briandye

One more thing I noticed, I think my cap is a 16 PSI cap and the coolant jug/tester say based on 15 PSI, does that 1 PSI make a difference? I might be wrong and actually have a 15, but I swear it said somehing else. I'll have to check tomorrow again. And does the coolant have to be completely cool to test it? Mine was warm, I read online it does matter and doesn't matter. About a 50/50 answer with that one. Just overthinking probably, but after my mess up, I don't think that's so bad to overthink these kinds of things right now, lol.

She's home! I am so thankful yet so mortified. Thankful obviously because I don't need a water pump, mortified because this is a simple case of could-have-been-avoided-had-I-paid-more-attention. I obviously took way more coolant out than I put in back when I "changed" the coolant. I also seemed to somehow skip over the part in your post that said "wait until engine completely cools down, add more coolant if needed, then start and run on high heat." I blame part of that on the frustration I had that day, still being -10 with the windchill and no patience. Thank you so much WWWPerf. Can I buy you a case of beer or something? (Or beverage of your choice?) lol you've been such a great help through these few issues I've had with my Edge. I'm just gonna go drop the money probably at the Ford dealer for a complete flush and fill with new/correctly mixed coolant. I used my tester and with the G05/water mix I added to fill up, it says I'm protected as far as it would show (Something like -64) so the mix is probably a bit off. (Though freeze protection to -64 is ideal for this damn weather we've been having!)

Actually it's only barely an inch low according to the reservoir. Wish me luck as I drive it home... (Drove it about 4 miles to the gas station and all is well so far!)

I think I had frozen water/low coolant combined. It's about 30 degrees today and on my day off decided to drive the girlfriends car down and just give it one more shot. Added more coolant mix and had heat! I naturally only grabbed one of the jugs, would I be safe throwing in some Prestone mix with any color? And then when I get home I'm getting as much of what I have out and a fresh Mix in

Ummm I added coolant and I have heat right now! About to take it for a spin...

Awesome thanks for the link. I'm seeing that TSB where they say to fill with green coolant with bittering agent... ...That would explain why my edge had green coolant when I flushed it. Now I'm thinking that going with what I read-where it says the Edge takes the gold coolant, and then flushing/filling with gold coolant, probably caused this. This makes me even more irate about the whole situation.

Thanks bud, I planned on having him do all that while he's in there. Are those simple with the stuff off, like a bolt on replacement?

Found a friend of the family who has a barn and can do just about anything to a vehicle, and another friend of a friend with a tow truck, maybe this won't be so expensive now. We shall see...

I just wondered if there was any other possible culprit in the system. Definitely the water pump then. Well unfortunately I'm gonna be making payments on a vehicle that won't even be on the road for probably at least another month. Really wanted to get a 2012+ Edge Sport later this year, but I can't do another edge after mines giving me problem after problem. I refuse to buy any vehicle that has an internal water pump now. A part that usually always goes bad sometime before the engine needs serious work or rebuilding, and they make it an internal, timing chain driven part. Still trying to wrap my head around that. Such a great looking/driving (well, when its drivable) vehicle too, what a bummer. Read some info on accessing the water pump, wasn't a how-to per say, but had a list of what all had to be removed to gain access. Nope, no, and another big fat nope.

Yeah the fans kicked on, the sound really wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but I've never heard it come from the engine before. (If that makes sense?) The best way I can think to describe it is when a pulley bearing is shot/going bad on an accessory pulley its kind of like a whirring/spinning sound? Wish I would have thought to get a video. Is there anything else it could possibly be? Its not the thermostat (obviously), I would assume the radiator isn't clogged because both coolant hoses were warm, and I would assume any frozen water would have thawed out having the vehicle running for a good 25-30 minutes. I would suspect frozen water to be the culprit if I hadn't driven it as far as I did that morning with it not overheating. I don't know if you saw the thread I made a while back, but I was having some odd smells every once in awhile when I had my heat on...could this be related? (I never really followed up with it because the smells just stopped. It only happened for a short period (if it even did) when I would drive no matter what setting I had it on or how long I drove.

