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Terrible MPG


jcartwright99

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I am going to try the Lincoln customer service next and see where that gets me. I am contemplating trying to burp the system myself by jacking up the front of the car up, take off radiator cap, get the car hot with heat running, and fill up the radiator as much as possible. My rationale for this is with the gurgling noise, there has to be air in the system if it gurgles. If this doesn't fix it or don't get a resolution, I probably will sell it within a few months. It's that annoying. If I traded it in I would probably take 1-2 grand loss. I could most likely break even with selling to a private buyer, maybe make a few bucks.

 

It's funny Lincoln's tag line has been quiet luxury. I am pretty sure they missed the mark with this. Essentially, the lousy fuel economy and gurgling, are ruining an otherwise pretty awesome car.

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I am going to try the Lincoln customer service next and see where that gets me. I am contemplating trying to burp the system myself by jacking up the front of the car up, take off radiator cap, get the car hot with heat running, and fill up the radiator as much as possible. My rationale for this is with the gurgling noise, there has to be air in the system if it gurgles. If this doesn't fix it or don't get a resolution, I probably will sell it within a few months. It's that annoying. If I traded it in I would probably take 1-2 grand loss. I could most likely break even with selling to a private buyer, maybe make a few bucks.

 

It's funny Lincoln's tag line has been quiet luxury. I am pretty sure they missed the mark with this. Essentially, the lousy fuel economy and gurgling, are ruining an otherwise pretty awesome car.

I would think the dealer tried to purge the system by pulling a vacuum on cooling system. The older 4cyl fusions had that issue and a new coolant bypass kit fixed the noise. I suspect a similar kit will be developed to fix it.

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Before I would completely give up on the car I would at least give them a chance to fix it.

 

I haven't given up yet! I still love the car for the most part. Hell, I haven't even made a payment on yet.

 

I think my frustration is that there is an issue that seems to be (according to others and my tech) happening on other 2.7/3.0 V6's. These types of issues sometimes get resolved and other times don't. I am just creating a contingency plan in case the "worst case" scenario occurs. I know I need to be a bit patient and continue to put pressure on the dealership/Lincoln service about this issue. Hopefully, enough people do this and the engineers can create a fix to solve the problem.

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I haven't given up yet! I still love the car for the most part. Hell, I haven't even made a payment on yet.

 

I think my frustration is that there is an issue that seems to be (according to others and my tech) happening on other 2.7/3.0 V6's. These types of issues sometimes get resolved and other times don't. I am just creating a contingency plan in case the "worst case" scenario occurs. I know I need to be a bit patient and continue to put pressure on the dealership/Lincoln service about this issue. Hopefully, enough people do this and the engineers can create a fix to solve the problem.

I suspect you will get a response that engineering is aware and working on a fix. Unfortunately, that takes time to develop a fix and make a service procedure. Definitely put pressure on the dealership and on customer service to get satisfaction.

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Well, the dealer got a response from Ford Engineering (below). The description was my initial description of when it happened. I am going to have to escalate this as this cannot be normal for any car, let alone a luxury car. What is worse as I was driving my son around this weekend, there were times where it was more noticeable and annoying. I had the radio off (trying to get him to sleep) and was noticeable in 95% of the city stop and go. I want an engineer or area service manager to ride with me and tell me it's normal with a straight face. I have owned many cars in my life but none ever had a gurgling water noise. It's clear to me that their is air in the system, otherwise you wouldn't hear the gurgling. I am going to start pressing hard for a resolution or at least some sort of acknowledgement there is a problem here. It really shouldn't be this hard.

 

Description of Vehicle Concern:

Customer states hears a running water noise from the front of the dash middle area. Happens when vehicle is warmed up, a/c on 70 degrees and on low setting. Hears best when vehicle is stopped with foot on the break. If a/c if turned off noise will go away

Comment From: Ford

It would be suspected that it may be coolant flow in the heater core moving around however coolant should always be flowing to the heater core regardless if A/C is selected or not. In either case, compare like units, then no further action is necessary as this is a characteristic of the vehicle.

