RESOLVED: The Mystery of the Disappearing Coolant

[Milton Jeff]

If you can't find a leak and there is no evident puddle or drops under the truck, it might have a failed head gasket and the coolant is leaking into a combustion chamber. If this is the case, you may notice white smoke from the tailpipe, also, it may be obvious by pulling the plugs and inspecting them.

Good luck.

Check your oil too. Surely a dealership would do that but you never know.

Jeepers those thoughts are scary, I have certainly seen both of those symptoms years ago driving older cars. If it is leaking past the head gasket, white smoke, MPG improves significantly but sooner rather than later, engine seizure. Damn, I sure hope not.

GL Travis and others who have this leaking coolant issue... Maybe my 2nd year Mav will not have this issue...

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[ScorpioST]

even after they repaired (replaced) the block heater, my coolant reservoir is still dropping about 1/3 of an inch every hundred miles..

i used my points to buy some of their concentrate coolant and added some to the reservoir.

The problem is i don't have the time to bring my hybrid maverick back to the dealer again. Last time, they refused to let me go home with it.

Im affraid that this time they may find another leak.. like the heat exchanger or something. Its going to take them weeks if not months to fix especially if they replace the entire engine.

i rather add some coolant every couple of days than having to drive a crappy loaner. Anyway, next weeks i have a couple of days off i might try a different dealer and see.

as for the leak, i can't find it. No puddle, no smell , nothing.. the level just slowly dropping.

Sounds like they just replaced a defective part with another defective part. That is absolutely unbelievable. There should be a delete kit for this since probably vast majority of people don't even use the damn things.

 

[skinnyboy]

Jeepers those thoughts are scary, I have certainly seen both of those symptoms years ago driving older cars. If it is leaking past the head gasket, white smoke, MPG improves significantly but sooner rather than later, engine seizure. Damn, I sure hope not.

GL Travis and others who have this leaking coolant issue... Maybe my 2nd year Mav will not have this issue...

Let's hope it's not a head gasket issue. I believe only the Canadian trucks get the block heater and it seems to be contained to Canadian hybrids. Still not good having to have a fairly major repair but better than a gasket.

A block plug from a US model or Escape hybrid should be able to eliminate the heater, but that's a guess. No way that Ford would produce a different block for Canada though. Whether a dealer would substitute one for the heater is another question.

Cheers.

 

[sannich]

on 3rd week XL, Check Engine Light on, and coolant disappear well below min. I wondering it's block heater leaking? with many similar cases here, should've been a recall.

 

[Error]

Could be…. You have to go to the dealership.. it’s impossible to see the block heater from above. They use a snake cam, if you have one you can try.. its in the back of the engine near the catalytic converter.. just follow the wire.

im back from the dealership and they said the fix they did last time was successful .. the drop i had was just pocket air.

As for the dead hybrid symptom, unfortunately they can't change the battery harness because i didn't get any dead sleep symptomes.. and there is no bulletin…associated with my vin Number.

 

[Mavonorder]

On a search, I believe this is the part that comes up as the block heater.
The part number is the same for hybrid or ecoboost apparently, #6A051, the same item number but different prices. Confusing???
It is a simple part and I wonder, how that much coolant leaks out, that fast. Defective soldering perhaps.

Sorry for my ignorance, but is the block heater optional or standard equipment on the hybrid and the eb?

Thanks

 

[sannich]

Could be…. You have to go to the dealership.. it’s impossible to see the block heater from above. They use a snake cam, if you have one you can try.. its in the back of the engine near the catalytic converter.. just follow the wire.

im back from the dealership and they said the fix they did last time was successful .. the drop i had was just pocket air.

As for the dead hybrid symptom, unfortunately they can't change the battery harness because i didn't get any dead sleep symptomes.. and there is no bulletin…associated with my vin Number.

as long as it's not head gasket, I am still enjoying new hybrid mav. will see what dealer find it out.

 

[sannich]

as long as it's not head gasket, I am still enjoying new hybrid mav. will see what dealer find it out.

okay... all I found out is dealer have no time to look at my car, 17 days later that's earliest appointment, coz it's still runnable... keep topping it, that's what i got from dealer till next available day...
Ford, i really wish i can love you...

 

[Geep]

Add me to the list of disappearing coolant. Hybrid 1800km

 

[JBL14]

Sorry for my ignorance, but is the block heater optional or standard equipment on the hybrid and the eb?

Thanks

Last time I checked, the block heater is an option only, never a standard feature on any type of Maverick.
There is probably a hole for the heater on every single engine but the hole is plugged with a blank plug.

 

[skinnyboy]

Last time I checked, the block heater is an option only, never a standard feature on any type of Maverick.
There is probably a hole for the heater on every single engine but the hole is plugged with a blank plug.

Standard on Canadian hybrids. It seems some of the engines with block heaters didn't have them installed properly (one shift?) at the plant, or the supplier had a bad batch of heaters. Seems the dealers are waiting on new heaters to do the work, but it could just be an install issue. Perhaps someone that had the repair done could weigh in on what had to be done to fix the issue, provided the service departments aren't being too tight lipped. A block plug might be a good route if the heaters are bad.

 

[Geep]

Mine is leaking as I posted above….given the enormity of this job would you not think that trying a leak stop additive would be the first thing tried? Once you loosen one bolt on a engine that you accepted as 100% you have introduced a future potential problem…if it ain’t broke don’t fix it

 

[grumpyunk]

!


Where are the Ecoboost engines built that are going into the North American Mavericks?

Look on the passenger end of the cam cover. There should be a white label, and in the upper right corner it will indicate the build site. From all I have read, it is Valencia Engine Plant in Spain.
tom

 

[JoeTime]

Owned my Mav for about a week and a half when the Check Engine light came on. Hadn't even run through my first tank of gas (860km).

FordPass app said the light pertained to the coolant and to check the levels. Lower coolant reservoir was bone dry. Tossed in a 1/3 of a jug of coolant I had in the garage and it didn't even make a dent in the level, just flowed into the hoses. Purchased a new jug and was able to top it up to the MAX line. The Check Engine light also turned off. I drove 40km to work and when I arrived the fluid was below MIN with hardly anything left in the reservoir. I checked again before heading home but found the same thing. Empty. Nothing appeared to be dripping from underneath.

Took it to the dealer and they eventually discovered the problem was a leak in the block heater and it would take two weeks to get the part up from the US, thus no Mav for two weeks. Longer than I have actually owned it at this point. Faulty build? Lemon? Who knows?!

To add insult to injury, they said they would provide me with a rental free of charge, but they couldn't find a vehicle to give me. They were able to secure one for tomorrow and have arranged to Uber me to and from work tomorrow (80km round trip). Not ideal, but to be fair my dealer has been nothing but helpful, so this isn't a slight on them by any means, just a recounting of my experience. I've loved the time I've spent with my Mav so far, I'm just disappointed I can't drive it for the next two weeks.

You have an awesome attitude.

 

[Tazgarde]

You have an awesome attitude.

I try to be level-headed and logical about things. Bottom line is they don't have the part and can't fix it right now, and nothing I can say or do is going to change that. Either I can be reasonable and they'll continue to help me as best as they can (paying for Uber, rental, etc), or I can go in yelling and screaming and they'll be a little less inclined to help me, not just in this instance, but in the future. I'll be "that guy", and I'm sure dealerships have plenty of "those guys" to deal with. This might not be the only first-year kink the Maverick has either, so I don't want to go burning bridges. I also just try to treat people with respect. It's not their fault the block heater is leaking, so why yell at them? They're just doing their jobs. If they suck at their jobs, well then that's a different story!

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