Went to look at a 2000 v10 Excursion a couple hours away this weekend, 101K miles, had high hopes. Picking up a TT in a few days, figured a stable of a F350 v10 CC and an Excursion v10 would be appropriate for all eventualities.

Had a couple broken exhaust studs I could see, power door locks don't work, missing spare tire, one sunglass bay missing its guts, steering wheel leather a mess, nothing too big or unusual. Kids loved it. Looked like the old faithful Odyssey was finally on its way out.

But what did get my attention is the coolant in the surge tank was half empty, after coming up to temp it was completely empty. Nothing dripping, no coolant smell.

Dealer says "its fine!" and I asked "where did it go?" he didn't have an answer. He got out the bill from his mechanic and it had new ball joints, new AC evaporator, good stuff, but no mention of coolant added or being low.

So my F350 doesn't seem to eat coolant. And the dealer asked a co-worker how often he puts coolant in his v10 and the answer was "never, in years". So I walked saying I'd have to look into it.

I can't find anything in any threads I searched having to do with coolant where its expected and normal to need to feed the surge tank. As I was leaving they were adding coolant, so its now OK for the next guy I guess.

Now is the time where everyone tells me I'm too picky and all that. In the meantime I get to ready myself for 5 hours each way to pick up the TT with wife and 4 kids in the CC.

On a related tangential note, looking for a family tow vehicle and the yukon XL 2500 with the 8.1 seems to come up as an alternative to the Excursion/v10, and it seems to normally eat 1qt of oil every 1k miles, but no coolant either.

 

The fact that it drops after it gets up to operating temp is weird. It could be eating it, but you'd see it dripping out the tailpipe at that rate. I could just be so low that it's allowing air back into the engine cooling system and it has to pump it out into the radiator.

Or, it could be a heater core, or some other air leak is causing an air bubble to form in the upper part of the engine. As it runs, the air is pushed into the radiator. When you shut it off, and it sits, the air leak allows air back in, and the coolant runs back into the reservoir.

Or something a lot more sinister.

What I would do is, open the reservoir cap and run it. Watch the coolant. As it drops, keep adding more coolant until it's to the lower "full" mark. Install the cap. Let it run for a bit more, until it's fully warmed up, and then turn it off.

By this time, the extra coolant will either be leaking out somewhere, or it will in a few minutes...

Check the radiator for pin holes, the passenger-side carpet to see if it's wet, turn on the defroster and smell the air (to see if it smells of coolant) and all over the rest of the engine.

I'm not sure about this, but does the Excursion have a secondary AC/heat setup for the back? Is there a heater core back there somewhere?

 

I ran the AC only, it was over 100 out and it idled a good 10 min before and after we took it for a spin. Spent all the idle time with the hood open and me climbing all over/under it. Never caught a whiff of coolant, which the dealer pointed out of course.

Its 2.5 hours away so I'm probablly done investigating, sounds like its not any sort of usual expected thing which is what I wanted to double check. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't walking away from something unnecessarily.

Thanks.

 

If it's a dealer, and they can give you some assurance, like a written warranty specifically covering any cooling system problems for a year, maybe...

But to have the coolant in the reservoir disappear after running it, that had to be one BIG air bubble in the upper part of the motor or heater core.

 

It came back when it cooled down, to the original lower level, which I couldn't really explain since I thought it had to have been the high point in the system.

I'm not sure he could do anything at this point short of slash the price. I'm not sure based on my original concerns and everything I've read and what you have said that I'd want to head out on the road with it, 4 kids, and a TT in tow, which was the point. Getting it way cheap and tracking down the problem is a whole other deal which I'm sure isn't in the cards. Dealer thinks its ok.

Thanks.

 

For what its worth, I pulled this off my phone just now when I was getting something else. This was after it was back and turned off and fluid had returned. If its not the same level as cold its pretty close.

 

Repairs related to "cracked engine head" or "broken head seal" are serious expenses . So far, you are lucky to see that there is something that is " not quite right " with cooling system . If I am interpreting correctly , your photo shows radiator fluid level low quite a few inches since last fill ( that may be several quarts ) .

At the end ,it is your money and you will make a decision and live with the consequences . Wish you all the best .

 

I feel lucky, like I think I said elsewhere when I left they were putting coolant in it, I would probably have bought it if they had done that an hour earlier before I got there.

Not gonna pursue this one.