Ford Focus 2011 Mk3 Coolant Hose worn by alternator housing after recall in 2018

[timonline]

Well hello everyone.

In the Summer of 2018, I took my vehicle to a main dealer in Ipswich Suffolk called John Grose for its coolant recall. The vehicle was due its MOT recently again (March 2021) and they picked up on the coolant hose that runs from the front of the engine to a T junction adapter and being very tight, and because of that the casing of the alternator is wearing its way into the hose which will soon result in a leak and serious issues.

As no one has touched this since that work was done, today, I thought I'd give John Grose Ipswich the opportunity to inspect it and put it right. Nope, how wrong I was. According to the service manager, for someone to lift the bonnet and inspect their terrible work in the car park, its going to cost me £75 take it or leave it. Apparently this is because it was now almost 3yrs ago, not the point, but whatever, there was no point trying to educate detail of why we're even talking 3 yrs later. I should have reminded them that when I had the vehicle back after the recall the coolant level was below minimum, they couldn't even get that right. It certainly didn't go in like that, that's for sure.

Anyway, enough of their terrible service, I have uploaded some pictures below, and I still have not found out exactly what work is performed for this coolant recall, but all I can say is, it can't have gone into them like that, because there is no way the car would have survived being in that state between 2011 and 2018 without it becoming a major issue/leak like its about to be now. You might just be able to see in the pic that there is an uneven cut on the end of the hose. To me, it looks like they've cut a bit off of the end when they did the recall works, maybe the pipe split at the end and making it shorter would mean they didn't need to replace it at their cost, I just don't know.

But anyway, I just wondered if anyone else has experienced this, or if there are any honest dealer or ex-dealer mechanics on here that take pride in their work that can possibly explain how/why this has occurred and if the dealer/mechanic that worked on it is truly to blame. I am about to take the car to a reputable local garage to put the issue right (as I cannot trust this dealer regardless), and just get it done at my cost. But I am just interested to know if I am the only one that has this issue after the coolant recall or if there are more out there. thank you.

[JW1982]

For the 1.6 ECOboost cooling system recall Ford developed a universal kit that covered all affected models (Fiesta, Focus, C-max/Grand C-max, Mondeo and S-max/Galaxy.

The original hose between the thermostat housing and the reservoir is not replaced during the recall. Instead of replacing the hose Ford prescribes to cut the original hose at the correct length according to the following pictures (from the original recall installation manual):

 

On your car the original hose is not cut at the correct lenght. The hose is clearly too short which resulted in rubbing damage. When installed correctly according to the recall manual there should be approximately 10 to 15 mm clearance between the hose and the alternator. Apart from this the hose clamp that is used is also not the correct one. The hose clamp that should have been used in this location is a jubilee clamp (number 2 on the 2nd picture) and not the constant tension clamp that is currently installed.

Unfortunately this is quite common. After the recall was performed on my parents car I performed an inspection and found out that the Ford dealer completely messed it up. I found over 12 faults according to the manual (wrong wiring routing, several wrong hose clamps, several broken connectors, missing wiring clamps, missing insulation tape, wrong software installed, etc.). To rectify all faults I removed all parts that were installed during the recall and performed the recall the correct way by starting from scratch.

In your case I suggest to do the following (or have it done by a reputable garage):

1. Buy a new original coolant hose that runs from the thermostat housing to the coolant reservoir.
2. remove the engine undertray.
3. Drain the coolant by opening the drain valve below the radiator.
4. Close the drain valve once the coolant is drained.
5. Remove the damaged hose.
6. Cut the new hose to the correct length as described in the pictures above and install the new hose.
7. Perform a pressure test of the cooling system.
8. Perform a vacuum test of the cooling system.
9. If both the pressure and vacuum test are successful the (still vacuumized) cooling system needs to be vaccum filled according to the prescribed procedure.
10. After the cooling system has been filled the coolant level measured by the sensor needs to be checked using a suitable diagnostic system.

 

 

[timonline]

On 5/13/2021 at 3:15 PM, JW1982 said:

For the 1.6 ECOboost cooling system recall Ford developed a universal kit that covered all affected models (Fiesta, Focus, C-max/Grand C-max, Mondeo and S-max/Galaxy.

The original hose between the thermostat housing and the reservoir is not replaced during the recall. Instead of replacing the hose Ford prescribes to cut the original hose at the correct length according to the following pictures (from the original recall installation manual):

 

On your car the original hose is not cut at the correct lenght. The hose is clearly too short which resulted in rubbing damage. When installed correctly according to the recall manual there should be approximately 10 to 15 mm clearance between the hose and the alternator. Apart from this the hose clamp that is used is also not the correct one. The hose clamp that should have been used in this location is a jubilee clamp (number 2 on the 2nd picture) and not the constant tension clamp that is currently installed.

Unfortunately this is quite common. After the recall was performed on my parents car I performed an inspection and found out that the Ford dealer completely messed it up. I found over 12 faults according to the manual (wrong wiring routing, several wrong hose clamps, several broken connectors, missing wiring clamps, missing insulation tape, wrong software installed, etc.). To rectify all faults I removed all parts that were installed during the recall and performed the recall the correct way by starting from scratch.

In your case I suggest to do the following (or have it done by a reputable garage):

1. Buy a new original coolant hose that runs from the thermostat housing to the coolant reservoir.
2. remove the engine undertray.
3. Drain the coolant by opening the drain valve below the radiator.
4. Close the drain valve once the coolant is drained.
5. Remove the damaged hose.
6. Cut the new hose to the correct length as described in the pictures above and install the new hose.
7. Perform a pressure test of the cooling system.
8. Perform a vacuum test of the cooling system.
9. If both the pressure and vacuum test are successful the (still vacuumized) cooling system needs to be vaccum filled according to the prescribed procedure.
10. After the cooling system has been filled the coolant level measured by the sensor needs to be checked using a suitable diagnostic system.

 

 

Thank you so much for this, I cannot thank you enough for detailing everything, its exactly what I needed and very very much appreciated, I can pretty much see like you've detailed that as per usual, the dealer is at fault... (nothing new there these days). I did contact Ford UK head office ref this as I thought what have I got to lose, they said I need to make a complaint first, so I have and they have only 'now' asked for a picture so they can assist me in getting Ford UK to sort it for me. Which is hilarious, as based on what you have said, its down to the dealers employees not following instructions properly! I shall detail some 'helpful' hints in my reply to them, we'll see if they still try to wiggle out of it. Either way, vehicle is not going, they can deliver me the parts instead and I'll use my local trustworthy garage instead to do the job properly.