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731K views 612 replies 155 participants last post by  mattg 
another early build one leaking antifreeze along with the smell of it burning off, we had it 2 months when the first recall hit and had it taken away and off the road, now even with the repairs done under the latest recall it still is using coolant,


I have been a loyal ford owner since 1964, and had after the 21 day trip ford give us a 75 k extend warranty but we still don't feel safe not when you smell burning antifreeze
 
20 brand new fords in my life, this is the first ever that has had such major issues.my wife just called at about noon, I'm smelling it again, the coolant bottle is at the bottom line again, thank full I have a very good caring dealer that we deal with back on Tuesday.
 
I was a combo vw and Toyota tech for 45 years, the tool needed is a bore scope as told above. after the 21 day down first major on dec 2nd 2012 ford was very kind and gave us a 75k bumper to bumper extended warranty, but more recalls and stink of coolant leaking onto hot surfaces i'm worried
we had it with this our first bad ford, since 1964 , as we are now afraid to drive it any distance and have filed a lemon law suite. hope it doesn't take for ever
 
mark
the dealer I go to is the best in my area. it is a small father and son run dealership, both great in how sales treats people and for a top notch service department, so yes the have tested and performed every test they can. and done everything ford has told them to do to date.

when the motor is good and hot the smell of leaking antifreeze enters the cab with a strong odder which can also be smelt out side and under the hood. the coolant bottle goes down slowly, each week it needs to be filled ,there is no signs of coolant in the exhaust, no oil into the coolant bottle, no excessive pressure into the bottle, just the strong smell of a leak.

our car which we like most love for performance and good mpg's is a early built special for us 09/12. it was delayed in being built for the fuel line and casting plug recalls, and one of the ones removed from the road on dec 2- 2012. for 21 days after that re-flash the gauges, lights and radio didn't work properly, another re-flash , 5 recalls for this motor is to much.
 
Hey charlie g, is your car a 2013 1.6L and part of the recall? If so try to make the dealership do the HC test for the coolant system that I mentioned earlier in thread. That test works and as I'm sure you know if theirs any hydrocarbons in the cooling system that is not going to fix its self or go away its only going to get worse.
Mark
forgot YES it is one of the early ones under the all the leak recalls built special for us in 09/2012 .
 
Mine is a 2014, built in October 2013.
To our Ford reps:
How can I quickly visually verify that I have the revamped cooling system?
I'm an engineer with over 35 years years experience around all sorts of machinery, just tell me what to look for and I'll find it.
For now, I will use the photos from the recall manuals and poke around under the hood. But, maybe the 2014 plumbing is different to begin with?

Need an answer - but, don't send me to the dealer - I'll go there if I determine that I need to.
Sorry for double post - can't edit on my iPhone.
looks like they added a bottle to radiator support by the right head lamp, and several hoses running into the coolant bottle ver one I see now.that should be a good give away about up dated or not.


yes the 840.00 for the factory extended is always a good move on any brand,
 
dive

I have to agree with your feelings in post # 44,

this recall of the bad 12.000? is a band aid fix.as it fails to address the head issue. what happens to these cars where it becomes the owners problem post power train warranty at how much of a cost?

on mine, the engine could well have a cracked head since we smell the antifreeze when it is good and hot after about a 1/2 hour or more of running and needs to be toped off weekly. my resale value is down the tubes. I already checked that, the 1.6 is a unwanted trade to anything else. even with the transferable 75k warranty ford gave us after the 21 day you can't drive it recall.

come on ford fix them right or buy them all back and regain your position
 
To respond, to my earlier post, i incorrectly wrote mic, when indeed the service department used a scope, to check for and see the micro-cracks in the head. In the end we had to deal with the Ford Vehicle Reclamation or Replacement Dept, and they did a replacement of Collateral. Like I said earlier, it was a pain in the butt to get done. I had to stay on top of it a lot more than I thought I should have. But in the end, we got a left over 2013 SE with the 2.0..
that is good news and something I'll settle for as mine is a se
 
it is at the dealer again leaking coolant, when they pressure tested for the tsb they found the water pump leaking, a fuel line miss installed at the factory, first recall was for cars built though aug 31 2012 our was built 09-05-2012 a bit close in time,
shop foreman called me to tell me the news since we know each other, said I've never seen a 55 page tsb ever in my 30 years and 6.1 hours is a no way repair. had to order the pump and fuel line.
 
