Ford 1.5L (4 cyl) Ecoboost, replace head gasket?

[topsy]

I have a 2017 Ford Escape with the 1.5L (4 cyl) Ecoboost and almost 80,000 miles (No remaining warranty). It literally has been flawless so far, but I don't really trust the engine for the coolant intrusion problem, especially since we plan on some long driving trips.

Instead of replacing the shortblock (or more), I haven't seen any discussion of just putting a new head gasket on it. Seems like that would be a lot more economical and you could do several head gasket replacements before reaching the cost of the shortblock.

Thanks

 

[carviewsonic]

Is there an aftermarket upgraded head gasket available for the 1.5 ecoboost? I know that the issue is with the coolant passage between cylinders machined into the block, but if an upgraded head gasket were available it might mitigate this design issue somewhat.

 

[thastinger]

2015-2020 had the issue due to the cooling channel which is cut between the cylinders but I would run an oil designed to help prevent LSPI, let it warm up before you beat on it and not worry about it.

 

[nascarnation]

I'm not familiar with Fords and this one in particular.
But not many folks do preventative head gasket changeouts on anything.
I'd speculate that failures occur slowly rather than abruptly so weekly scrutiny of coolant levels might give you insight on how it's doing. If you wanted accelerated testing you could use a pressurized coolant tester at 15 psi or so every month or whenever.

 

[topsy]

To be clearer, I wasn't planning a preemptive head gasket replacement, just was wondering why the shortblock is almost always replaced. I've seen a few DIY head gasket replacements, but that's about it.

 

[Urshurak776]

So, my fleet vehicle had this happen at 70K. The issue isn't the head gasket (at least in my case.) They issue is the shortblock on these have a coolant line super close to cylinder, and a crack develops, allowing coolant to leach into the cylinder (typically cylinder 2.) Ford had the gall to send our fleet company an invoice for around 7500K to replace the shortblock. They actually wanted us to pay for the garbage design which is very well know. Some of you still ask me why I would NEVER buy a Ford?

Not sure that can be fixed, so that's why a new design short block is needed. Post #3 above is exactly right.

My advice, first sign of an issue, ditch it. Or sooner.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

If you need a head gasket, try head gasket sealer first.

To be clearer, I wasn't planning a preemptive head gasket replacement, just was wondering why the shortblock is almost always replaced. I've seen a few DIY head gasket replacements, but that's about it.

it might be hard to machine properly and not be tolerant of sloppy machine work

 

[supton]

Is the problem due to cracking in the block from this missing coolant slot, or degradation of the head gasket from the missing slot? If it's from cracking, at best you'll find a crack when removing the head, and thus wind up replacing the block. If it's from the head gasket just not lasting, then sure, swap before you run the risk of it failing.

But if it's from a block that likes to crack, then, to me it seems that you can't predict when it will crack. It could crack right after replacement of the gasket, and not care about this preventative work. Net sum negative, lots of work for no gain.

 

[KCJeep]

I believe if caught early enough (sudden coolant loss) a new gasket will fix it. From what I hear though, it's a quick progression, most often it is not caught in time and the engine ends up trashed. My buddy at work just went through this with a 17 MKC (not the 1.5 but a 2.0) and he had noticed a sudden loss of coolant but continued to drive it for a few days due to a death in the family and milkshake kaboom.

I don't have one of these and the one in the family was sold at 110k without issue so I'm not sure, but I'd bet @bdcardinal would know.

 

[zzyzzx]

I understand that people do this and/or head gasket sealers and it works most of the time. It's just that most of the time, people wait until it's too late for this to work, or don't DIY anything and take it to the shop, and shops always only offer the most expensive remedy available. Source: I maintain a 2018 Escape with the 2.0 with 105K miles and no issues so far. I do check the coolant overflow regularly.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I thought the cylinders moved around too much because it's an open deck causing the gasket to fail prematurely?

 

[zzyzzx]

I thought the cylinders moved around too much because it's an open deck causing the gasket to fail prematurely?

No, it's a slot cut making the head gasket vulnerable to failure. Honda did it too.

 

[bdcardinal]

milkshake kaboom.

Doing just the headgasket is a stop gap for fixing the real issue which is the block itself. There is an updated shortblock that requires matching gaskets for it to work. Sometimes we do a longblock because it is less labor and the warranty for the customer is better.

 

[zzyzzx]

Doing just the headgasket is a stop gap for fixing the real issue which is the block itself.

True. but that stop gap often lasts for years and is way more economically viable to anyone who can DIY. Some people just want to stop gap until the transmission goes.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

True. but that stop gap often lasts for years and is way more economically viable to anyone who can DIY. Some people just want to stop gap until the transmission goes.

My mom has one with the 1.6 and 6 speed in an Escape. I wonder / worry if the engine's going to pop or the transmisison is going to fail first.

 

[Hirev]

To be clearer, I wasn't planning a preemptive head gasket replacement, just was wondering why the shortblock is almost always replaced. I've seen a few DIY head gasket replacements, but that's about it.

You might check this out. He shows the issue.

 

[topsy]

Great info, thanks everyone

PS: I've been checking the coolant level quite often for the last several years.