[nos804]

2018 1.5L AWD coolant leak and head cracking.

Just posting this on the forums so it is out there. I noticed several posts on the forums about similar issues and just want it to be out there for anyone else who may have the same issues. I love my Escape, and working for an engine and transmission remanufacturer, I understand there are outliers in that will have issues, which is why warranties exist. It's likely that I just happened to 'win the lottery'.

Some history:
Bought my 2018 Escape in August. Drove it properly during break-in, only occasionally get onto it, and the majority of miles are interstate. Had dealer service my vehicle up to 10k miles because of some incentives I was given(two free The Works and I enjoy a 5k mile schedule for changes and rotations). When I went to change my oil at 15k I noticed an almost entirely empty coolant reservoir (either the dealer wasn't topping off fluids, or I lost a lot of coolant in 5k miles, never not checking again). (It takes me 2 months or less to rack up 5k miles, should you check your fluids at least once a month, yes, new vehicle tricked me into a sense of security after my lovely experience with a 2016 Focus) Needless to say, I had a friend run me to the nearest parts store and got some coolant and scheduled a check-up for ASAP.

Fast forward to my appointment, they take my vehicle and run all the tests. Come to pick it up and they tell me they couldn't detect anything abnormal. And essentially said I was lying about having put coolant into my vehicle, and that I should just keep an eye on the levels and come back to them for top offs if the coolant was getting low so they could prove it was, in fact, losing coolant. First few days after this I was checking every day, didn't notice much coolant drop. Went to once a week. Coolant drop was noticeable but not considerable and not worth taking off work to have the dealer replace a cup or so of coolant. March was a hectic month and I didn't check it from Feb 27th to April 4th. (Again, my bad) On April 4th (vehicle mileage was roughly 23k) my coolant was so low there was almost none left in the reservoir. Ran to pick up some coolant, scheduled an appointment with a different dealership this time (closer to work, don't have to use PTO to make an appointment).

Between the 4th and yesterday(The soonest I could get in at the dealer nearest my work), my car lost 1.5 gallons of coolant, and over the most recent weekend threw a P0301 - Misfire in cylinder one code. So the problem had obviously escalated. The new dealer detected the leak and is guessing there is an issue with the casting or machining of the head and that is why coolant is leaking into cylinder one, and are in the process of talking to Ford about how to approach. Very likely an entirely new engine because of the severity of the leak and the amount of coolant the engine has processed.
(This dealer doesn't do courtesy vehicles so I may have to take it to the place I bought it from for the warranty anyway as the Escape is my only vehicle)

I will try to keep this thread updated through the warranty process and share any info I end up getting.

 

[hammer52]

Just posting this on the forums so it is out there. I noticed several posts on the forums about similar issues and just want it to be out there for anyone else who may have the same issues. I love my Escape, and working for an engine and transmission remanufacturer, I understand there are outliers in that will have issues, which is why warranties exist. It's likely that I just happened to 'win the lottery'.

Some history:
Bought my 2018 Escape in August. Drove it properly during break-in, only occasionally get onto it, and the majority of miles are interstate. Had dealer service my vehicle up to 10k miles because of some incentives I was given(two free The Works and I enjoy a 5k mile schedule for changes and rotations). When I went to change my oil at 15k I noticed an almost entirely empty coolant reservoir (either the dealer wasn't topping off fluids, or I lost a lot of coolant in 5k miles, never not checking again). (It takes me 2 months or less to rack up 5k miles, should you check your fluids at least once a month, yes, new vehicle tricked me into a sense of security after my lovely experience with a 2016 Focus) Needless to say, I had a friend run me to the nearest parts store and got some coolant and scheduled a check-up for ASAP.

