Dealership doesn't know whats wrong...HELP

[ThomasExpo]

2019 Expedition max limited 2wd, 133,000 miles. very well maintained, climate controlled garage kept. Got high coolant temp alarm going 60 mph, immediately pulled over and shut it off. Popped hood and nothing immediate jumped out at me. coolant might be a little low, engine dipstick looks good. started back up and temp is slightly higher than normal. drove 1/2 mile to auto store, put some coolant in it. runs at normal temp for 5 mins at idle. drive it 1 mile and as soon as I get to 60 mph it touches high temp alarm, slow down and pull over, temp is back down to normal. drove it about 4 miles to Ford dealer at 40 mph and it doesn't hit high temp. while waiting on ride home, it idles for 10 mins at normal temp. next day i stop by dealer to check in vehicle and I check coolant and engine oil. coolant cap has some sludge on it, engine oil might be on low end of "good". Not one code, not one more alarm since second temp alarm. starts up and runs fine, no stalls, no smoke from exhaust. Ford dealer says compression is good and likely not head gasket. Oil cooler was suspect but they said it was fine. Turbos are declared good too. they said the more they test run my car the more the coolant looks like peanut butter. They also stated that now the cam phasers/chains have a bad rattle. Without a full tear down they say they don't know whats wrong with the engine but suspect cracked block. Anyone have experience with making peanut butter in coolant? thoughts? I appreciate you reading this far and any input you may share. Thank you.

 

[Grrumpy]

Peanut Butter look/brown tan look.......oil is contaminating the coolant. Overheat..."Peanut Butter" doesn't flow. Head gasket/head or block crack ???????

 

[Roland A]

When was the coolant changed? You noticed no phaser/chain rattle before?

 

[ThomasExpo]

I'm taking it to another shop for second opinion. coolant was changed about 2 years ago due to failed connection at a Y fitting.
Phasers might rattle on cold start for about 1 second...going on 6 months or so. When i stopped by dealer today, I checked the coolant and oil. coolant looks 100% better than it did and the engine dipstick looks like clean oil. they did flush both systems so it should have looked good. the guy at dealer was with me when i checked the fluids and he was the one that started the car up to show me the new rattle sound. the sound was not the phasers, it sounded like the waste gate rattle to me.
I was able to speak directly to both technicians that worked on my car. they both think i need a new engine. IDK. one of them did say that after engine flush that there was a small amount of "glitter" in the oil.
NOTE: I called and spoke with 2 other repair shops today and they both told me that they highly doubted that the block was cracked...so I have some hope that I'm not going to lose my butt during all of this.
appreciate all and any input. thanks!

 

[DieselMonk]

I’d put the updated coolant thermostat in first. Cheap enough and easy to do, plus your engine and transmission runs cooler.

 

[BigOleFordFan]

I’d put the updated coolant thermostat in first. Cheap enough and easy to do, plus your engine and transmission runs cooler.

This would be my first (and least expensive) thing to check/replace....fix that then if the coolant still looks yucky, get another flush & fill and go from there

PS: When I say flush & fill, I mean the complete one, where the entire system is drained, filled a cleaning solution, back flushed under pressure, then filled with clean water, then drained again & refilled with new coolant....this is a sure fire way to find out if the peanut butter issue is real or not....

And also, if your block was cracked, you would see puddles of both coolant & oil underneath the vehicle, so I doubt that is the problem.

The glitter in the oil could indicate some other issues though...

 

[ThomasExpo]

I appreciate the input guys, thank you. The dealer did a complete flush with cleaning solution and coolant looks good, but vehicle has only been driven for a few mins since flush. ( It's still parked at dealer, I'm having it towed to the other shop so mechanic can see fluid and oil levels are normal and clean before testing)
I've also had a person tell me to replace the oil cooler and the water pump....I've since found out that water pump has a leak which is probably why I had the initial lack of coolant when over temp condition happened. I wish there was a low coolant level alarm that happens before the over temp warning light happens.

 

[BMW2FORD]

I’d second to have the next shop closely check the oil cooler and if they cant, replace it and get the updated thermostat. That’s the one spot in this engine where the coolant and oil come close together as a heat exchange. It’s right behind the oil filter. If a competent person did the compression test, a cracked block, head or head gasket would show if bad enough to let these fluids meet.

