This has been bugging me ever since I bought my car. There is some kind of sludge adhered to the top of the coolant tank. Yesterday I took a closer look and removed the cap. There are visible solids floating on top and build-up on the cap. I detached the tank and gave it a good shake but it didn't loosen up. Could it clog up my radiator? Should I get my dealer to flush the coolant?
That certainly does not look normal to me. Get the dealer to test the coolant using test strips. Any other coolant added to that specialty orange coolant will result in a presence of nitrates in the coolant (maybe the dealer topped up with gold coolant?).
Beyond that, does the coolant have a rainbow sheen to it when looking at it from a certain angle? I'd be most worried about that milky crap indicating a possible presence of oil. Maybe your dealer can take a sample of that goo and the top skim of the cruddies in there and send it away for analysis for the presence of engine oil?
Have you had the car serviced anywhere where they would've added stop leak to the system? Some of the quick lube retards offer a winterizing package where they dump that crap into your cooling system "to be extra safe"
How does the oil on your engine oil dipstick look? any milkiness on the dipstick or on the oil cap? Usually when there is an internal leak, the leak will go from the engine oil to the coolant any time the leak is near an oil gallery since the engine oil is under higher pressure than what the cooling system runs at.
IMO, get the dealer to test the coolant and send a sample away before it is flushed. If it is flushed, you may be getting rid of all the clues.
Thanks for the quick replies guys. This has been like this ever since I bought my car back in November. I'm the only one who has performed any maintenance on the car up until the present (one oil change). The oil looks normal, and the level is stable. To my knowledge no coolant has ever been added to the car since it rolled off the assembly line. I'm going to call my dealer first thing tomorrow and schedule an appointment. I'll let you know what happens.
Head gaskets can leak either way..this looks like oil into the coolant.
Since youre the only one who has been under the hood, It looks like that about the only option.
If it had been serviced at a fast lube place, well lets not go there...lol
That can be an issue with an automatic that requires the fluid to be cooled. Those use the radiator and can leak into it but in the case of the Focus, it is DCT so does not have any trans fluid that requires cooling so that wouldn't be it. One other thing it could be is some of the fluid from the casting of the motor may not have been flushed from the factory and contaminated the coolant. But you do need to get it checked out.
Update: I talked to a service rep today and he agreed it is probably a head gasket issue (faulty part, not installed correctly, etc.) I have an appointment Friday, so I let you guys know what happens. Thanks again.
Yup thats coolant all right. My girlfriends V-dub looked like this a while ago, headgasket was the culprit. That really bites man, this SHOULD NOT happen on such a new car. Beg and plead for a prototype ST to use while this is getting repaired. [hihi]
The short story is that my Ford dealer says this is normal, and they can't/won't do anything about it. Arguing didn't accomplish anything other than making me more mad. I'll be seeking a second opinion from another dealer at my next opportunity.
ANY contaminates in the coolant isn't 'normal'. contact Ford services about it and explain your dealers position. That is not correct by any standards. even if it is contaminates from mfg, it needs to be cleaned out, flushed and filled with non contaminated antifreeze. Good idea to seek another dealerships opinion. Good luck.
I don't think I've ever owned a vehicle that didn't have some crap on the bottom of the coolant cap and/or accumulating at or near the fluid level. You have to realize that as the coolant gets hot, contaminants boil off and accumulate at the highest point in the system. With a new engine, this could be a number of things, assembly lube etc. The fact that its in the tank means its no longer necessarily circulating through the engine. Even if it was, its just mostly coolant with a little oily stuff.
Having said all this, I am not saying there isn't a problem. Just that I wouldn't be too concerned.
This post is so ignorant it makes me mad. Firstly, do you understand what boiling is? It is a process in which water evaporates and turns into steam. The only thing that is going to be carried up onto the radiator cap is H20. Any solids would be to heavy and remain in the coolant. *End Rant*
Wow that is utter BS. Trust me when I say that is NOT NORMAL. I would definitely contact Ford itself about this; your dealership is stiffing you to save a few dollars. Also, if you want as I don't believe it would void anything, pull the spark plugs out and see if any of that gunk is on the plugs. If it is you most definitely have a problem. Even if there isn't, that is still not normal at all. As others have said the coolant lines are a closed system and nothing should be getting into it. Good luck at another dealer, but seriously, contact Ford about this; if they're pulling this stuff on you, you can bet on it that they are doing this to someone else. I feel bad for anyone who was denied service by your dealership, only to have something worse happen down the road.
Also, I've said this before but I'll say it again. I find that dealerships that advertise heavily, and with prices lower than anyone else tend to be garbage. (The "We will beat anybody's prices" kind of place)They have to save money somehow in that equation and more often than not it's in their service department. This of course may not be the case with your dealership, but I figured I'd put it out there.
