Well, the rear heat burped......

[OVERKILL]

So, started using the rear-heat in the Expedition and then all of a sudden the vents were cold when I was idling... uh oh.

Now, I flushed the coolant in the summer with Zerex G-05 and I flushed, then burped the rear heat lines then.

However, when I had the plug blow-out fixed at Ford, they disconnected the rear heat lines, as there was coolant on the invoice and the plug (#4) has the rear heat lines running right over top of it.

The coolant level had been fine since then, when looked at through the reservoir.

So, I pull into the Brafasco parking lot, and their appears to be low coolant in the reservoir. I have a 4L jug in the back, no big deal I think......

I open the top.... "PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" the pressure releases, and the coolant that was there, disappears down the hole. I start dumping coolant in... and dumping, and dumping.... there goes the whole container. There's still none in the reservoir, uh oh!

I go to Canadian Tire, grab a 4L jug of straight coolant and go home to mix it with distilled. I now have heat at idle BTW, so here's our problem!

I mix up 1 jug, go out and dump it in, we are now just above the hole in the bottom of the reservoir, WOW!

Back in the house, grab the other jug and end up putting about 1/2 of it in to bring it up to the full-hot mark.

This was yesterday. The level hasn't moved and I've put about 100Km on it, and it is holding pressure.

So I was down 8.5L of coolant!!!

I can only assume that when Ford removed the lines, they didn't burp the rear heat and just topped the reservoir back up when they started it.

 

[91344George]

Wow, that is SHOCKING!

What terrible work they did. I'm sure they charged you dearly for it too.

I would go back and explain what happened to you, they should offer you a partial refund at least they should pay for the coolant. Shameful workmanship.

 

[david_ES2]

Sweet jebus thats a lot of coolant lol

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: 91344George
Wow, that is SHOCKING!

What terrible work they did. I'm sure they charged you dearly for it too.

I would go back and explain what happened to you, they should offer you a partial refund at least they should pay for the coolant. Shameful workmanship.


No, they were actually pretty reasonable for the work done. I've never had an issue with them, but it wasn't "my mechanic" (who is a buddy of mine that works there) that did the work, so perhaps that is why this happened.

I will let the service manager I deal with know about this however. He installed my new alternator for free for me in the summer, we are on good terms and my whole family deals with these guys.

Mistakes happen, though this was a pretty big one, IMHO.

 

[Trav]

I know mine was a PITA to bleed the rear unit, with the towing package and larger radiator it holds about 28 qts so 9 qts isn't as dramatic as it sounds.
Maybe hit him up for a couple of gallons?

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Trav
I know mine was a PITA to bleed the rear unit, with the towing package and larger radiator it holds about 28 qts so 9 qts isn't as dramatic as it sounds.
Maybe hit him up for a couple of gallons?


Yeah, I have the same package on mine. The 9.75 out back, 3.55's, factory Reese hitch, skid plates and all the coolers. It holds an obscene amount of coolant, I agree.

It was still a big shock though, LOL!

 

[Trav]

Heck yeah i would have been shocked too. I just meant that even with 9 qts down there is little to no chance of overheating it.
It sound like the same spacs as the ones on mine, what a beast!
How about 24 qts of transmission fluid, these things cost a fortune to change fluids in.

 

[OVERKILL]

Tell me about it!

I did that in the summer. Dear Jesus....... At least the 4R100 has a drain plug!

 

[Hokiefyd]

I'm flushing the coolant in our MDX today. There's a rather lengthy procedure of running the rear controls full hot and running the engine at 1500 rpm, then running the rear controls full cold and running the engine at 1500 rpm, and repeating that 2 or 3 times, I guess to get any air out from that rear HVAC system.

Funny, your Expedition was missing more coolant than the total change capacity of our MDX! Our MDX takes 1.88 gallons on a change, or 2.38 gallons on an engine overhaul.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I'm flushing the coolant in our MDX today. There's a rather lengthy procedure of running the rear controls full hot and running the engine at 1500 rpm, then running the rear controls full cold and running the engine at 1500 rpm, and repeating that 2 or 3 times, I guess to get any air out from that rear HVAC system.

Funny, your Expedition was missing more coolant than the total change capacity of our MDX! Our MDX takes 1.88 gallons on a change, or 2.38 gallons on an engine overhaul.


Yes, but the MDX doesn't weight 6,000lbs and carry an 8,000lb towing capacity either, LOL. This thing also has some large coolers out front to keep things "in check".

 

[JOD]

The factory service manual recommends using this tool for almost all Ford's with rear heat. I think this just demonstrates that the "burping method" may not always work all that well.

I really think that this tool is worth it if you're doing a coolant exchange on any vehicle, but particularly if you have heat in the rear.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: JOD
The factory service manual recommends using this tool for almost all Ford's with rear heat. I think this just demonstrates that the "burping method" may not always work all that well.

I really think that this tool is worth it if you're doing a coolant exchange on any vehicle, but particularly if you have heat in the rear.


Is that the vacuum bleeder? If so, we used it the first time we were into the cooling system to change the thermostat.

 

[JOD]

Yeah, it's the vacuum/venturi pump bleeder.

Did you use this tool and still have air in the lines?

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: JOD
Yeah, it's the vacuum/venturi pump bleeder.

Did you use this tool and still have air in the lines?


I'm assuming Ford didn't use that tool. They were the last one into the cooling system, as per my OP.

 

[JOD]

OK, gotcha. That's what I thought, but wanted to make sure I didn't misread it. Yeah, that would be my guess as well--they just skipped the step of using the tool.

 

[OVERKILL]

No problem

 

[Subarutech]

Those cooling system vacuum bleeders are a life saver, never had any issues with vehicles having air pockets in the cooling system after a refill.


http://www.amazon.com/UView-550000-Airli...8929&sr=8-1


Thats the one I have and its well worth the price.