Auto Repair & Diagnostics

Work we have actually done

• 2019 Fusion

  2019 Fusion — severe steering rack corrosion, outside the recall

  Complaint

  Brought in for inspection. Steering-gear area showing corrosion well beyond the surface rust normal on a New England car of this age.

  Diagnosis

  Severe corrosion around the steering gear and motor attachment area. Ford recall 19S26 covers motor attachment bolt corrosion on certain 2013–2016 Fusion and MKZ — this 2019 is outside that population and does not qualify for the recall. We have not established that the failure mechanism is identical, and we are not claiming it is. What we can say is that the corrosion on this car is real and it is on a later vehicle than the ones Ford named.

  Repair

  Assessment ongoing. Documented here because a Fusion owner asking whether a later car can corrode deserves to see one rather than be told it is not covered by a recall.

  Read the write-up →
• 2017 Escape

  2017 Escape 2.0 EcoBoost — coolant in cylinder 3

  Complaint

  Coolant level dropping with nothing on the ground, a misfire that was worst on a cold start, and white smoke from the exhaust.

  Diagnosis

  Cooling system pressure-tested cold and would not hold. No external leak at any hose, the radiator, the pump or the housings. Plugs out and a physical inspection confirmed coolant entering cylinder 3 — which establishes where it is going, not yet what is damaged. Compression readings were not the thing that settled it; the inspection was.

  Repair

  In progress. The decision between a head-gasket repair and a long block depends on the condition of the block deck and bore bridges, and that is genuinely not knowable until the head is off. We will update this record and the article with what we actually find rather than with what we expect.

  Read the write-up →