Fast forward to my appointment, they take my vehicle and run all the tests. Come to pick it up and they tell me they couldn't detect anything abnormal. And essentially said I was lying about having put coolant into my vehicle, and that I should just keep an eye on the levels and come back to them for top offs if the coolant was getting low so they could prove it was, in fact, losing coolant. First few days after this I was checking every day, didn't notice much coolant drop. Went to once a week. Coolant drop was noticeable but not considerable and not worth taking off work to have the dealer replace a cup or so of coolant. March was a hectic month and I didn't check it from Feb 27th to April 4th. (Again, my bad) On April 4th (vehicle mileage was roughly 23k) my coolant was so low there was almost none left in the reservoir. Ran to pick up some coolant, scheduled an appointment with a different dealership this time (closer to work, don't have to use PTO to make an appointment).

Between the 4th and yesterday(The soonest I could get in at the dealer nearest my work), my car lost 1.5 gallons of coolant, and over the most recent weekend threw a P0301 - Misfire in cylinder one code. So the problem had obviously escalated. The new dealer detected the leak and is guessing there is an issue with the casting or machining of the head and that is why coolant is leaking into cylinder one, and are in the process of talking to Ford about how to approach. Very likely an entirely new engine because of the severity of the leak and the amount of coolant the engine has processed.
(This dealer doesn't do courtesy vehicles so I may have to take it to the place I bought it from for the warranty anyway as the Escape is my only vehicle)

I will try to keep this thread updated through the warranty process and share any info I end up getting.

This is of interest to me as I have been dealing with the same code on my 2018 1.5l( see my thread here:https://www.fordescape.org/forum/en.../112952-2018-fe-25-000-mi-needs-new-coil.html )Just checked my coolant level and it is low...

Will take a copy of your post with me to the dealer on Tuesday.



thanks for your input..

 

[k2sys]

Just posting this on the forums so it is out there. I noticed several posts on the forums about similar issues and just want it to be out there for anyone else who may have the same issues. I love my Escape, and working for an engine and transmission remanufacturer, I understand there are outliers in that will have issues, which is why warranties exist. It's likely that I just happened to 'win the lottery'.

Some history:
Bought my 2018 Escape in August. Drove it properly during break-in, only occasionally get onto it, and the majority of miles are interstate. Had dealer service my vehicle up to 10k miles because of some incentives I was given(two free The Works and I enjoy a 5k mile schedule for changes and rotations). When I went to change my oil at 15k I noticed an almost entirely empty coolant reservoir (either the dealer wasn't topping off fluids, or I lost a lot of coolant in 5k miles, never not checking again). (It takes me 2 months or less to rack up 5k miles, should you check your fluids at least once a month, yes, new vehicle tricked me into a sense of security after my lovely experience with a 2016 Focus) Needless to say, I had a friend run me to the nearest parts store and got some coolant and scheduled a check-up for ASAP.

Fast forward to my appointment, they take my vehicle and run all the tests. Come to pick it up and they tell me they couldn't detect anything abnormal. And essentially said I was lying about having put coolant into my vehicle, and that I should just keep an eye on the levels and come back to them for top offs if the coolant was getting low so they could prove it was, in fact, losing coolant. First few days after this I was checking every day, didn't notice much coolant drop. Went to once a week. Coolant drop was noticeable but not considerable and not worth taking off work to have the dealer replace a cup or so of coolant. March was a hectic month and I didn't check it from Feb 27th to April 4th. (Again, my bad) On April 4th (vehicle mileage was roughly 23k) my coolant was so low there was almost none left in the reservoir. Ran to pick up some coolant, scheduled an appointment with a different dealership this time (closer to work, don't have to use PTO to make an appointment).

Between the 4th and yesterday(The soonest I could get in at the dealer nearest my work), my car lost 1.5 gallons of coolant, and over the most recent weekend threw a P0301 - Misfire in cylinder one code. So the problem had obviously escalated. The new dealer detected the leak and is guessing there is an issue with the casting or machining of the head and that is why coolant is leaking into cylinder one, and are in the process of talking to Ford about how to approach. Very likely an entirely new engine because of the severity of the leak and the amount of coolant the engine has processed.
(This dealer doesn't do courtesy vehicles so I may have to take it to the place I bought it from for the warranty anyway as the Escape is my only vehicle)

I will try to keep this thread updated through the warranty process and share any info I end up getting.

