Coolant loss, a cracked head and engine fire on the 1.6 EcoBoost

Coolant escapes, the cylinder head runs hot and cracks, oil leaks onto hot metal and the engine bay catches fire. Ford worked through four recalls between 2012 and 2017 and ended up fitting a coolant level sensor — an admission that the driver had no way of knowing the coolant had gone. All of it stops at the 2014 model year.

Symptoms

The early signs are ordinary and easy to dismiss: the temperature gauge climbing, a sweet smell, coolant needing topping up. What follows is not. Ford's own consequence lines run from "as leaking engine coolant evaporates on the hot engine, the glycol may ignite causing an engine compartment fire" to "leaking engine oil may come into contact with a hot engine surface potentially resulting in an engine compartment fire."

Likely cause

A chain rather than a single fault, which is why it took four campaigns. It starts with coolant leaving the system — a dislodged cylinder head cup plug in the first recall, coolant system leaks in the second. Losing coolant lets the cylinder head overheat locally; the head then cracks; and the crack lets oil out onto a hot engine. Ford's 2017 campaign attacks the first link in the chain rather than the last: it fits a coolant level sensor so the driver is told before the rest of it happens.

How should it be checked?

Run the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls — there are up to four campaigns here and they are cumulative rather than alternatives. Note that 13V-583 explicitly "supplements NHTSA recall 12V-551" and requires the work regardless of whether the earlier recall was already done, so a car marked complete on one may still be open on the other. Then check whether the coolant level sensor from 17V-209 was fitted, because on a car of this age it is the only thing standing between a slow leak and the rest of the sequence.

How can you check it yourself?

Check the coolant level cold, against the marks, and look at the colour — brown or oily is a bad sign. Look for dried white or coloured crust around hose joints and the head. Then check whether the car has a coolant level warning at all; on the earlier cars it does not, which is exactly what the 2017 recall was fixing.

The question to ask the shop

Which of recalls 12V-431, 12V-551, 13V-583 and 17V-209 have been completed on this VIN, and on what dates? Was the coolant level sensor fitted? Has the cylinder head or short block ever been replaced, and has the engine ever overheated?