FORD ECOBOOST ENGINES COOLANT LOSS, IS IT COMMON
Discussion
I owned a Focus 1.6 182 over a period of 3.5 years until I sold it last December. Even though I was only covering around 4500 per annum I was having to top up the coolant every other month, usually from the halfway mark to the full mark.
The engine was pressure tested around 6 times during that period and no problems were found. Yet the coolant still disappeared. My old diesel C-Max for instance needed topping up once in a blue moon and that used to cover 18,000 miles a year.
Now I have just received a recall notice for the old car which I don't own, that it now requires a coolant level sensor system installation, that they have a propensity to overheat and crack the cylinder head if there is insufficient coolant and burst into flames.
This recall was active in the USA at least a year ago.
My wife has a 1.0 125 Focus, 3 years old and 14,000 miles and the coolant on that 3 pot also seems susceptible to disappearing.
Anyone out there who has an Ecoboost powered Ford with the same issues?
Sounds to me that Ford are aware these engines do lose coolant quicker than normal and quicker than what the average driver is used to and are now having to retro fit a sensor.
The engine was pressure tested around 6 times during that period and no problems were found. Yet the coolant still disappeared. My old diesel C-Max for instance needed topping up once in a blue moon and that used to cover 18,000 miles a year.
Now I have just received a recall notice for the old car which I don't own, that it now requires a coolant level sensor system installation, that they have a propensity to overheat and crack the cylinder head if there is insufficient coolant and burst into flames.
This recall was active in the USA at least a year ago.
My wife has a 1.0 125 Focus, 3 years old and 14,000 miles and the coolant on that 3 pot also seems susceptible to disappearing.
Anyone out there who has an Ecoboost powered Ford with the same issues?
Sounds to me that Ford are aware these engines do lose coolant quicker than normal and quicker than what the average driver is used to and are now having to retro fit a sensor.
Nickbrapp said:
There was already a long running thread about this.
Basically one of the coolent pipes isn’t up to the job, so all engines with the issue have been recalled to sort.
The older 1.0 Ecoboost engine have a plastic coolant pipe that is prone to failure. Coolant loss on the 1.6 is more likely to be a head gasket problem.Basically one of the coolent pipes isn’t up to the job, so all engines with the issue have been recalled to sort.
Hi. I have endured many issues with my 1.6 ecoboost eng. First was a failed high pressure fuel pump followed by a great loss of coolant due to the split pipe. Very common. Then I had the recall. Concerned then with the damage to my engine after I kept topping the coolant to get home. In the same year I had a slipping clutch. Followed by the recall software again for this problem. New clutch fitted under warranty. Same time I have been loosing lots of coolant again. Guess a cup a day. Travel between Surrey and Heathrow. Twice the car was checked for this. It was booked in for the third time when my engine decided it would not start. Towed to ford and has been living there since. This same garage sold this car to me and now they know where my coolant has been disappearing to. Through their experience they are saying a new engine. Now I am saying how is this my fault. I am not paying!!
Apparently in the US there is a class action against Ford for faults with the Focus ST.
Early Ecoboost engines had a floating sleeve on the cylinders, which has now been rectified by a new style cylinder head that gives reinforcement to the sleeves to stop any movement.
Apparently the sleeve could move and cause a break or fracture of the cylinder head gasket allowing coolant to enter the cylinder. Sometimes the cylinder head gasket was not installed perfectly and this made the problem worse. This would be seen by white smoke coming out of the exhaust but would not show in the oil as gunge.
Some Focus ST's suffered complete engine failure when the cylinders compressed leaking coolant.
The 1.6 is a similar engine. Check to see if you get white smoke.
Early Ecoboost engines had a floating sleeve on the cylinders, which has now been rectified by a new style cylinder head that gives reinforcement to the sleeves to stop any movement.
Apparently the sleeve could move and cause a break or fracture of the cylinder head gasket allowing coolant to enter the cylinder. Sometimes the cylinder head gasket was not installed perfectly and this made the problem worse. This would be seen by white smoke coming out of the exhaust but would not show in the oil as gunge.
Some Focus ST's suffered complete engine failure when the cylinders compressed leaking coolant.
The 1.6 is a similar engine. Check to see if you get white smoke.
LarsG said:
Apparently in the US there is a class action against Ford for faults with the Focus ST.
Early Ecoboost engines had a floating sleeve on the cylinders, which has now been rectified by a new style cylinder head that gives reinforcement to the sleeves to stop any movement.
Apparently the sleeve could move and cause a break or fracture of the cylinder head gasket allowing coolant to enter the cylinder. Sometimes the cylinder head gasket was not installed perfectly and this made the problem worse. This would be seen by white smoke coming out of the exhaust but would not show in the oil as gunge.
Some Focus ST's suffered complete engine failure when the cylinders compressed leaking coolant.
The 1.6 is a similar engine. Check to see if you get white smoke.
That's strange with the ST engine as it's different from the 1.6. Browsing the UK Focus STOC forum there are no reported issues of head gasket or coolant issues that I can see. Are you not perhaps getting confused with a different model? The only major issues on the mk3 ST (petrol) that I've seen is the bad heat-shrinking on the connections on the main loom which cause lumpy idle and slight flickering of the DRLs but if you're handy with a soldering iron it's a DIY fix if you're confident enough with the maze of wires in the loom. I've had mine for 4 years now and the idle can occasionally be a bit lumpy and have also experienced the flickering DRLs on a handful of occasions but it's not enough to start hacking the wiring yet. Other than that mine has been 100% reliable and I've never had to top up any of the fluids. The 1.6 and 1.0 ecoboost petrol engines are complete basket cases for engine issues from what I've seen posted on various forums.Early Ecoboost engines had a floating sleeve on the cylinders, which has now been rectified by a new style cylinder head that gives reinforcement to the sleeves to stop any movement.
Apparently the sleeve could move and cause a break or fracture of the cylinder head gasket allowing coolant to enter the cylinder. Sometimes the cylinder head gasket was not installed perfectly and this made the problem worse. This would be seen by white smoke coming out of the exhaust but would not show in the oil as gunge.
Some Focus ST's suffered complete engine failure when the cylinders compressed leaking coolant.
The 1.6 is a similar engine. Check to see if you get white smoke.
It appears that at least some of the cars are coming out with coolant hose banjo bolts on the turbocharger under torque-ed or perhaps they work loose. These should be tightened up to 20 Newton. Difficult to detect this problem because it only happens with the turbo under a bit of load. There is a useful YouTube video showing the position of the bolts and describing the fix
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