What you might be noticing
- Low coolant level with no external leak
- White exhaust smoke
- Rough running or misfire
- Check engine light may or may not be on
Codes that can come with it: P0300, P0301, P0302, P0303, P0304, P0316, P0217, P1285, P1299.
How we diagnose it
- Confirm the coolant is going somewhere internal — Pressure test cold, and rule out every external source first.
- Look inside the cylinders — Plugs out. Compression numbers can look acceptable while this is happening, so a physical inspection settles it.
- Check eligibility by VIN before spending anything — Affected vehicles were identified through Ford OASIS. Whether a particular car still qualifies depends on the VIN and current program terms — worth a dealer call first.
- Establish which engine you actually have — The 1.5 and the 2.0 have different Ford repair strategies. Getting this wrong changes the whole conversation.
Coolant going down with nothing on the ground, white smoke, and a rough-running engine. If you have searched those symptoms you have probably read about EcoBoost coolant intrusion — most of which is written about the 2.0. The 1.5 is a different engine with a different Ford answer, and the difference is worth several thousand dollars of understanding.
What Ford documented
Customer Satisfaction Program 21N12 covered coolant intrusion into one or more cylinder bores on certain 2017–2019 Fusion and Escape vehicles with the 1.5L GTDI engine.
The build ranges are specific: Escape built at Louisville Assembly between September 17, 2015 and April 8, 2019; Fusion built at Flat Rock in a narrow window during October 2015; and Fusion built at Hermosillo between October 6, 2015 and June 10, 2019. Affected vehicles were identified through Ford OASIS rather than by model year.
A customer satisfaction program is not a recall
This distinction matters more than it sounds. A safety recall has no expiry and obliges the manufacturer to remedy the defect. A customer satisfaction program is a goodwill repair with stated time, mileage and term limits, and it can lapse.
So the honest answer to "is my repair free" is that it depends on your VIN and on the terms currently in force — not on the fact that your car is a 2018. We are not going to tell you it is covered based on a model year, and neither should anyone else.
Short block versus long block: why it differs from the 2.0
This is the technically interesting part, and it is a good illustration of why the two engines should not be discussed as one problem.
For the 1.5, where the applicable codes and coolant intrusion are confirmed, Ford’s program calls for replacing the short block using its specified kit — the block, crankshaft, pistons and rods, with the cylinder head and everything above it carried over.
For the 2.0, Ford’s bulletin calls for replacing the long block, which includes the cylinder head. That reflects a difference in where the damage is expected to be, and it is the reason applying 2.0 guidance to a 1.5 — or the reverse — leads to the wrong scope of repair.
What to do if yours is doing this
Stop topping it up and get it diagnosed. Coolant entering a cylinder is not a wait-and-see condition, and continuing to run it does not improve any of the outcomes.
Then check the VIN with a dealer before spending money anywhere, including with us. If it is still covered, that is the right answer and we will tell you so.