the FORD Recall 12s39 / NHTSA Recall 12V431000 that falls under this 4/2012 build escape, however, the cup that it referred to was on top of the cylinder, not out the back of the head. Well, what I finally determined, was that hole out the back is nothing more than a "DRAIN" hole for the top of the engine. I pulled a couple spark plugs coil assy's and presto... Green COOLANT was found.

FORD Recall 12s39 call for putting an additional CAP on the existing CUP with Loctite, if it isn't leaking, but our is literally leaking so next step is to dig into the repair.

I was lucky enough to get a copy of the FORD TSB / RECALL instructions so I'll attach so others can actually view it.

I know this is WINDY, but no where, including YOU tube, could I find anything but one other soul that described a leak out the small hole on the back of the head. I was thinking I needed a small 8-10mm cup plug to shove in there... and if I did, it would merely flood the top of the engine.

Good Luck!

FROM Ford 12s39 Recall documentation... Nice if it hasn't failed already!

 

[Musclford]

see above

 

[Musclford]

Had the same problem w my daughters 13 escape Rivet type 8mm size w710167s300 was the part number I got after i called 7 dealerships. Did you ever fix the issue and how did you install the part and is it the same as the part I listed?? Would be much appreciated since this stumped me and the dealerships..

It's not supposed to be plugged, it's a drain hole for the top valley.... the ultimate problem is the factory cup plug has a hole in it which spews coolant , fills the valley surrounding spark plugs and leaks out the drain hole.

Easy test, pull a couple coil packs and see if the boots are wet, you should be able to look down the #2 hole.

The FORD Recall isn't a solution if it is failed.. IMO, the cup plug needs REPLACED, that little cap with loctite isn't going to be good enough, and it will have to be extremely clean to even attempt it. Note in the bulletin, if you have a leak, it tells the tech to call FORD service line, this fix is for if it hasn't already started leaking.

Temporarily, I cleaned all this up with brake cleaner, and filled the cup plug with RTV, let it setup over night and filled the vehicle with coolant as I haven't been able to source a new cup plug/part number and the user wanted to at least get it home safely. I left the radiator cap loose so it wouldn't build pressure and he drove it home 2 miles. (Got it out of my shop at least)

 

[Musclford]

Looked it up, easily fixable..thank you so much.

Just fyi, one Ford Dealer told me, don't remove that plug, you won't find a replacement, another said they can order a kit?

I hope one isn't thinking that little cap, glued on the existing cup is a fix.... make sure your read the ford instructions it says if it's leaking call tech line. The part that makes this difficult is the location and in my case, oil soaked from valve cover... it's gotta be super clean if any epoxy / loctite etc is used. I think replacing the plug is certainly the ultimate FIX...


post what you decide to do, if you have similar issue. Thx!