2003 Ford Escape

[Twister]

Just co-purchased a 2003 Ford escape with a I4 and 5 spd with a blown head gasket. Is this a common issue for the I4 and how hard is it to replace? I put new heads on my 87 B2 so I am somewhat mechanically able, but everything I have done has been on boring old pushrod engines. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Twister]

Well i went and looked at the car as it is not at my house. PO says they overheated it once, had the thermostat and another piece replaced and it ran OK for a bit. He came out to it after running somewhere and all the coolant was dumped on the ground. He says it spits coolant out the side of the engine. I started it and let it run till it started to warm up and the oil looks fine, so I am hoping its just the head gasket and not the block or the head.

While researching on how to remove the cylinder head, it seems I will need a couple speciality tools, 2 in particular. A TDC crank stop and a flat bar for holding the cams in place. I understand the TDC plug, but do I need to use the bar when removing the head?

 

[martin]

If you've worked on pushrod engines then ohc engines should not give you any problems. I've never changed a head on an escape but on some ohc engines you need an extra pair of hands to hold the cams in the right place while you put the belt or chain back on. I've never had to use any special tools to change a head on anything. There's lots of information that you might find useful in the tech library of this site. It's a good idea to find out where the timing marks are before you pull the whole thing apart. keep us posted, good luck.

 

[Twister]

If you've worked on pushrod engines then ohc engines should not give you any problems. I've never changed a head on an escape but on some ohc engines you need an extra pair of hands to hold the cams in the right place while you put the belt or chain back on. I've never had to use any special tools to change a head on anything. There's lots of information that you might find useful in the tech library of this site. It's a good idea to find out where the timing marks are before you pull the whole thing apart. keep us posted, good luck.

Thanks for the response, i hope i am able to fix it, for $275 you cant go wrong. Does anyone know if a 2.0 from a 2000-03 focus will swap in the escape? They both use the 2.0 zetec, but I cant find any information online about them being interchangeable. Local salvage yards want double the amount for an engine from an escape than one from a focus, this is if I decide I don't wanna tackle digging into the engine. The salvage yards only want $200-$250 for a focus engine but want $375 and up for an escape engine.

Here are some pics. Dont think i did to bad

 

[adsm08]

The bar isn't needed when removing the head so much as it is for putting it back on. The bar is for setting the cam position, there are two slots in the back of the cams and the bar has to slide into both of them fairly easily, or your cams aren't timed right.

A piece of flat stock can be subbed in for the actual tool if needed.

 

[Twister]

The bar isn't needed when removing the head so much as it is for putting it back on. The bar is for setting the cam position, there are two slots in the back of the cams and the bar has to slide into both of them fairly easily, or your cams aren't timed right.

A piece of flat stock can be subbed in for the actual tool if needed.

Do you know if a focus 2.0 will work in the escape? I have been told they are the same and will work, but have also read they don't interchange.

 

[Twister]

Haven t been able to tinker with this at all because of school , but i got a wild idea of sticking my brothers off-brand go-pro to something in the engine to see if i can find where it was spraying coolant. I was actually decently successful. The PO said it sprayed coolant out of the side of the engine that faces the front, well after driving it around the block, there was no coolant on that side, but the rear of the engine above the bell-housing and the bell-housing were covered. It seems like it is the thermostat housing that is leaking horribly, which they just had replaced . The car also has a check engine light on and throws codes p0316 and p0304, they both have to do with a misfire on cylinder 4, the plugs look like factory ones and so do the wires, so those will need to be changed. Here a couple video of it spray, these are all from the same trip, i just shortened it so you can see the spraying, also a pic of where it appears to be coming from.



http://vid858.photobucket.com/albums/ab149/shapechanger101/Squirt%201_zpsmyex6srx.mp4
http://vid858.photobucket.com/albums/ab149/shapechanger101/squirt%203_zpsy1qrfyaa.mp4
http://vid858.photobucket.com/albums/ab149/shapechanger101/Squirt%202_zpswu0wh4gq.mp4

 

[Twister]

Well i picked up new plugs, wires and a thermostat housing. Did a compression test on it to see what that was like and got
1. 135
2. 130
3. 135
4. 130

So i put the plugs and wires on and it cleared up the misfire on cylinder 4, put the thermostat housing on, only to discover another leak . The hose that connects to the bottom of the thermostat housing has a pin hole leak that sprays coolant at the catalytic converter. Its not the rubber part, it looks to be plastic maybe, does anyone know what the piece would be called, ill post a pic of what i am talking about.

Here is the coolant house, if you look closely you can see the stream


And these are the plugs, pretty sure these and the wires were factory ones notice two of them basically don't have any electrode left

 

[Twister]

Well that pipe turned out to be the coolant bypass hose, the only manufacturer for the pipe was ford, so i ordered a new motorcraft one from rockauto. Put it in a week ago and it is no longer loosing coolant anymore and seems to run decently. I have put about 100 miles since i fixed it and it all seems good . There is a howling from the rear of the car, not sure if it is the rear brakes or a bearing or something and the valve cover leaks like crazy. I don't think the timing belt was replaced at the 120k mile interval, so it is now 44k miles over due . How long can will the belt last, as i don't have any time/money to deal with it right now?

 

[adsm08]

I thought the Escape 2.3L used a timing chain.

Anyway, how are the rear tires? Escapes rarely have issues with the rear bearings, but they are rough on tires.

 

[Twister]

I thought the Escape 2.3L used a timing chain.

Anyway, how are the rear tires? Escapes rarely have issues with the rear bearings, but they are rough on tires.

It has the 2.0 zetec. Has new tires all around, the PO had just put them on when they decided to sell it.

 

[Twister]

Well after driving it for a few months, the noise in the rear got worse, two days ago it went from a wooshing/howling noise to grinding. I thought it might have been the brakes, but I am 99% sure its the wheel bearing. I took the drum off, and this is the noise it makes when spinning the hub.

If it is the bearing, has anyone ever changed these on a first Gen escape before? If so, how was it?

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Pain in the ass. The rear knuckle has to come out to have the bearing pressed out. The alignment eccentric in the lower trailing arm needs to come out and they are usually seized solid in the bushing. I usually end up cutting it with a sawzall to get em out and replace the bushing and eccentric. It will then need an alignment.

 

[Twister]

Pain in the ass. The rear knuckle has to come out to have the bearing pressed out. The alignment eccentric in the lower trailing arm needs to come out and they are usually seized solid in the bushing. I usually end up cutting it with a sawzall to get em out and replace the bushing and eccentric. It will then need an alignment.

Ive read on an escape forum of someone doing it using this bearing press set form harbor freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/fwd-front-wheel-bearing-adapters-66829.html

You think there would be enough room to fit the tool back there? If it comes down to having to take it that far apart, its going to sitting for a while, pockts are very shallow right now

 

[adsm08]

If it's a 2wd then that should be fine. If its an AWD then that won't work.