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Have they let you hear the "like" unit? I would want to personally hear it from another vehicle if it's considered normal.

 

Actually, I haven't asked. Time is a huge constraint on me right now as I am moving on Sunday (packing is so much fun). Trying to navigate splitting time with my son is also something new that I have just started to deal with. I think I will see if they will let me take a similar one for a spin with the service manager next week to try and duplicate.

 

I actually think the dealer is following protocol right now for the most part. I think they are doing a decent job keeping me in the loop and escalating to Ford. They didn't have to send me the email that they got back from Ford but did. Transparency is nice when you are a customer. I think it will be up to me to either pressure them or Ford to escalate a bit further. I would like someone with a bit more clout to actually drive and listen to this. That could be an engineer or regional service manager (not sure what the titles are). Essentially, a decision maker on these types of issues to determine the next steps. It comes to a point of if they truly see this is normal, then do I find this acceptable in a car? If I don't then I will have to evaluate my options, which is most likely sell at a small loss and move on. That's kind of hard to accept but that is the reality of it.

 

It's a shame if I do sell it because overall I really like the car a lot. I do have a minor (I hope) wind noise issue with the glass roof but I think that is more of either alignment issue or seal issue when shut. The past two cars I had minor issues with door wind noise and both were corrected by reseating/replacing the insulation around the door. It's funny, the reason I started this thread was because of the MPG's which city still isn't that great but I took a trip this weekend to Milwaukee and drove between 75-80mph and averaged about 28 so highway seems fine.

 

I appreciate all the advice from folks on here. Fordtech1, you have a lot of good advice!

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Have you contacted Lincoln customer service?

 

Not yet, I just got a packet in the mail from Lincoln asking me to register on their customer website. It looks like they have a decent amount of resources and services there that I can utilize. That is my next step setting that up and reporting to them what's going on and my concerns.

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  • 6 months later...
  • 2 years later...

Hi Jcart,

 

Yeah I am getting low M{G on my MKZ 3.0 AWD CPO as well about 15-17 in the city and highway os anywhere between 26-28 by computer readings. However most fuel ups I average around 17-20 MPG and I would only get above average 20/21 MPG if I DROVE Highway like 70% plus of the time which is ridiculous. The higher MPG favors cruising around 55-60 MPG is when I got my best MPG reading of like 23.5 MPG Average from calculations and 26 MPG average from the trip computer. The Car's Fuel Information is always higher then what I recorded on my calculations for every fuel up since I acquired it for the past year.  I also drive like a grandma except for the occasional Run it down the ramp joy. 

 

On 4/6/2017 at 1:57 PM, jcartwright99 said:

So my recently acquired 2017 MKZ 3.0 AWD CPO in mostly city driving, is getting about 14-15 mpg. I am trying to baby it too. EPA city is 17 city so I thought if I babied it, I would be able to achieve it. I am only using the onboard computer for this computation so I will be installing an app and also doing it manually just to see if it's off. I didn't buy this car for MPG but I feel like I am getting worse than Mustang GT or Full Size Truck MPG.

 

Anyone think this is normal or a bit low? I just want to make sure their isn't any issues.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/22/2020 at 5:21 PM, TakeshiJin said:

Hi Jcart,

 

Yeah I am getting low M{G on my MKZ 3.0 AWD CPO as well about 15-17 in the city and highway os anywhere between 26-28 by computer readings. However most fuel ups I average around 17-20 MPG and I would only get above average 20/21 MPG if I DROVE Highway like 70% plus of the time which is ridiculous. The higher MPG favors cruising around 55-60 MPG is when I got my best MPG reading of like 23.5 MPG Average from calculations and 26 MPG average from the trip computer. The Car's Fuel Information is always higher then what I recorded on my calculations for every fuel up since I acquired it for the past year.  I also drive like a grandma except for the occasional Run it down the ramp joy. 