To check the oil cooler, they’ll need to blow high pressure shop air into one oil port while blocking off the other and submerge under water and see if that air in the oil side bubbles out the coolant hose ports.

Diesel guys know this well due to bad diesel EGR coolers.

 

[stilbo]

Returning to the original problem of thickened coolant…
Mixing incompatible types of coolant can create a thick discolored sludge in the cooling system.
Also.. we always try to remove the thermostat during coolant system flushing to increase the volume flow over time.
Small lines, orfices, intercooler, oil cooler etc. in the cooling system can retain that sludge even after flushing if engine hasn’t been cycled through cold/hot cycles.

 

[Grizguy]

Our local VFW had an excape with 78,000 miles on it. Had an "engine problem" took it to our local Ford garage. They told the VFW that the engine was locked up. Needed replaced. A friend of mine, a machinic bought it, ordered a used motor. Got the "new motor" started moving the AC pump, power steering pump. They were both locked up. Nothing wrong with the motor. Can no longer trust the dealers. The same dealer said I voided my warranty because i "bent" the wiring harness when I installed the dump bed. Took to another dealer, They replaced a defective wiring harness connector.

 

[ThomasExpo]

*UPDATE* second shop positively identified that the oil cooler was bad. tech actually sent me a short video under vehicle with oil filter off and the coolant system pressurized...coolant was leaking out from where the oil filter attaches.
I can't believe the local Ford dealership told me my oil cooler was good and that I needed a new engine! quoted me $22,000 for engine swop!!!
that dealership will never again get any on my business.

appreciate all the input for the group. Thank you!

 

[Fastcar]

*UPDATE* second shop positively identified that the oil cooler was bad. tech actually sent me a short video under vehicle with oil filter off and the coolant system pressurized...coolant was leaking out from where the oil filter attaches.
I can't believe the local Ford dealership told me my oil cooler was good and that I needed a new engine! quoted me $22,000 for engine swop!!!
that dealership will never again get any on my business.

appreciate all the input for the group. Thank you!

Been following this thread and am glad you found somebody who knew what the hell they were doing. Having said that would you please tell us who found the problem and also who the dealer was that was reaching for your wallet with a misdiagnosis ? With that info others who may be in your area will know who to avoid and who to patronize.
TIA

 

[ThomasExpo]

without giving out a specific name of the dealership, anyone that is interested could find it as it is the only Ford dealer in Lawrence county Indiana.
mechanic that is working on my vehicle now is Kyle Wade in Fayetteville, IN. great guy!

 

[stilbo]

Interesting…
We bought a low mileage off lease 2023 Escape ST from that very same dealership in 2024.
One week after buying it (cash) the traction control warning popped up…
I’ve experienced the same on other Ford vehicles when wheel bearings or tires were the problem so I looked at all four tires.. The right front tire was a cheap, off brand tire that wasn’t even the correct size… I could’ve seen that when we first looked at it but for $25,000 cash I would have expected the tires to match.
That Lawrence County dealership ignored both of my calls. I would have driven the car down there from 27 miles away but said screw it and bought two new matching Michelin tires for the front…
But my dissatisfaction with them goes beyond that..
We have a very low mileage 2017 Explorer that still had 1,500 miles on its EPA warranty covering the catalytic converter that failed in mid 2025.
I called that dealership service department and was told that the Explorer was a truck and not a passenger vehicle and the EPA mandated warranty period didn’t apply to Explorers because they’re trucks.
We drove the Explorer past that 1,500 miles and THEN found out it WAS covered as a passenger vehicle and not classified as a truck..
So they’re not only dishonest but morons as well.
I went ahead and replaced the converter myself.
And FYI…. The Monroe County dealership service department isn’t any better.
Took my 2016 Mustang GT in for the 150,000 mile transmission fluid change and camera recall.
When the invoice was presented they were going to charge me for the fluid change and an oil change which I definitely didn’t request and they drained my expensive synthetic oil change and replaced the Purolator filter that only had 200 miles on it with a Motorcraft filter.
Having been ASE Certified long ago I tend to not trust anyone anymore because I’ve seen a LOT of bad behavior so I paint dot fittings, bolts etc to verify if anything has been removed and replaced and they definitely didn’t touch the transmission or transmission lines and when the transmission pan was dropped, 150,000 miles of old fluid was drained…
Anymore, independent shops seem to be more reputable and trustworthy than dealerships.
Once they’re verified to be reputable and trustworthy.