Fiesta Faction banner

mystery coolant loss

24K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  Jiipee84 
#1 ·
Ive got a 2014 ecoboost 1.0 with 101670 miles. Bought it new in march of 2014.
So last week I'm making my 4 hr commute to work and 60 miles in I get a alert that the car is overheating. I immediately shut it down and brought it home on my trailer. I picked up a water pump and the upper thermostat housing assembly during the week and changed both on Saturday. Refilled the system, went through the purging procedure. The car ran perfect and no sign of leakage. I let it idle in the drive for an hour, no issues. So I drove it to town and back, about 60 miles and just as I got home it did the same thing. Coolant was low. No visible leaks. Any Ideas where the leak is. No abnormal pressure in the cooling system, no water in the oil or oil in the coolant. It did have a little bit of oil in the down stream side of the turbo mostly collected at the bottom inner cooler connection. I ordered the factory service manual from Ford to the tune of 250$ but it hasn't come in yet. Ive always changed the oil early and used Mobil one since it was new. Its always been flawlessly dependable.
Any helpful information would be appreciated. I don't want to order a new head unless that's for sure whats failed.
Thanks
 
#3 ·
Yes I did read the previous thread regarding coolant loss. I haven't taken it to the dealer as it's no longer under warranty. I went passed 30K before it was a year old. I will pressure test the system as soon as I have time. I'm working out of town and have only been able to work on it briefly. If I find the problem I'll post the findings here.
If it gets too involved I'll just swap the engine. They seem to be available for around 800$. I had hoped it would last longer but perhaps this is the normal life expectancy. I have a 91 Escort with 390,000 miles and its still running strong, 1 head gasket and 6 timing belts. I quit driving it because the rest of the car was falling apart. I really thought the new car would last as long with proper care.
 
#4 ·
Curious, would you do the engine swap yourself? If not, any idea of what the charge for this would be? Is this a simple swap? Hope you don't need that. Will be interesting to see what the problem is. You probably have one of the highest mile 1.0's out there. Wouldn't think it's time for a new engine at 101,670 miles. You probably take pretty good care of your vehicle as well. Hopefully something small.

Pretty much every owner should pay attention to these coolant threads.
 
#5 ·
If it comes to that I'll do the swap myself. Armed with the factory service manual it should be a relatively easy job. In my experience there is no substitute for the factory service literature. I don't mind buying a few tools if it is necessary. I had been researching the cam timing tools so I would be ready when it hit 150k. My plan was to pull the engine then, do the timing and oil pump belts and do a clutch service. This obviously wasn't part of the plan. On the bright side I'm driving my Mustang as my daily driver for a couple weeks which is fun. I just wish it didn't drink so heavily.
 
#6 ·
Unfortunately, with these little engines and their small cooling capacity, by the time you get a warning that it's overheating, it may be too late. I hope this isn't the case but you might have a cracked head/gasket issue.

I'm planning on getting my ultra gauge back in the car soon. I'm going to set a high temp alarm just in case.

Good luck Mountain.
 
#7 ·
Well, better add me to the list. A quart has vanished in the last 2k miles. I'll have to get it up in the air for a closer inspection. There's no obvious signs of external leakage yet. If this is an internal issue (defect or crack in the head / head gasket), it'll be cycle related as I'm still under 20k miles on the odo (all city driving), and have never temperature shocked the system. I've always stayed under 3k rpms and no boost, no load until full operating temps are reached, and a 2 minute minimum cool down before shutting off.

I'm assuming engine cooling system related and gaskets are still covered under the 5 year 60k powertrain warranty? I'm really hoping it's external. In that case I'll just add the water pump and seals to my scheduled biennial maintenance interval, that's no big deal.
 
#8 ·
So after the engine had heat cycled a few more times it was acting like a head gasket, blowing steam out the exhaust on start up and missing. I purchased a used motor with 19k on it form LKQ. Did the swap over the weekend. Its really tight getting it out the top, I had to go as far as removing the water pump pulley to gain the needed clearance and it still hits (gently) on the way out & back in. The factory service manual shows the procedure for dropping it out the bottom attached to the k frame with the transmission as a unit. That's not a good option for most of us that don't have car lifts. The install went fairly smooth. Just have to take your time making sure the engine & transmission are aligned nicely, (I ended up using several jacks to align the transmission and rotate the engine). I'm waiting for a used turbocharger to finish the install. Not absolutely sure I needed to replace the turbo but I found considerable oil in the bottom of the intercooler. I don't want to take unnecessary risks now. I also purchased a vacuum cooling system filling tool. The electrical harness is fairly complex but with a little patience it all unplugs and can be rolled back out of the way. The biggest hassle was getting the heat shield off the turbo/cat/down pipe to access the turbo fasteners due to the AC line that is routed through the same area. I was able to remove the AC compressor from the engine with the lines attached and swing it out of the way. That gave me enough room, barely. Hopefully I will have it running this week.
 
#9 ·
Donor engine seems to be working out so far Ive put a couple thousand miles on it since the swap. Fired right up on the first touch of the key. Mileage is back up to the low 40's on the highway. I haven't had time to tear down the original engine yet. I'd like to repair it and keep it as a spare in case this is a reoccurring problem. LKQ only offered 50$ for the core and Ive got space to store it so keeping it was an easy decision.
 
#10 ·
I know this is an old thread. I parted ways with a 2914 Fiesta in February and purchased an Ford Ecosport FWD with 1.0L EcoBoost.
Ford EcoBoost forums see to be very scant. Not much info or help.
Anyways, I have a the 1.0L EcoBoost and I'm at 24,000mi already. Twice, I've added coolant to resivor. I can't find any leaks. Do t smell coolant. I see nothing unusual about the head gasket . I don't see any coolant mixing with the oil.
I haven't added a lot. Nearly a quart. It was a new full gallon jug. First time, was shortly after new. Coolant was at minimal level. I added some to Max cold level fill. First time, I simply thought nothing more than air bubbles in the system. Now that I've added again to it, I'm concerned.
I read about mystery coolant losses and use in this engine. Is it normal for coolant to evaporate in any way?
The fact that these EcoBoost have turbos that are cooled by the engine coolant and not just oil just adds to a more complex system and more places coolant needs to get to and more places for air to get trapped.
It's interesting, depending on engine temp after driving, sometimes the electric water pump runs to circulate coolant to turbo. Sometimes it doesn't run at all. Sometimes, the pump and the radiator fan both run.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
 
#12 ·
I can tell my story. I've never had a coolant loss. When I bought the car the coolant level fluctuated a lot. When engine was warm the coolant level was sometimes over max level other times a little below max. Now I've renewed my coolant tank and couple of hoses. Same time the coolant level was lowered a bit when changing these parts. Mechanic didn't fill it as much as it used to be. Now the coolant level doesn't fluctuate as much but stays close to halfway between min and max. Like you said, these cars have a complex cooling system with a couple of thermostats and different coolant circulation routes. What I think is that this can cause the coolant level to fluctuate. On my car it happened more when I had a lot of coolant (near max level). Though it could be that it just isn't so visible now with less coolant. I'm not sure ?
 
#11 ·
The system is sealed unless over-pressurised due to excessive heat. Then coolant steam can escape through the cap.

My 2014 Ecoboost was leaking small amounts through “micro-cracks” in the coolant bottle that slowly leaked when hot. It was finally replaced under warranty on the last day of the warranty period. They are a known weak point and relatively cheap to change, so if yours looks discoloured it’s worth changing out.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top