2015 GT 50th Anniversary at 90K miles leaked coolant into the crankcase

[NotThatMechInclined]

Hi everybody!

First time poster here.

And I am not all that Automotive mechanically inclined.

Please bear with me.

Earlier this week, while my car was parked and idle with the A/C on, it began to idle roughly. I looked at the tach and the needle was swinging/moving. I glanced at the cylinder head temp and it was normal. The idle got rougher, so I decided to hit the stop button. I let it sit for about 15 minutes. I tried to restart but again had a really rough idle with lots of metal clanging noises.

To try keep this long story short, it got towed to the dealership. The dealership said that when they went to drain the oil, engine coolant came out as well and/or the oil was discolored like frothy cappacino. According to them, they didn’t do any additional diagnostic tests, but came to the conclusion that it needs a new engine.

The service rep said he was going to call around today for parts/engines and prices.

I originally bought this car in the summer of 2016. It had about 7,000 miles on it. I took out a 5 year loan for it, so I have a year left to pay on it.

I suspect the dealership is out to rape me.

I have to wonder if I would be better off having a performance type shop work on it. (I am near St. Louis)

What would you do?

(thanks in advance)

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[GT Pony]

I take it the power train warranty (which covers the engine too) is over?

 

[NotThatMechInclined]

I take it the power train warranty (which covers the engine too) is over?

Yes sir ! (Or ma’am) .

You are correct!

unfortunately.

 

[GT Pony]

Sounds like no extended power train warranty either. Guess if it was mine I'd try to get cost estimates from a dealer and from an performance shop if it wasn't a big hassle. If you plan on any performance mods, a performance shop would be a better way to go.

How did the dealer determine what kind of engine damage was done - or did they just go by sounds it was making? Did they tear into the motor to inspect, or did they just say it needs a new motor because the oil was milky?

 

[The Chairman]

Blown head gasket would leak coolant into the oil. But a metallic sound is not good...
As others said, at this point, it’s going to cost some $$ to either tear it down to see what happened or replace it. Might be better at a performance shop as their rates will be lower, but not likely to have a warranty.
BTW: A bore-scope might tell you something (fluid in the cylinders, scoring, etc.). But dropping the oil pan will tell you more if its a bad metallic sound.
To be honest, if it’s a serious metallic sound, likely a new engine is in your future (or at least a short block).

 

[NotThatMechInclined]

Yes, the dealership said the oil was milky

 

[GT Pony]

Yes, the dealership said the oil was milky

But how do they know the extend of any damage?

 

[NotThatMechInclined]

But how do they know the extend of any damage?

Maybe the description of the mechanical/metal clanking sounds it was making while it was idling roughly.

On a much different note, the dealership didn’t call me today with prices. But that might just be because of the July 4th holiday.

I did get a hold of a local custom Bronco restorer outfit today. They gave me a good lead on a local performance shop that specializes in Mustangs.

And on another forum totally unrelated to cars, one of the posters there rattled off a number of tests that the dealership should have performed.

with maybe the simplest thing to do was to look at each spark plug to look for burnt coolant signs.

And then the next simplest would be to do a coolant system pressure test with the Oil drain plug removed To see if coolant comes out.

 

[GT Pony]

Maybe the description of the mechanical/metal clanking sounds it was making while it was idling roughly.

If it was making a lot of noise, the crank and/or rod bearings probably got toasted. Coolant in the oil, depending on the level of coolant contamination, won't always cause damage throughout the engine. How long was it driven while making abnormal noises?

 

[The Chairman]

Maybe the description of the mechanical/metal clanking sounds it was making while it was idling roughly.

On a much different note, the dealership didn’t call me today with prices. But that might just be because of the July 4th holiday.

I did get a hold of a local custom Bronco restorer outfit today. They gave me a good lead on a local performance shop that specializes in Mustangs.

And on another forum totally unrelated to cars, one of the posters there rattled off a number of tests that the dealership should have performed.

with maybe the simplest thing to do was to look at each spark plug to look for burnt coolant signs.

And then the next simplest would be to do a coolant system pressure test with the Oil drain plug removed To see if coolant comes out.

It appears that you certainly have coolant in your oil. So those tests won’t tell you anything you didn’t already know. The question is “How did it get there, and what is that noise?”
Doing a bore scope of each cylinder is nice. But the noise is the real concern. The only way to see what is going on is to pull the oil pan.

 

[NotThatMechInclined]

If it was making a lot of noise, the crank and/or rod bearings probably got toasted. Coolant in the oil, depending on the level of coolant contamination, won't always cause damage throughout the engine. How long was it driven while making abnormal noises?

it wasn't.

just sitting parked, idling with the A/C on... while I sat and ate my burger and fries.

no “idiot lights" came on. No warnings, buzzers, dings, chimes, or bells.

just started idling rougher and rougher.

and then I hit the engine stop button.

It didn’t make any clanking noises then.

I waited a while, and tried a restart.

that’s when the clanking noise

 

[ice445]

it wasn't.

just sitting parked, idling with the A/C on... while I sat and ate my burger and fries.

no “idiot lights" came on. No warnings, buzzers, dings, chimes, or bells.

just started idling rougher and rougher.

and then I hit the engine stop button.

It didn’t make any clanking noises then.

I waited a while, and tried a restart.

that’s when the clanking noise

Sounds like it overheated, although it's odd that it didn't give you any indication that it was doing so.

 

[Cobra Jet]

There are/were posts on this site of premature water pump failures on the early S550 5.0 which were covered under warranty.

I don’t think it was a very common failure BUT, if the water pump was weeping for quite some time, causing a low coolant condition, that could have resulted in an over heating condition and possible head gasket failure.

Another issue that’s been noted on this site as well with regards to coolant leaks is the lower hose on the coolant bottle - some members have found that hose loose OR split at the bottle nipple allowing coolant leakage from the overflow bottle.

Not saying either scenario above is what happened, it’s just a possibility of many scenarios.

Do you recall seeing that your coolant overflow bottle was low or empty?

Any water spots/staining on the ground where you normally park the car?

You can ask your Ford Dealer if they can offer any discount for the work, maybe they will help you out a little. It’s unfortunate you’re out of warranty, but there’s not much more that can be done at this point.

See what the dealership would offer for a trade value, maybe you can get into another vehicle?

 

[NotThatMechInclined]

Nope! No coolant leaks on the concrete driveway.

and yes, you are correct.

at one point the original water pump did grenade itself. That was replaced under warranty with at that time no other apparent damage done to the engine. (I had just stoped at a convenience store... got a whiff of antifreeze on the way in... on the way out saw the puddle under the car and the steam).

I made a command decision and limped it two blocks to my house all the while keeping an eye on the cylinder head temp. It was towed to the dealer the next day.

prior to that by several months, I did have a slight oil leak on the right side. I noticed a burning oil smell and smoke coming out from the passenger side wheel well.

I guess the oil had dripped down onto the exhaust manifold. How ever it smoked off it was drawn out or drafted out around the passenger side front tire. Seeing smoke waft out while pulling up to a stop light caught my eye.

again, that was covered under warranty too.

 

[NotThatMechInclined]

The dealership called me this morning. I stopped by there and I was able to take some pics.

Their theory is that the coolant leak caused a valve to let go, so that was crashing or bouncing around inside the cylinder. That made the piston disintegrate.

and it was all downhill from there.

let me see if I can post some pics.

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