Loss of coolant after 6K miles

[texasboy21]

I noticed I am low in coolant and think I may have a leak somewhere.

Some of the local S550 guys had similar issues, and the general consensus from them is a leaking water pump or hailed head gasket.

Any one else experienced the same issue?

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[Ecoboosted]

Last year I had to add some to my coolant tank. It wasn't a whole lot but enough to where I had to add some. Haven't had to add any since. Don't have an explanation why it went low. I have 26000 miles now.

 

[TomcatDriver]

Is there any visible leaking or white residue? Is the engine hot or cold in the picture? A coolant leak will usually leave a white slightly powdery residue behind.

They make coolant reservoirs translucent so you can easily check/refill. Every car I have ever owned has needed a little coolant from time to time. If it was at the MAX line before with the engine at the same temp, and it recently dropped to the MIN line, I might be a little concerned. If you didn't really notice exactly where it was and just noticed today it was at/slightly below the MIN line I would refill and keep an eye on it.

 

[DarkestHour]

Mine was like this too ever since I got it. I just added some distilled water to bring it back to the max line.

 

[jdub.csu]

Pretty standard for a new car to have some loss in the first year. Your maybe a quart low just top if off you will be fine

 

[5LITER]

1 year and 17k miles. No loss of coolant or engine oil fwiw.

 

[texasboy21]

There does appear to be dried coolant in the engine bay, see pics below.

 

[texasboy21]

Is there any visible leaking or white residue? Is the engine hot or cold in the picture? A coolant leak will usually leave a white slightly powdery residue behind.

They make coolant reservoirs translucent so you can easily check/refill. Every car I have ever owned has needed a little coolant from time to time. If it was at the MAX line before with the engine at the same temp, and it recently dropped to the MIN line, I might be a little concerned. If you didn't really notice exactly where it was and just noticed today it was at/slightly below the MIN line I would refill and keep an eye on it.

There does appear to be dried coolant in the engine bay at the front most point of the engine, and near each valve cover.

The picture was taken the the car cold - sat all night.

The engine coolant was not low from the factory. I looked at some pics I took just a few weeks after purchasing the car and it was to the full mark.

Top it off and keep an eye on it? Take it to the dealer for them to inspect and document the issue?

 

[DivineStrike]

I had a coolant leak from the moment my car was delivered. It took 2.5 years and finally a competent dealer to identify it was a bad radiator. I've had no issues since the dealer replaced it.

 

[IvanCRF]

I live in the desert and would lose coolant very slowly until I got my tune with a lower thermostat temperature. Once I got my tune, the head temps dropped substatially. With my new tune, I have not lost any coolant whatsoever. Perhaps with the high stock head temps, some coolant was evaporating or escaping through the radiator cap.

 

[texasboy21]

Bumping this thread with an update from my original problem, and now the latest.

I took the car to the dealer under warranty soon after starting the thread. The dealer pressure tested the system and could not find any leaks. They then topped off the fluid and said all is well.

Now at 10,500 miles I notice that is it low again.. The car feels less peppy above 4000rpm, and I noticed CHTs at 220+ even in mild temps (60F-80F) during normal/causal driving.

I will be taking the car back in to be inspected again..

 

[ElAviator72]

I had a 2015 ecoboost PP car that came from the factory with a coolant leak :doh: I found out shortly before my first oil change: I noticed my heat wouldn't work. You don't expect a new car to have a coolant leak...anyhow, in my instance, it was a PP specific hose (remember, the eco PP has a different radiator!) that was stretched at the factory. Unfortunately, it took about a week for the part to come in, since I don't think Ford was expecting to have to replace the hose that early, either...no parts inventory. Ford covered the rental while we waited for the hose to come in

 

[lizardrko]

I had a coolant leak coming from the hose going to the water pump. Dealer misdiagnosed the leak and they said it was coming from the water pump, so they replaced the entire water pump. A couple days later I heard noise coming from my engine bay after i turned the car off. Long behold I see a stream of fluid coming from the hose onto my driveway. Dealer said they messed up and was prolly the hose the entire time. If I didnt catch it and continued to drive they would have owed me a new motor lol.

 

[ElAviator72]

Bumping this thread with an update from my original problem, and now the latest.

I took the car to the dealer under warranty soon after starting the thread. The dealer pressure tested the system and could not find any leaks. They then topped off the fluid and said all is well.

Now at 10,500 miles I notice that is it low again.. The car feels less peppy above 4000rpm, and I noticed CHTs at 220+ even in mild temps (60F-80F) during normal/causal driving.

I will be taking the car back in to be inspected again..

Ford engineers have always liked to let the cylinder heads run hot (for emissions control reasons). Unless it's hotter than you observed before, I wouldn't worry about that too much. But I'm sure that that contributed to the head gasket failures back on the 3.8 v6 (along with the dissimilar metal thermal expansion problems-cyl. head was aluminum while the block was cast iron).

 

[jeffrt]

I just topped mine up a few weeks ago. Level was pretty much the same as in the first pic. Can’t recall if it was ever near the max line since I’ve had it, but it’s full now, and hopefully stays there. All good after a couple weeks.

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