FFH Heater Failure

[cyberdoc]

:cry:

Our FFH has 5500 miles on it and last week the heater stopped putting out heat. The trip from the garage to work was bearable but from work to home with outside temps of 10 degrees was rough. I took it to my local Ford dealer and they kept it a few days to figure it out. The said they found air bubbles in the coolant fluid so they "bled the system" and topped off the coolant. The heater seems to be working again (two days so far). My question though, is how did air bubbles get in my coolant fluid? and is it going to happen again? I'm no mechanic so it all makes only a little sense to me. The dealer asked me if I had seen any coolant leaks in my garage and I haven't seen anything other than snow-melt and haven't smelled anything like anti-freeze. Anybody else have this issue or any ideas on the matter?

[VonoreTn]

Interesting. At 28,000 miles we have had no issues with our heater. I am impressed with how quickly this little engine heats up and puts out lots of passenger compartment heat.

[lolder]

:cry:

Our FFH has 5500 miles on it and last week the heater stopped putting out heat. The trip from the garage to work was bearable but from work to home with outside temps of 10 degrees was rough. I took it to my local Ford dealer and they kept it a few days to figure it out. The said they found air bubbles in the coolant fluid so they "bled the system" and topped off the coolant. The heater seems to be working again (two days so far). My question though, is how did air bubbles get in my coolant fluid? and is it going to happen again? I'm no mechanic so it all makes only a little sense to me. The dealer asked me if I had seen any coolant leaks in my garage and I haven't seen anything other than snow-melt and haven't smelled anything like anti-freeze. Anybody else have this issue or any ideas on the matter?

You may have a coolant leak. Watch the level in the tank like a hawk. Some leaks are hard to find and others don't show in the tank coolant level either. If your coolant level INCREASES, you may have a blown head gasket; all rare in new cars.

Edited January 13, 2011 by lolder

[runutzzzzz]

Just a FYI, I have seen that when you have no heat and air bubbles in the cooling system it usually dictates the heads or block is warped some how. I'm gonna warn you now that it's a good possiblity that you are going to need a new short block...

[lolder]

:cry:

Our FFH has 5500 miles on it and last week the heater stopped putting out heat. The trip from the garage to work was bearable but from work to home with outside temps of 10 degrees was rough. I took it to my local Ford dealer and they kept it a few days to figure it out. The said they found air bubbles in the coolant fluid so they "bled the system" and topped off the coolant. The heater seems to be working again (two days so far). My question though, is how did air bubbles get in my coolant fluid? and is it going to happen again? I'm no mechanic so it all makes only a little sense to me. The dealer asked me if I had seen any coolant leaks in my garage and I haven't seen anything other than snow-melt and haven't smelled anything like anti-freeze. Anybody else have this issue or any ideas on the matter?

I can detect very little aroma from my coolant tank and it's color is very pale yellow. Keep watching the garage floor.

[dogo88]

Just a FYI, I have seen that when you have no heat and air bubbles in the cooling system it usually dictates the heads or block is warped some how. I'm gonna warn you now that it's a good possiblity that you are going to need a new short block...

 

It could also be a defective head gasket. Not common, but does happen.

 

Dan

[cyberdoc]

Thanks for the opinions - so, either the car had 1. air bubbles from the factory, 2. developed a leak in the coolant system, 3. has bad head gasket or 4. has a warped head/block. Hopefully it is the first one! I'll keep an eye on the coolant tank and keep it topped off. Now that our temperature is back down below zero I really do appreciated a working heater - not just for heat but to keep the windshield defrosted. I don't want to go back to my old college days when I had to scrape the ice off the inside of the window of my volkswagen bug as I drove.

[lolder]

Thanks for the opinions - so, either the car had 1. air bubbles from the factory, 2. developed a leak in the coolant system, 3. has bad head gasket or 4. has a warped head/block. Hopefully it is the first one! I'll keep an eye on the coolant tank and keep it topped off. Now that our temperature is back down below zero I really do appreciated a working heater - not just for heat but to keep the windshield defrosted. I don't want to go back to my old college days when I had to scrape the ice off the inside of the window of my volkswagen bug as I drove.

Don't keep it "topped off". Put it at the markings for the engine temperature and make sure it stays the same at the same temperatures. It's tough to read it accurately but try. You should never have to add water. If the level steadily INCREASES independent of temperature, it means there is a head gasket leak that is blowing coolant out of the block into the recovery tank. I had a '79 Olds diesel that blew four of them in 6 months! This engine operates at high cylinder pressures most of the time.

[MichgianFusion]

:cry:

Our FFH has 5500 miles on it and last week the heater stopped putting out heat. The trip from the garage to work was bearable but from work to home with outside temps of 10 degrees was rough. I took it to my local Ford dealer and they kept it a few days to figure it out. The said they found air bubbles in the coolant fluid so they "bled the system" and topped off the coolant. The heater seems to be working again (two days so far). My question though, is how did air bubbles get in my coolant fluid? and is it going to happen again? I'm no mechanic so it all makes only a little sense to me. The dealer asked me if I had seen any coolant leaks in my garage and I haven't seen anything other than snow-melt and haven't smelled anything like anti-freeze. Anybody else have this issue or any ideas on the matter?

 

Well, I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only one. Soon after getting my 2010 FFH with 400 miles on it, I was hearing a "gurgling" noise coming from behind the dash on the passenger side. I let the service department know about it and they completely brushed it off as no concern, but said that they would look at it when I brought it in for its scheduled oil change (in 4,500 miles). The noise was not consistent, nor could I find a way to replicate it. Around 1,000 miles, my heater stopped working and so did the noise.

 

Turns out that there was a bubble in the system and the gurgling might have been the air bubble working through the system. Eventually, the air bubble lodged itself around the thermostat and caused the heater to not kick in. They said they bled the system twice for good measure and have not had any problems since. I never get a confident answer from the techs since they haven't seen this happen before. Other people I've talked to said that normally in new cars, any bubbles in the system get worked out fairly quick.

[cyberdoc]

Wow! Guess what? We had the gurgling noise as well! We thought it was just part of the hybrid stuff as we had never heard it in any car we've had before and this is our first hybrid. It was coming from the dash area best we can tell. So far, since they bled the system the heater continues to work, which is awesome as now it's 10-20 below in our neck of the woods. My wife has been driving the car so I don't know if the gurgling is gone now or not - I'll ask her to listen for it. I guess if she hears it I need to take the car back to Ford to let them bleed the system again? I'll keep you posted. :drop: