"...when we released the cap..."

I have assumed this to mean the actual radiator cap, not the refill cap of the overflow reservoir.

As you remove the actual radiator cap the initial ~1/4 turn the cap's pressure bypass valve is opened resulting in the remaining level of residual pressure in the radiator forcing fluid flow into the reservoir.

SOP.

Up to "this" point, if you were referring to the radiator cap.

 

Well, I just got back from the dealer. They drove the car and could not find anything. I even copied some of your replies from this newsgroup and sent them to the service manager.

His reply:

"Hi

Phil looked at the concern and we road tested a then re-inspected to determine if there is a concern. At this time Phil marked the coolant overflow reservoir so we can keep a close eye on the concern.

Coolant level will rise on low speed and high torque.

When this happen did you hear the fans come on to cool down the engine?

Ford and our selves have not heard about this concern but high altitude off road use in sever conditions will play in to engine temperature.

Sorry I can't be any more help to you"

He copied a page out of the owners manual (about 4WD) and stapled it to my packet of papers. At least there was no charge. I might have to get under the car and inspect the hose clamps myself.

 

Umm... In the FEH there is no traditional "radiator cap". NONE. There is only the cap on the plastic reservoir to add coolent / relieve pressure. And this plastic tank and plastic cap is rated at 17psi. There are actually TWO radiators, and TWO coolent reservoirs. One for the ICE and one for the electronics. There are also TWO variable speed fans.

Yes, once in the Nevada desert, I stopped at a rest area ( was 114'F outside ) and the fans kept running for maybe 2 minutes, even with the key out. There are stickers all over warning to keep hands away as fans may start at any time.

 

Hi all,

I searched through the old threads looking for a similar case about what happened to my 2008 FEH 4WD tonight:

The FEH got me to work in the morning as normal. No unusual noises, high RPMs, shudders, anything. The hybrid sat in my normal parking lot (mostly unblocked by trees or buildings), for the normal length of my work day, and started-up just like normal in the afternoon. Again, no unusual noises, RPMs, shakes, or anything.

I took my normal route home: two miles of streets (where I can go mostly all EV) followed by two miles on highway I-88, then 10 miles or so on highway I-355. I was in EV for about half of the streets, including the time immediately before merging on to the first highway. About a mile or so on I-88 the engine light lit up, and the ICE definetly seized-up and stopped. My HEV screen on the NAV showed the engine delivering no power to the wheels, while the HV Battery was delivering MAX power to the Electric Motor, which in turn was providing MAX power to the wheels.

Obviously bad news, I got the FEH off to the shoulder. I will skip the downright pitiful and discouraging lack-of assistance from Ford's roadside assistance program. Instead I'll go straight to my question:

Clearly without seeing the car and being able to inspect it, I'm not asking anybody here to give a full diagnosis over the web. But given the conditions above, does anybody have any guesses as to what happened and - most importantly - why?
When I opened my hood after getting safely off the highway, the coolant tank was empty. Besides that, I really don't know - I'm not an experienced "car guy." Half a tank of gas remaining, 81% oil life, and the in-dash system check showed no problems.

Have any other owners experienced other situations like this? Do any of the drivers previously participating in this thread have any follow-ups? Any thoughts, or recommendations, or ideas?

I ask because Ford would only tow to a local dealership, and not the dealer I know and trust where I bought the FEH. As such, I want to be armed with as much knowledge as possible when I hear from them when the shop opens. Thanks in advance!

 

One other thing to consider, density altitude. High, hot and humid will make the corrected altitude MUCH higher than you think. I have calculated density altitude @ 9000 ft msl to 16,000 ft msl on a 90 deg day. The higher the altitude the lower the boiling point and REDUCESS THE POWER OUTPUT OF THE ICE. It is quit possible that the ICE was operating at wide open throttle for extended periods, combined with the altitude you boiled over the radiator but it did not over temp because of the lower boiling point.

 

UPDATE:

I called the service department where the FEH was dropped-off last night, and the tech who answered the phone happened to be the one who was working on my car! Again, remembering that I am not a "gearhead" or very car saavy, I believe he said that - for the lower radiator tube, there simply was no clamp installed! As such, the earlier guess that the engine overheated was probably correct because the coolant tank was empty. In my over-simplified discussions about basic car operations, this seems to pass the red-face test ... does anybody else agree / disagree?

But independent of the repair, I guess I'm a little surprised that a component either a) wasn't installed to begin with, or b) somehow broke-off and/or fell-off within 75 days of ownership. This is now my second servicing within two months for the FEH. The first was a "wrench" light that illuminated to signal - according to the service techs - that the light had a bad wire.

My family has owned Fords almost exclusively for the past 13 years, and I have to admit - even though these two service trips have seemed relatively minor in the "grand scheme of things" - this is two more unscheduled servicings than my old Explorer needed in six years of driving. Are there assembly or construction concerns with the Escape Hybrid? Is there such a demand that production speed outweighs quality assurance / quality control? Have other owners noticed "little" things that require servicing without a solid explanation as to why it went wrong in the first place?

Sorry to rant ... my optimism and excitement for the FEH remains high, I'm just slightly distracted by all the trips to the shop it's needed within two months.

 

Glad to hear it was just an assembly error. Before production, prototypes are driven up incredibly steep/long hills to get them to overheat. These tests are longer and more severe than what you and I will probably ever do. The system should have gotten very hot and pressurized, but it's designed to handle that. It should not have led to a significant problem, as it takes a lot more than that to cause a true overheating failure.

That is, of course, assuming all your clamps are installed correctly!

FWIW, the day after I bought mine I noticed spots of dry coolant in the engine bay. I removed the plastic engine cover (pops right off) and was surprised to see a pattern of splatter across the engine bay. From the spray pattern it was apparent that a hose popped off one of the two tanks and coolant had sprayed onto the engine. The part that surprised me was that this had obviously occurred before the cover was put on.

I know they test the vehicle to operating temp while it's still on the line and (I am guessing here) I think a hose popped off. Perhaps the person on the line saw it and put it back on, but never realized they should wipe the area down. Wet coolant looks like water, but dries to a powdery white. They probably did not realize the stuff would be obvious. In any event, it should have been cleaned as part of the PDI.

 

I agree with Terry, a massive operational failure due to something breaking would concern me a lot more than a "woopsy" on the assembly line.

I'm glad to hear it was nothing major, and I can understand how you would be concerned about quality control. "Built Ford Tough" my butt! I bought a brand new Mustang in 99 that went to the shop two or three times in the first few months but then performed flawlessly for the rest of its years. Hopefully your FEH is now all buttoned down and won't give you any more trouble.

 

From my perspective its amazing that these cars run at all. As complex as these cars are and the built in failure rate of all things that are made by man for them to start and drive off the assembly line is almost imposible much less be completly trouble free. Mine lost a PCM at 4000 miles and that is the only thing I have had go wrong.