long story short: I had some minor puking issues lately. Yes I am studded. I have an SCT but I have been running my truck stock because I have been towing a lot. I have also had a tea kettle whistle sometimes that has been narrowed down to the degas bottle. I heard and saw it come from there on shutdown.
I took it to ford and prepared for the worst (warranty of course) but nope. They said my degas bottle was warped (HMMMM) and the cap would not seal. they wanted $230 for the bottle/cap change. I said no thanks, then they tell me ok, then $87 for the diagnosis fee. well the parts were 80 for the tank, 17 for the cap and whatever the coolant costs. so basically I was screwed either way. I paid the $230 to get this done by them so when I have to bring it back they will not tell me it's the degas bottle gain.

 

that's right..they'll tell you it's the EGR cooler..It's clogged..overheats the coolant and boils it back up into the degas bottle warping it.

I've had my EGR cooler and EGR valve replaced along with the degas bottle.

covered under the 5yr/100k mile warranty $100 deductable.

 

I've talked my way out of this....did they inform you there would be a diagnostic charge whether it was warranty related or not? If nothing was mentioned...why pay it. The truck was broke...Ford's problem...why should you pay them a dime more. Help I M Stuck is right...it'll probably happen again....only to discover it was an engine/emmissions related failure that caused it...ultimately a warranty issue. Seems like they shouldn't have charged you.

 

Any dealer I have been to after the regular warranty, they always have you sign the paperwork and they state, at least in Michigan, you are authorizing up to $100 labor for diagnostic work.

 

If you were under warranty, then there is no reason why they shouldn't have covered it under TSB 09-08-03 which has to do with coolant loss and reservoir cap venting.

 

Can someone send me the TSB? It just puked again, this time was after shutdown.

 

send me a pm w/ your email address

 

ut oh..EGR cooler is bad

 

My truck is at the dealer. They said they had it puke some once but that my coolant rises and falls but was likely overfilled. they said the EGR and Oil cooler test passed and they wanted to take the heads off and check them but ford said no. I do have a copy of the emails back and forth from the ford help desk to prove this. Ford is trying to blame it on my coolant filter.

 

Just how serious do they seem to be regarding the coolant filter? This is the first I have heard of Ford "stooping" to this degree to avoid warranty work. If the emails are interesting or useful, maybe you could post some portions of them ??

 

I will be happy to scan it and send it to you tomorrow. They told the tech to remove the filter and retest. The email is from the ford hotline assistance request. They said it may be a coolant circulation issue.

 

This is what the hotline emails said:


Description of problem: coolant loss at degas bottle

Diagnostic performed: road test, egr cooler on vehicle pass, oil cooler pass, no moisture in egr valve chamber, cap and degas bottle pass, they are new from recent visit.

question: is coolant bottle full?
answer: yes

question: please list any aftermarket add-ons that may restrict air flow.
answer: coolant filter that is a tad bigger than an 820 oil filter.

question: is there any coolant coming from the degas bottle?
answer:
Tech question: you can see the coolant from time to time slowly increase and decrease from min to over max line on degas bottle. stains on bottle show that coolant has come out at one time or another. vehicle has been running all morning in between road with no overflow. should i pull heads and inspect gaskets and head surface? it looks like according to the oasis that the heads and cooler were replaced 20k miles ago. could aftermarket coolant filter have anything to do with this?

Hotline response: no further repairs recommended until problem dupliucates itself. quiz the customer on when this is happening towing or what conditions when the concern is present, it is recommended to monitor cooling system pressure, fan speed and eot/ect. also, ensure gvwr is not exceeded (I only tow a 9k trailer). at that time if ect and eot or in excess of each other this issue could be coolant circulation and need to remove after market coolant filter and re-test.

 

Very interesting information Adam. Thanks for taking the time to type it up. On the good side, at least they were not saying that the warranty would be void due to the filter. I suppose if coolant circulation was weak, having a slight bypass through the add-on coolant filter could make the problem worse. With a healthy water pump and proper circulation, the coolant filter can not possibly be an issue.

Do you have valves where you can block the filter in?

 

Yes, I have the diesel site filter with the shut off valves.

 

It is goofy that the tech would list a coolant filter under mods that could restrict air flow.

I would think that the tech would be OK w/ blocking in the filter rather than require it to be removed.