Coolant and Oil Consumption

[dasUB3RNOOB]

Hey all.

2018 GT base with no engine mods. 9,900 current miles.

I'm consuming coolant from full to a few inches under the minimum line in ~2500 miles. The car has been refilled with coolant 4 times, 3 times by a Ford dealership. No signs of leaking anywhere.

Oil is being consumed at about 1 quart per 3000 miles. This started around 5,000 miles. No signs of leaking oil, either.

Driving conditions are pretty much stop and go freeway traffic for 30 miles. Car is pushed occasionally, but is not raced hard or tracked.

Losing coolant doesn't seem right at all, and Ford has taken the car in twice to give it a full troubleshooting but nothing was found. The oil consumption on it's own wouldn't be majorly concerning to me if it wasn't paired with the coolant, but combined I feel like this is a potentially large issue.

Am I right to think this? I have another service appointment scheduled for this weekend. Should I be pushing back on getting answers to this before it becomes something larger?

Thanks, and please let me know if I missed any details.

Here's an image to visualize how much coolant goes missing. Last time the dealership put that black mark on the reservoir, which was in April and 3000 miles ago:

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[GT Pony]

If it's burning coolant sometimes the exhaust will smell "sweet". Also, spark plugs will look cleaner in a cylinder that's burning coolant. Did they pull the spark plugs to take a look?

 

[dasUB3RNOOB]

If it's burning coolant sometimes the exhaust will smell "sweet". Also, spark plugs will look cleaner in a cylinder that's burning coolant. Did they pull the spark plugs to take a look?

Thanks. I'll see to asking this, since I don't think they have.

 

[gnatsuM]

Any update OP? Mines at the same level right now as your pic. '19 with 14k miles, I don't see leaks. Shouldn't need servicing so soon. It's off to the dealership in a few days, I'll also inquire about the plugs.

 

[Roger Blose]

I had a small coolant loss in my 2018 GT which the dealer found to be a bad crimp in the side tank of the radiator which allows the leak under pressure. I was added coolant every three weeks before the problem was found. The side plastic tanks crimp onto the aluminum radiator with some rubber gaskets I was told. Also check your oil to make sure it is not mixing with coolant otherwise a head gasket may be leaking.

 

[dasUB3RNOOB]

Sorry, I did neglect updating this thread...

Diagnosis from dealer was a leak at the heater core, which they replaced. I'll need to put more miles on to see if that was truly the issues

 

[gmupatriot]

Sorry, I did neglect updating this thread...

Diagnosis from dealer was a leak at the heater core, which they replaced. I'll need to put more miles on to see if that was truly the issues

OP,

My 2018 GT with around 29,000 miles consumes coolant as well as oil. I change oil every 6000 miles and have to add 1/2 to 3/4 quart oil to maintain level of original fill. As for the coolant, I consume the same amount as you show but it takes about 10k miles to burn through that much coolant. No idea what is causing this (oil and coolant) issue.

 

[gnatsuM]

Well, the dealership only did a pressure test and found no issue. The service coordinator said that it's "likely normal, but keep an eye on it". Uh, no it's not normal. That's the last straw for this place, they are utterly useless.

 

[Zathras]

On my '18 GT, I've also noticed a very gradual loss of coolant. (My rough estimate is ~2 ounces lost per 1000 miles driven.) I have not had it checked out yet.

I thought it was kind of strange that my owner's manual states "If you have to add more than 1.1 qt (1 L) of engine coolant per month, have your vehicle checked as soon as possible." Does that suggest that loosing coolant in a quantity less that 1 quart a month is "OK"? Because that's a pretty major amount of coolant to go missing...

 

[GT Pony]

On my '18 GT, I've also noticed a very gradual loss of coolant. (My rough estimate is ~2 ounces lost per 1000 miles driven.) I have not had it checked out yet.

I thought it was kind of strange that my owner's manual states "If you have to add more than 1.1 qt (1 L) of engine coolant per month, have your vehicle checked as soon as possible." Does that suggest that loosing coolant in a quantity less that 1 quart a month is "OK"? Because that's a pretty major amount of coolant to go missing...

1.1 qt a month? ... that's crazy for Ford to say that. Every vehicle I've owned never lose any coolant, unless there's a flaw/leak in the cooling system. A closed cooling system should not use/lose coolant.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Sorry, I did neglect updating this thread...

Diagnosis from dealer was a leak at the heater core, which they replaced. I'll need to put more miles on to see if that was truly the issues

If your coolant leak was the same as the OP and the Service Center said it was a leak at the heater core, which is internal to the HVAC box, located inside the car and behind the dash - you never had interior windshield fogging with smell of coolant or any amount of fluid on passenger floor?

I know the HVAC has the drainage for A/C, which *might* expel some other possible fluid leak from the HVAC box, but nothing was showing up on the outside of the car either?

That’s quite a bit of coolant not to be missed on the inside (or outside) of the car.

 

[usgiorgi]

They need to put in some UV dye to see where it's leaking. That much coolant being burnt would definitely produce quite a bit of smoke.

 

[Cueball]

I just added some coolant to my '15 GT last weekend for the first time in 5 years. It was down to about that same level.

 

[3star2nr]

Hey all.

2018 GT base with no engine mods. 9,900 current miles.

I'm consuming coolant from full to a few inches under the minimum line in ~2500 miles. The car has been refilled with coolant 4 times, 3 times by a Ford dealership. No signs of leaking anywhere.

Oil is being consumed at about 1 quart per 3000 miles. This started around 5,000 miles. No signs of leaking oil, either.

Driving conditions are pretty much stop and go freeway traffic for 30 miles. Car is pushed occasionally, but is not raced hard or tracked.

Losing coolant doesn't seem right at all, and Ford has taken the car in twice to give it a full troubleshooting but nothing was found. The oil consumption on it's own wouldn't be majorly concerning to me if it wasn't paired with the coolant, but combined I feel like this is a potentially large issue.

Am I right to think this? I have another service appointment scheduled for this weekend. Should I be pushing back on getting answers to this before it becomes something larger?

Thanks, and please let me know if I missed any details.

Here's an image to visualize how much coolant goes missing. Last time the dealership put that black mark on the reservoir, which was in April and 3000 miles ago:

bro it's not a Honda civic motor these cars will consume oil. Pretty much any high compression big motor will have more blowby thats most likely where your oil is going.

Unless the engines ring gaps were fucke up which you can check with a compression tester...

Cars under warranty right so send it and just top up as required

 

[usgiorgi]

bro it's not a Honda civic motor these cars will consume oil. Pretty much any high compression big motor will have more blowby thats most likely where your oil is going.

Unless the engines ring gaps were fucke up which you can check with a compression tester...

Cars under warranty right so send it and just top up as required

Oil consumption and coolant consumption are very different things. The coolant system is sealed and should not be dropping in level unless it's overflowing after heat expansion due to overfilling. There's only a few places where coolant can be lost.
1) Like I said, it can boil over and the expansion tank's lid can vent/release some of it until the pressure is normalized.

2) it can be burnt up due to a crack in the engine block or head gasket. Either of those can be checked with a combustion leak tester like this one https://www.amazon.com/UView-560000-Combustion-Leak-Tester/dp/B000NPDL76#customerReviews

3) The coolant can be spilled due to a crack in the radiator or the expansion tank, faulty expansion tank cap, loose coolant hose clamp, etc. <--- I bet #3 is what most of the people here are experiencing. If your car is burning coolant, your engine will not be running well. The plug in that cylinder will also look chalky.

That's why I suggested the dye. If it is leaking from somewhere, the dye will expose the culprit.

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