GEN 2 Brown Silky Layer in Coolant Degas Bottle

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

yulolimum

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2022
Posts
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Portland, OR
Hi all!

TLDR: There is thick brown (latte colored) layer of silky residue inside as well as some leaks around the large bottom hose coming off of the degas bottle. Just looking for some pointers on what to check next to diagnose.

Full Story:
I purchased a leadfoot raptor last september - 76k miles - clean truck with some bolt-on mods. I want to believe I did all the due diligence before committing to the purchase, but I'd be lying - I checked the normal stuff you'd check but I'm no mechanic. The first signs that something was wrong were really loud fan noises and an occasional coolant readout temp at around 230deg. I decided to remove the Cobb degas cover and discovered that the coolant was very low, the bottle looked very aged, not very see-through, and what looked like gunk build-up.
IMG_20230219_185702_878.jpg

Draining the fluid, it was dark orange - from what I gathered this was the old coolant color prior to their transition to yellow. I cleaned the degas as best I could. I did a full coolant system flush with the new yellow fluid. I went through probably 12 gallons of fill, warm-up/run car, drain, repeat.

For the past few months, everything was fine - the coolant levels held, the coolant color remained yellow.

Yesterday, I started the car to warm it up, did a trip to the store, and when I came back i found brown sludge on my gravel driveway - kind of looked like bright mud if that makes sense. Didn't think much of it. However, after another drive today, I found another spot with the brown "mud". Popped the hood and boom, same brown residue is around the hose that drops down from the degas bottle, almost like it was being sprayed under pressure.

Opening the degas bottle, the cap was covered in the same latte-colored, silky, milky residue. Same with all of the inlet/outlet hoses. I drained the radiator, but the fluid was clear yellow. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of this, but looking online, this is what it looked like:
rx7t02mruqd21.jpeg

The next thing I did was check engine oil. Drain and fill. The color and texture of that is normal. After filling the coolant back and checking the levels a few times at various temperatures, I did a drive where I observed the coolant temperature readouts bouncing between 210deg to 230deg to 220deg to 238deg in span of seconds.

I did some research on this forum and other forums. Seems like, most search results on this forum are with the gen1 raptors. The closest thing I found with 3.5 ecoboost is this thread. Here's a screenshot of the solution:
yulolimum-capture-2023-02-19--19-29-19.jpg

So, could it possibly be a transmission cooler crack? I know there are some differences between the raptor and the regular f150 3.5 ecoboost, but those symptoms seem very similar.

How can I go about confirming this is the issue. Any additional thoughts or pointers?

One last question, since the coolant that i drained from the radiator was normal colors and the brown sludge was observed around/in the degas bottle, did I make a mistake in draining? Can this clog up additional components (e.g. the temp sensor or thermostat based on my temps jumping around).

Thank you in advance.
 

FordTechOne

FRF Addict
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Posts
6,396
Reaction score
12,489
Location
Detroit
The best thing was to get the contaminated coolant out when you did. The longer it’s in there, the more likely it is to cause a clog. The orange coolant is only good for 5 years regardless. With pink slime in the cooling system, there’s a good chance that the transmission warmer is internally failed. On these trucks the warmer is located near the lower front of the engine compartment. The warmer only has coolant flow until the transmission reaches operating temperature, at which point a valve diverts the transmission fluid to the cooler or back to the transmission. That may explain why it took so long for the issue to re-appear.
 

Ikarah

Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2023
Posts
26
Reaction score
29
Location
Chicago
I just made a post today, I am seeing similar symptoms. My expansion tank has brown fluid after a coolant flush but, looking at the coolant in the radiator it looks clean. Very confused..
 
OP
OP
yulolimum

yulolimum

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2022
Posts
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Portland, OR
Just wanted to add an update. Took the car in to a local shop as i am outside the manufacturer warranty - the guys there have worked with raptors and the ecoboost platform. They are 90% sure it's the head gasket and 10% that it's the oil cooler. I still have the dealership warranty so the repair is in the process of getting reviewed/approved. The verbal quote I got was 7-10k. Will keep you updated.
 
OP
OP
yulolimum

yulolimum

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2022
Posts
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Portland, OR
Another update!

Shop confirmed that it's motor oil and not ATF in the coolant system. ATF is clear and at proper levels. I have the same residue on the oil cap.

Shop submitted a warranty claim. They sent out an adjuster. Adjuster discovered some "mods", some legit (exhaust/intake) and some are laughable (they thought the ford-installed vehicle tracker was a tune lmao). Anyways, they never intended to pay for this as the claim was declined. Appeal also declined on the basis that "vehicle is modified". Okay, but dealership sold me this warranty knowing that the vehicle was modified, what now? Been on the phone with dealership so that they leverage the warranty company to pay or for me to get my refund. Dealership was willing to prorate refund. Um, what if I submitted claim on the last month of warranty - they would then prorate cancellation at 23 months? Called credit union to tell them the situation. Credit union said they will call dealership. Dealership is now refunding 100% of money for the warranty.

In the end, I'm paying out of pocket for the repairs. While they're in there, I'm having them do the cam phasers, arp studs, thermostats, oil cooler, catch can, etc. Anything else I should get done while the front bumper is off and they're in there?
 

FordTechOne

FRF Addict
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Posts
6,396
Reaction score
12,489
Location
Detroit
Another update!

Shop confirmed that it's motor oil and not ATF in the coolant system. ATF is clear and at proper levels. I have the same residue on the oil cap.

Shop submitted a warranty claim. They sent out an adjuster. Adjuster discovered some "mods", some legit (exhaust/intake) and some are laughable (they thought the ford-installed vehicle tracker was a tune lmao). Anyways, they never intended to pay for this as the claim was declined. Appeal also declined on the basis that "vehicle is modified". Okay, but dealership sold me this warranty knowing that the vehicle was modified, what now? Been on the phone with dealership so that they leverage the warranty company to pay or for me to get my refund. Dealership was willing to prorate refund. Um, what if I submitted claim on the last month of warranty - they would then prorate cancellation at 23 months? Called credit union to tell them the situation. Credit union said they will call dealership. Dealership is now refunding 100% of money for the warranty.

In the end, I'm paying out of pocket for the repairs. While they're in there, I'm having them do the cam phasers, arp studs, thermostats, oil cooler, catch can, etc. Anything else I should get done while the front bumper is off and they're in there?
Aftermarket warranties are a scam, glad you got your money back.

How did they determine it’s a head gasket issue and not just a leaking oil cooler?
 
OP
OP
yulolimum

yulolimum

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2022
Posts
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Portland, OR
From what they told me, they did a pressure test on the cooler and the gas analyzer test on the cooling system.
 
Top