Nope. And right now I'm so frustrated about it that im just laughing it off. I'm still blown away at such a stupid design. Know of any write ups or how-to's for this? I remember reading a thread where one or two members said they replaced their own. Gonna be a ridiculous amount of work I imagine but if I can spend $60 on the water pump, (im sure a tad bit of money on tools I'll need) Id rather go that route than spending $1000+ I just don't trust shops, never have and probably never will. So you know how you know the sound of your own car, once I had everything back on, and coolant added, I started it and there was just an odd whirling type noise coming from somewhere down near the serpentine belt. Only audible with the hood open really, but it's there. I'm gonna assume that's the water pump not doing its thing. It got to temp pretty quick idling with the heat off, and stayed in the middle, but when I turned the heat on it stayed ice cold. I drove it at 25mph down the road and back maybe 1/4 mile and sure enough by the time I got back to the lot, the temp gauge was almost all the way to the right. This time I remembered to check both hoses, the upper wasn't "rock hard" with pressure like it was that morning this happened, but the lower was also warm if that means anything. Top was pretty warm/hot, lower was warm.

Water pump is shot.

New thermostat in, coolant mix added...just started it up.

Oops forgot to mention, I double checked online at Autozone, they only list a 180 degree unit. It must've been a thread on here that I read someone stocked 2 different ones. AZ has a fail safe and duralast model, both being 180 degrees.

Ok just to be on the safe side I'll dillute it. I'll just do a rough estimate job and as soon as I get home and in my garage I'll drain it out and get the right levels. I'm completely confused about coolant though. I thought coolant was anti-freeze/lubricaion but water has a better cooling ability which is why you go half and half (or 70/30, 60/40 etc). Coolant alone would freeze up? Sorry if that sounds stupid, guess I've been wrong about it the whole time I've thought I knew.

This is not pre-dilluted. I do have one of those testers, Ill bring it along. Seems like i'm not gonna get even half of the coolant out with a simple petcock drain. This is going to happen in an apartment complex parking lot (Which i'm sure they frown upon, at least here in Michigan, most complexes don't allow working on vehicles) so id like to keep it as quick as possible. I doubt ill even have to drain much at all, since quite a bit came out of the reservoir when it overheated. (Thought it would help cool down quicker if I opened the cap, despite the warnings. None shot out or hit me, but it did overflow a bit. I was on my last nerve at 5am about to be late for work. Wasn't thinking clearly, lol) Would it hurt to just fill up with the pure Zerex and drive it home where I will actually be able to get down and dirty with it? I would like to be able to get as much coolant out as possible, even if that means multiple drains/refills. (Home is appx 20 minutes, 20 miles) 18 or so highway miles @ 70mph. Also, one more question - Is the thermostat I need a 180 degree model? IIRC, AutoZone listed a 180 degree and a 192(?) degree model. I read that the rubber O-Ring is reusable, should I replace it?

Looks like I should maybe go with a 70/30 mix?

Here's the coolant I have, luckily remembered I had a jug and a half of it out in the garage still.

Apple lol it's because my work gloves hit more than I mean to press.

Yeah, whoops. Phone has a mind of its own when I'm multitasking, lol

To be fully honest, I don't know. We've never really had temps like this, so that never crossed my mind. I know it's definitely more coolant than water though. I'd guess about a 60:1 ratio. I just bought the gold Ford recommended stuff from Napa. They only had one kind and they were the only store that stocks it without having to order it near me.

Alrighty fellas I appreciate the help and info. Don't know how I'm getting back down there, might not even be able to for a day or two but I'll post back what I figure out. First will be to completely drain the coolant, (anyone know what the deal is with the gold coolant? I went out of my way to Napa to get that kind but everyone said green is fine?) Id rather not pay the premium and make the drive again for the gold if I don't have to. Also, what's the correct process of bleeding the system? I was always told just fill the resivoir til it gets to the cold fill mark, start it with the cap off and heat on high and let it run until it gets to normal operating temp. (Add coolant as needed) Is that fully correct?

With it being this cold outside, wouldn't it be bad to add water? Might be wrong but wouldn't I want a higher ratio of coolant vs water? My coolant was pretty pale looking this morning.

Just read some more online and it said to squeeze the top hose, if it's at all firm, then chances are your thermostat is stuck. Thinking this could possibly be a loose hose and stuck-closed thermostat situation coincidentally at the same time. How long might I be able to drive it in this very cold weather? If I can drive it home Id much prefer todo that, than paying probably $100+ for a tow. My friend said when his water pump went out on his Jeep, he drove it about 18 miles to the mechanic and it was fine.

Yeah that'll be my first thing. I have to get the thing home first. Can't work on it in friends apartment parking lot, and don't want to since its so far below zero outside. Any suggestions there? Never had to have anything towed or anything before. It's like a 22 mile hike from his place. Now that im thinking about it, when I last had it in the garage I think 2 days ago, I noticed some steam coming out by the radiator area when I popped the hood. Thought nothing of it, assumed it was some snow or melting snow hitting the hot hoses/rad. Now I'm thinking definitely coolant.