Here's a link to my coolant leak issue. If you are not finding any external leaks then it's likely leaking into one or more cylinders due to defects in the block. Seems to be more common with this engine than one might think.

https://www.fordescape.org/forum/3g.../112990-2018-escape-misfire-cylinder-2-a.html

 

[Timberwolf40]

I have a 2017 Escape and went thru the same issue (32,000 miles) and it turned out the #2 cylinder was cracked and leaking antifreeze into the engine. Ford rebuilt motor, but now I’m getting a ticking noise and dealer stated that others do it, I explained that it wasn’t doing it until you fixed the motor.
I like this vehicle as it’s my 3rd one, but it’s been in the garage more than I care to admit. Apparently this is a common problem and if I’d known this, I would’ve never bought it.

 

[Rascal]

They are in the process of replacing the entire engine in my wife's 2018 Escape (less than 15k on it). They didn't go into full detail about what's wrong with the engine, but they did notice the symptoms I was referring to (rough cold start idle, drinking coolant fast and even small white plumes of smoke from exhaust). It's been over two weeks and I'm still waiting on getting the SUV back. They have the replacement engine in from Ford, they got it late last week, and now just waiting for the Tech to put it in. I told them to take their time and not rush it. They pretty much said they didn't want to put too much time into diagnosing the problem. So it sounds like they have had this problem come through their service department before. It didn't take them long to get Ford to approve the new engine replacement or getting it shipped to them. So in short, if your Escape is drinking coolant and running like poo on a cold start, get it checked by Ford before the Powertrain warranty runs out (5 years/60,000 miles).

I don't mind the loaner they gave me for the time being, 2020 Ford Explorer Limited.

 

[Ndedcodd]

2017 escape 1.5l Does anyone know how many oz or quart amount the coolant reservoir is from high to low?

 

[DaBigE]

2017 escape 1.5l Does anyone know how many oz or quart amount the coolant reservoir is from high to low?

I think it's about 8 ounces

 

[Rascal]

Forgot to update this. I got the Escape back a few days before Christmas. The Escape is running better and holding coolant now....unless it craps the bed again. It was ridiculous how long it took the dealership to get the vehicle done. They got the parts in pretty quick. They were complaining of being short handed on Techs. I understand that, but don't keep telling me a couple of days and then I have to chase you down via phone calls to get status updates. My Tech Advisor was more worried about me giving him a 5 star rating. He kept telling me that it wasn't his fault for the lack of Techs. LOL Well, you may not be doing the actual repair/replace of the parts, but you can light a fire under their *** to keep them on schedule.

Anyway, I got the Escape back in my garage. I'm about to take a road trip in it tomorrow for a week. I installed a Green Filter a few weeks ago. The Escape seems to respond nicely to it. .

 

[Ndedcodd]

Forgot to update this. I got the Escape back a few days before Christmas. The Escape is running better and holding coolant now....unless it craps the bed again. It was ridiculous how long it took the dealership to get the vehicle done. They got the parts in pretty quick. They were complaining of being short handed on Techs. I understand that, but don't keep telling me a couple of days and then I have to chase you down via phone calls to get status updates. My Tech Advisor was more worried about me giving him a 5 star rating. He kept telling me that it wasn't his fault for the lack of Techs. LOL Well, you may not be doing the actual repair/replace of the parts, but you can light a fire under their *** to keep them on schedule.

Anyway, I got the Escape back in my garage. I'm about to take a road trip in it tomorrow for a week. I installed a Green Filter a few weeks ago. The Escape seems to respond nicely to it. .

Did they at least give you a loaner!?

 

[Rascal]

Did they at least give you a loaner!?

They did. A 2020 Ford Explorer Limited. I put almost 1400 miles on it before I got the Escape back.

 

[Sandy46]

Hi everyone,
I have a 2017 Ford Escape Se FWD with the 1.5 Ecoboost. I have arround 20 000km (12500 miles) and it's about 7 months old! A few days ago, I was filling up my windshield washer and notice that the coolant level was under the "low" mark. I didn't have any warning on my dashboard or anything! Today I top it off with some coolant (I added around 2 cups of coolant). I was wondering if any of you had the same problem?