As to what got3fords said. My Focus did not do that and I've had the car for 7000 miles now; and you can be sure if this was a frequent occurrence and thus "normal" someone else here would have already freaked out about it by now.
As to what got3fords said. My Focus did not do that and I've had the car for 7000 miles now; and you can be sure if this was a frequent occurrence and thus "normal" someone else here would have already freaked out about it by now.
I'd be surprised that your coolant tank is completely crap free! Hell, if I go out and check mine, I'd be surprised too, albeit happy. But I am not going to get bent out of shape over a little sludge/crap. I doubt you can possibly assemble an engine with absolutely no oil, gasket sealant, residue or assembly lube in the cooling system. Then its going to boil off and accumulate at the highest point. Complete BS? Get real!
Now that I have more time I'll give you guys the long explanation:
The dealer agreed on the phone that my description of what I was seeing did not sound normal. After looking at it in person the dealer called me and told me it does look normal. I asked what his definition "normal" is, and he explained that they looked at some 2012 Foci on their lot and one of them has some gunk like mine in the coolant tank. That particular car has a few thousand miles on it (mine has about 6,000). So they determined that it must be something that happens after the car breaks in. I said that I want that crud flushed out anyway, regardless of whether he thinks it's normal. To which he responded, "That's just a waste of your money; that stuff on the tank can't be removed without scrubbing it off with a brush. We're not authorized to do that, so you'll have to do that yourself."
I'm sending an inquiry to Ford corporate right now.
Thanks for checking 2012. There is a bit of a sheen on the top of your fluid, but certainly nothing like mine. I'd be very happy if my coolant looked that clean.
Thanks for fixing the pic link. I really don't think there is a problem. Just wipe off the cap every now and then and keep an eye to see if it gets worse or the level changes. You have a lot of miles left on your warranty, so you have time to watch it and keep pics and document the mileage etc. I still feel its just some crap that boiled off and collected up there. No biggie.
I received an official response from Ford corporate yesterday. Without any real details to back up their reasoning, they agree with my dealer that dirty coolant is perfectly normal in a brand new car. Then they go on to mention that I have a recall on my car and I should have had that done when my car was in for the coolant issue. Stupid me, thinking they would check my service records and do the recall without me mentioning it. (They did however ask me three times for permission to do an oil change that I didn't want.) I will not be having the recall performed at that particular dealership; I'll get it done elsewhere and also get second opinion on the coolant while I'm at it.
I wouldn't blame you at all if you popped that tank off, clean it and refilled it with clean fluid. Piece of mind and you can see if the gunk keeps showing up.
I would definitely do something about it. The coolant overflow hose (or some other thin line) could clog up rather quickly, as that sludgy gunk thickens over time. If it is anything like a coolant+trans mixture, it can certainly plug a coolant line (over time), and it sure doesn't take alot of it to create this issue. My advice: Get it flushed.
I am taking ours in this weekend for them to look at mine. It is not as bad as yours but there is a light film on top of the coolant. Also going to have them look at a rough idle. Let you know what they say.
I will let you know if I have any problems, I really don't expect to since I just bought two new vehicles from this dealer in the last four months. Just ordered a new 2012 F-150 Monday.
Took it to the dealer and they said it was normal. As my luck would have it they did not have any real techs working only oil change kids. So I did not even bother to ask about the rough idle. I will go in during the week and make an appointment and ask them to check out the mode 6 on the ecm. I read about it on a F150 site.
^Mode 6 data is a good way to see what has been happening in the past 10 drive cycles. If there are any misfires it will show how many "counts" per cylinder. It literally takes 30 seconds to access once the IDS has made a connection.
Now I get to see the dumb founded look on the service writers face when I ask about this. Last time I asked to have them check about the rough idle. I got the all too familar If there is no check engine light nothing we can do response.
I just opened up my overflow tank today for the first time and have this gunk buildup on the cap as well. 15k. I took some pictures and cleaned it up but I'm not happy. What's to say this isn't happening inside the Radiater and possibly clogging the small lines? Sounds like there maybe an issues with this "long life" coolent. Reminds me of the issues that gm had with "dex cool"
My only thought as to the white stuff is perhaps some leftover material from the manufacturing process? Doesn't look like oil in the coolant. I'll check mine, but I doubt I'll yield any results with only about 820 miles on the car.
Yep, that's my opinion. I think this is being over thought. I have had more than one car that had crap build up in the overflow tank. Not one had a serious issue. I think some impurities got trapped in there, from Mfg assembly or something, and takes forever to burn off because its a sealed system. The tank is the highest point in the system, so it that's where it boils off to. Most likely, that's where it stays.
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