What a nightmare, you would think Ford would have put you into a new vehicle by now.
they are dragging their feet on the lemon law suite so far, we have been with out it for 26 days so far 21 round one making it eligible for lemon law in, ford just take this one and give us a like left over 13 se with the 2.0 and I might be again a happy ford owner

still at the dealer for this latest round, the pressure test found the water pump was also shot,
 
I picked my car up on Friday 3/28 from the dealership after they preformed recall 13S12. I drove about 700 miles this weekend with 250 mile stretch with 80 degree weather. I had very little hope that it would actually fix the issue because I thought this is just a band-aid fix to the issue. I will say it has significantly reduced the amount of coolant lose from the whole degauss bottle every month or about 2,500 or so miles. Now it will probably take about 3 or 4 months to use all the coolant in the degauss bottle or about 7,500 miles. Ford hasn't even tried to offer me an extended warranty or anything on the vehicle. I am afraid now that the engine will die right after my 60,000 mile warranty runs out.
they won't come right out and offer up the warranty you will have to make a few phone calls and tell them your feelings and ask for it.

A band aid fix it is, while it will help, it fails to replace the main failing part, the cylinder head.
 
After having observed some coolant lose over the course of the weekend, I talked to the dealership that did the recall work. They stated they believe the lose of coolant over the weekend was do to air in the coolant lines. I told them I would bring it back in and have the top it off again. I then received a phone call from my Ford customer service rep. She talked to me about the repair and told me to call her before I took it back to the dealership so she would be in loop and know what is going on. She then offered me an extended warranty on the powertrain only for 5 years/ 100,000 miles. The extended warranty is a nice gesture on Ford's behalf. I am still not 100% confident in the vehicle or the recall repair. There is also another issue that no one has talked about yet. That is the issue of removing the 2 lower active grill shutters on the vehicle. They were put there on the 1.6L to help with fuel economy. By removing them Ford was able to help with the over heating issue but now there is the possibility for fuel economy to suffer. It is still to early to tell if it will hurt the overall fuel economy but from the 700 mile trip I took it was lower than the average over the same distance a few months ago.
ok they felt there was a air bobble? they are supposed to be using a tool most mechanics have in their boxes called a air lift, it is a tool that by using compressed air causes a full vacuum in the cooling system, then refills the system with out any air pockets. it is the same system the builder use on the assembly line to fill a new car, it is not a a new tool in any way but a very helpful one.

did ford call you directly or did you call first? got me wondering since mine is undergoing the lemon law suite and now into day 4 of the combo recall and water pump replacement.

cutting off the shutters makes me wonder if this band aid will work either
 
hope you do not also have a water pump leaking like on mine. as that alone is a all day job. and I used to think changing a pump on a vw was hard. compared to this motor the vw is walk in the park
 
I don't think my water pump is leaking as there isn't any signs of coolant on the ground. I am going to try and take it to the dealership this weekend and have them top it off and look at the whole coolant system again just to make sure.
I didn't either just smelled it vaporizing off. under the recall pressure test of 20 pounds it showed up
 
please keep us up on what they find. I had the recall done, I've added the expected 2 more times to top it off, and will watch it over the weekend bring it back as asked by my dealer on Monday for a recheck
there was air caught some where in the maze of passages and hoses pumping into the bottle like a cracked head or blown head gasket for a while, that has stopped .it had a foamy coolant/oil like mix on top of the bottle for about 200 miles and that has burnt it self away, my thought is something to do with the raw fresh plastic or something used to help ease reassembly of the new parts that causes no real worry .clear is clear to me rigt now.
 
I would say a lie for sure as the new cap reads 21 pounds of pressure. something I would not dare try to open when hot,
level wise mine went down 3 times since it has been done before it seems to have leveled off and become steady. each time due to the clearness of the cap I used a 16 ounce drink bottle adding almost 4 full ones.
I also noted a lot of air bubbles entering the bottle for about 300 miles till that also stopped. and have some sticking to the top of the inside

my biggest ***** is the dealer is screwing me around on getting the paper work of the repair so I can forward it to the lemon law lawyer as asked. and their not being willing to do the new recall saying we don't have the notice yet. but the foreman stated it is in oasis as being posted 04/03/2014 replace seat back frames due to poor factory welds allowing them to flex/pop and break
 
Talked to my customer service rep this morning. She is going to verify if the info the dealership gave me is correct or not. She told me she would call me back once she verified the info with Ford Technical and let me know what to do from here. I will say up to this point the dealership has been great to work with and have honestly tried to help me get the issue resolved. I am not sure why they suddenly changed to not wanting to help me.
mine is the same way since they found I was asking for a replacement slow paper work little written words about what was done .any lemon claim hurts the dealer even tough it is not their fault
more like they are the target not the car builder
 
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