Thanks for your help and have a good day

Recall on the coolant problem.

 

[Europa74]

I have a 2017 1.5l Eco-boost and it was loosing/using coolant and after throwing two codes (twice) it was found to be coolant leaking into cylinders 2 and 4. I had a new engine installed a 4240 miles and now I have 5430 miles on it. The coolant level has continued to go down but at a slower rate and I used about a quart of oil in the last 1200 miles. The original engine didn't use any oil in the first 4240 miles but the new engine does. Time will tell if the new engine is the answer or if I still have a problem. I have the upgraded liner in the new engine and I have just had the new software programmed to the EMU today. All of this has happened at very low miles. My dealer has replaced around 100 of these engines in the last 13 or 14 months.
Feel free to comment.

 

[ralph7up]

I have a 2017 1.5l Eco-boost and it was loosing/using coolant and after throwing two codes (twice) it was found to be coolant leaking into cylinders 2 and 4. I had a new engine installed a 4240 miles and now I have 5430 miles on it. The coolant level has continued to go down but at a slower rate and I used about a quart of oil in the last 1200 miles. The original engine didn't use any oil in the first 4240 miles but the new engine does. Time will tell if the new engine is the answer or if I still have a problem. I have the upgraded liner in the new engine and I have just had the new software programmed to the EMU today. All of this has happened at very low miles. My dealer has replaced around 100 of these engines in the last 13 or 14 months.
Feel free to comment.

What is entailed in the "upgraded liner"?

 

[Dark Age 53]

What is entailed in the "upgraded liner"?

I was wondering the same thing.

 

[Europa74]

What is entailed in the "upgraded liner"?

All the replacement engines have the upgraded liner to the best of my knowledge. Basically the original liner had thin liner walls between the cylinders which was supposed to improve cooling and possibly help the liners to expand and contract with the aluminum engine block. The new liner eliminates the thinner wall sections and I believe they have some coolant holes drilled between the cylinders in the liner but I did not see these personally. The whole liner is still a free floating design but supposedly improved. The original liners were prone to cracking between the cylinders and allowing coolant into the cylinders. Depending upon the severity of the cracks and the extent of the coolant leak sometime it threw a code and sometimes not.

 

[Dark Age 53]

I wonder instead of a liner it's really a sleeve inside the cylinder?

 

[chrisgb]

I wonder instead of a liner it's really a sleeve inside the cylinder?

I interpreted it as being thicker bores in the block. Aren't the cylinders coated with a nickel-silicon compound rather than sleeved?

 

[ralph7up]

I interpreted it as being thicker bores in the block. Aren't the cylinders coated with a nickel-silicon compound rather than sleeved?

Engine is open block design. No bores. Google open, closed, and semi open block.

 

[Dark Age 53]

I have a 2017 1.5l Eco-boost and it was loosing/using coolant and after throwing two codes (twice) it was found to be coolant leaking into cylinders 2 and 4. I had a new engine installed a 4240 miles and now I have 5430 miles on it. The coolant level has continued to go down but at a slower rate and I used about a quart of oil in the last 1200 miles. The original engine didn't use any oil in the first 4240 miles but the new engine does. Time will tell if the new engine is the answer or if I still have a problem. I have the upgraded liner in the new engine and I have just had the new software programmed to the EMU today. All of this has happened at very low miles. My dealer has replaced around 100 of these engines in the last 13 or 14 months.
Feel free to comment.

I just re-read your reply, if the coolant is still going down ( even at slower rate ) you still have a problem. My replacement engine is still at the correct coolant level, then again it only has 350 miles on it......decisions decisions on whether to keep my Escape.

 

[hammer52]

I just re-read your reply, if the coolant is still going down ( even at slower rate ) you still have a problem. My replacement engine is still at the correct coolant level, then again it only has 350 miles on it......decisions decisions on whether to keep my Escape.

After lots of thought, made ours last week. We abandoned ship and moved on to a 2019 Chevy Equinox. Really liked our Escapes (3), but these engine issues made us want to move on while we could...