Ford EcoBoost 1.6 losing coolant - advice needed
Discussion
Bought a 2012 Ford Galaxy 1.6 EcoBoost from a dealer about 5 months ago. Came with a 6 month warranty. Shortly before I purchased it, I noticed there was a recall outstanding on the coolant system, for which the dealer took to Ford and had sorted out.
Within a week or two of driving it, I noticed it was slowly losing coolant, but no visible leaks. I put this down to the fact it might just need "burping" after the coolant system had been emptied and refilled during the recall work, but the coolant loss continued after I topped it up. I am pretty much topping it up once a month when it gets down to the minimum notch on reservoir.
I have had two garages look at it so far, both have driven and pressure tested it, but can find no leaks whatsoever, so the suspicion is the coolant is disappearing into the engine. The second garage advised that while they could replace the head gasket, they wouldn't recommend it as the fault is much more likely to be a known design flaw with the cylinders. They said that they have replaced plenty of head gaskets in these, but most of them are never quite right afterwards and continue to lose coolant.
The car otherwise drives fine, no overheating, rough running or white smoke. It is in great condition for its age and less than 100K on the clock, and the wife loves driving it.
The problem is, I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands now. The way I see it I have the following options:
1) Keep the car as is, keep topping the coolant up and hope we get a couple of years out of it. But it could be a ticking timebomb.
2) Have the head gasket replaced under warranty, knowing it probably won't fix the issue and could possibly make it worse.
3) Go back to the dealer and argue they've sold me a faulty car, and try to get my money back. We paid via credit card, which might come in handy.
4) Part exchange it for something else while it is running OK and take a hit on what we paid for it.
Any advice much appreciated!
Within a week or two of driving it, I noticed it was slowly losing coolant, but no visible leaks. I put this down to the fact it might just need "burping" after the coolant system had been emptied and refilled during the recall work, but the coolant loss continued after I topped it up. I am pretty much topping it up once a month when it gets down to the minimum notch on reservoir.
I have had two garages look at it so far, both have driven and pressure tested it, but can find no leaks whatsoever, so the suspicion is the coolant is disappearing into the engine. The second garage advised that while they could replace the head gasket, they wouldn't recommend it as the fault is much more likely to be a known design flaw with the cylinders. They said that they have replaced plenty of head gaskets in these, but most of them are never quite right afterwards and continue to lose coolant.
The car otherwise drives fine, no overheating, rough running or white smoke. It is in great condition for its age and less than 100K on the clock, and the wife loves driving it.
The problem is, I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands now. The way I see it I have the following options:
1) Keep the car as is, keep topping the coolant up and hope we get a couple of years out of it. But it could be a ticking timebomb.
2) Have the head gasket replaced under warranty, knowing it probably won't fix the issue and could possibly make it worse.
3) Go back to the dealer and argue they've sold me a faulty car, and try to get my money back. We paid via credit card, which might come in handy.
4) Part exchange it for something else while it is running OK and take a hit on what we paid for it.
Any advice much appreciated!
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