 


TakeshiJin,

This thread is old from its last post. But just so you aren't left without a response, I'll try to explain what is most likely the problem:

Is your MKZ a 2017 (especially built in 2016)?

The "water running behind dash" that is air trapped in the highest point in the coolant system. This happens due to coolant slowly leaking into the cylinder chamber on 2.7L and 3.0L Ecoboost engines. Even some Continentals may have this issue. The final result is the spark plug(s) get contaminated with coolant, causing them to become wet and foul.

The first way to catch this problem is to inspect the spark plugs. If one of them is found wet, this is the confirmation needed a faulty cylinder head was installed on the engine at factory assembly. The engine is going to need to get new cylinder heads to perform correctly. Do not accept switching in new spark plugs until the cylinder heads are replaced either, as they will immediately foul out again. As as customer, request that service advisor/tech show you what the spark plugs look like if you're uncomfortable checking them yourself.

 

The wet spark plug is why both MPG and performance is poor, and if you get really aggressive the car at some point, it may throw a CEL misfire code and shudder while driving, only for it to clear up once off the throttle for a bit.

 

I am curious if jcarwright99 solved his issue and discovered needing new cylinder heads installed on his engine. The issue was a lot more widespread than Ford/Lincoln made it seem, as only a few resulted in "blown" engines for units built in 2016 and even some early 2017s. It may be a minor leak on the majority and not harm the engine, but corrupt spark plugs is what hurts performance and MPGs. New Cylinder heads being installed on the engine was the only way all these issues mentioned in this thread (that my own 2017 MKZ 3.0 suffered in the beginning) were solved.

 

Good luck.

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On 5/5/2020 at 5:54 PM, Zalvern said:


TakeshiJin,

This thread is old from its last post. But just so you aren't left without a response, I'll try to explain what is most likely the problem:

Is your MKZ a 2017 (especially built in 2016)?

The "water running behind dash" that is air trapped in the highest point in the coolant system. This happens due to coolant slowly leaking into the cylinder chamber on 2.7L and 3.0L Ecoboost engines. Even some Continentals may have this issue. The final result is the spark plug(s) get contaminated with coolant, causing them to become wet and foul.

The first way to catch this problem is to inspect the spark plugs. If one of them is found wet, this is the confirmation needed a faulty cylinder head was installed on the engine at factory assembly. The engine is going to need to get new cylinder heads to perform correctly. Do not accept switching in new spark plugs until the cylinder heads are replaced either, as they will immediately foul out again. As as customer, request that service advisor/tech show you what the spark plugs look like if you're uncomfortable checking them yourself.

 

The wet spark plug is why both MPG and performance is poor, and if you get really aggressive the car at some point, it may throw a CEL misfire code and shudder while driving, only for it to clear up once off the throttle for a bit.

 

I am curious if jcarwright99 solved his issue and discovered needing new cylinder heads installed on his engine. The issue was a lot more widespread than Ford/Lincoln made it seem, as only a few resulted in "blown" engines for units built in 2016 and even some early 2017s. It may be a minor leak on the majority and not harm the engine, but corrupt spark plugs is what hurts performance and MPGs. New Cylinder heads being installed on the engine was the only way all these issues mentioned in this thread (that my own 2017 MKZ 3.0 suffered in the beginning) were solved.

 

Good luck.

 

 

This 100% Makes sense. I had the water sound from behind the dash board but the Lincoln or Ford  Service representative could never find out what's wrong or Duplicate it they told me everything was fine.

I also had them investigate the MPG in the past they said it was fine with 50/50 city highway reporting 20 expected MPG during their test and they flashed the newer transmission software,

 

My Lincoln was made around 6/6/2016 and was sold around 8/16/2016 So it is definitely one of the few MKZ off the line early 2016 before 2017.

 

Should I have them personally investigate the spark plugs  or cylinder heads what justification and reasoning should i Provide them? 

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