2024 XL (STX) 2.3L coolant intrusion

[superj]

dang!! thats a thousand bucks in bolts, probably

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[bigb]

Check out the three boxes of nuts and bolts on the red cart!

Hope those aren't "leftovers" from other repairs.

 

[superj]

ruh roh, where does this go? oh well, its running fine.

ha ha ha.

 

[pezdyspensr]

Hey I am a Ford dealer shop foreman and I was a gasoline engine repair technician for the majority of my career, I may be able to give some insights potentially.

Coolant intrusion on 2.3l for focus RS mustang and ford explorers were very common for a stretch of about 5-6 years up until about 2-3 years ago. But I have never seen a ranger 5G or 6G with coolant intrusion. That being said it also means I’ve never had to pull the cylinder head off of a ranger either so I can’t attest to the block design on rangers either but I have a strong suspicion that particularly on 5G rangers the block design was an open deck.

So why then have I not seen any rangers with coolant intrusion if it is so common on the other models for the 2.3l?

I always put it up to a combination of 2 factors, one being that those other models are likely driven with much more throttle application more frequently so they have higher average coolant temperature and more frequent and repeated spikes in coolant and cylinder head temperature. I also suspect that the fuel delivery, timing profile and boost pressure (effectively the tune) on rangers is less aggressive as they are often used as fleet vehicles and ford wants to protect their fleet sales and ensure businesses who purchase large quantities of rangers are happy with the longevity and come back for more.

So your service manager saying that they haven’t seen it before makes sense to me, I can’t say it never happens due to the engine family it is a part of but it is exceedingly rare, though the service manager may also just be unaware of how common 2.3l coolant intrusion is on other vehicles as service managers are not very often technically inclined to be honest.

This is an interesting outlook. Running any engine at the edge of its limit seems useful for discovering it's weak spots. Being in Mustangs would do that. Open deck does not seem an inherently bad idea, since it's prevalent in so many decent engines, but makes sense as a weak spot nonetheless - especially at limit.
I had my reservations doing a small displacement 4 cyl in a truck, but I also had a Sprinter for some time with the 2.1 liter 4 cyl which proved to be the better engine over their V6 with many examples going over 500k miles without major trouble, and that's not a lot of displacement for a massive brick/wind sail on wheels. Granted it's diesel, but there are real similarities - low displacement and de-rated from max output. That 2.1 is common in their sedans with much higher output - in the Sprinter it only puts out 188hp I believe. De-rating seems a strong move from a reliability standpoint, even in these little engines. Everything else about a turbo 4 makes sense, fewer moving parts than their turbo v6 counterparts.
Hoping that's the logic Ford took with the Rangers. Haven't seen much in the way of complaints on the Ranger 5G forums at least. But then the recent engine redesign may indicate otherwise.

 

[stemplar]

That’s exactly what I said. The salesman here at the dealer said they had a 25 Escape do the same thing. I don’t believe Ford fixed this problem.

The 2025 escape comes with either a 1.5l 3-cylinder, a 2.0 4-cylinder, or 2.5l 4-cylinder hybrid so not really relevant to a discussion of 2.3l issues being fixed/remedied or not.

 

[Morningpride]

The 2025 escape comes with either a 1.5l 3-cylinder, a 2.0 4-cylinder, or 2.5l 4-cylinder hybrid so not really relevant to a discussion of 2.3l issues being fixed/remedied or not.

2.0 & 2.3 share the same block and head design.

 

[stemplar]

2.0 & 2.3 share the same block and head design.

I do see references to that for older engines going back to the 70's, but looking at ford.oempartsonline.com the head gasket for a '25 escape 2.0 does not fit a '25 ranger 2.3 and vice versa. Even a slight difference makes them mutually exclusive when it comes to talking about issues with one vs the other.

 

[pezdyspensr]

2.0 & 2.3 share the same block and head design.

I was under the impression the 2.0 has a semi closed deck?

 

[Morningpride]

I was under the impression the 2.0 has a semi closed deck?

Nope, open, just like the 2.3.

 

[dram32]

So I took my 2024 XLT 2.3L in yesterday due to me having to top off my coolant multiple times since having it… hopefully they find out what’s going on.

 

[superj]

i hope its nothing. maybe a loose hose or something that is letting coolant seep out

 

[dram32]

i hope its nothing. maybe a loose hose or something that is letting coolant seep out

That’s what I’m hoping but I’ve checked multiple times and haven’t seen anything. Spoke with a buddy that works at the dealer I bought the truck from/dropped it off at for inspection and he told me the tech said it sounds like a cracked head gasket or head or it’s the EGR cooler.

 

[pezdyspensr]

Are we talking low coolant like you keep popping the hood and looking at the reservoir or like low enough to get a message at the cluster?

 

[dram32]

Are we talking low coolant like you keep popping the hood and looking at the reservoir or like low enough to get a message at the cluster?

Visibly checking coolant reservoir. I’ve had multiple instances where I would top it off, when engine is cool, and have it drop to or below minimum within a few weeks to a month.

 

[Meatbag]

Visibly checking coolant reservoir. I’ve had multiple instances where I would top it off, when engine is cool, and have it drop to or below minimum within a few weeks to a month.

hmm i've had to do that with mine ever since it was new. it came from the factory a little above or right at the min mark. i added a little to it to get it halfway between min and max then after a short while i noticed it went back down to min.

no leaks or wet hoses anywhere that i see. no indication of a problem. about a month ago i added more to get it near to the full mark. so far it's been holding. time will tell.

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