Shops quote $6,500–$10,000 for this one, and the quote usually isn't the ripoff, the job really is that big. Here's what's actually failing, what the correct repair involves, and the honest part: this is not a job I do in a driveway.
The 2.0 EcoBoost uses an open-deck aluminum block, the cylinder walls stand free at the top rather than being tied into the deck. It saves weight and helps cooling, but under years of boost and heat cycling, the deck area can crack or the head gasket can let go between a coolant passage and a cylinder. Either way, coolant gets pulled into the combustion chamber. Ford has a TSB on the condition, and the factory fix isn't a gasket, it's a replacement short block, because a cracked deck can't be reliably sealed.
The symptoms are textbook coolant intrusion: the reservoir drops with no puddle anywhere, white sweet-smelling smoke on cold start as the coolant that seeped in overnight burns off, and misfires on the affected cylinder, usually P0301 or P0302. A combustion-gas test on the cooling system or a borescope look at the cylinder (steam-cleaned pistons are the giveaway) confirms it.
Diagnosis matters enormously here, because the repair path splits: a true head gasket failure on an intact deck is one job; a cracked block is a short block replacement. We pressure-test, gas-test and borescope before recommending anything, you should never pay for a short block on a guess, and never pay for a head gasket that's doomed to fail again on a cracked deck.
If your Ford is doing any of these, this is the likely cause:
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See how that range compares across Mississauga, Oakville, Milton, Brampton and Etobicoke in the GTA Repair Price Index, honest shop & dealer ranges for the jobs people actually get done.
Coolant Intrusion Repair. Head Gasket / Short Block Replacement is on my published list of jobs I turn down. It needs a hoist, a press or a machine shop, and I work out of driveways with hand tools. That list is public on my trust page. I'd rather lose the job than learn it on your engine, and you should be suspicious of anyone who says yes to this over the phone.
So here's what I can genuinely do for you, holding a $6,500–$10,000 quote. Both are real, both are flat-priced, and both are worth more than a bad yes.
Before you spend $6,500–$10,000, have someone independent confirm that's actually what's wrong. This is a diagnosis, not the repair, no hoist, no lift, nothing comes apart. I scan it, test it, look at it with you, and tell you straight whether their diagnosis holds up. If it does, I say so and you go pay them with confidence.
Book the second opinion →At $6,500–$10,000 on a car that might be worth not much more, plenty of people replace instead of repair, that's a completely reasonable call. If that's where you're heading, get the next car measured before you hand over money: 150 published points, at the seller's location, written report the same day.
Book a pre-purchase inspection →Tell me what you've been quoted and what the car is doing. $100–$250 flat, at your location, and you get a straight answer either way.
Rather just have the quote read? The free quote check tells you whether the number is in line, no visit needed.
Jobs on this car that ARE mine:
Not so you can do it yourself, so you can tell whether the shop quoting you understands the job:
That's the job. It's why this one belongs on a hoist instead of in a driveway, and it's why $6,500–$10,000 usually isn't a ripoff, it's a big repair honestly priced. What's worth checking is whether that's really what your car needs.
Get the diagnosis confirmed firstPlain version: Coolant Intrusion Repair. Head Gasket / Short Block Replacement needs equipment a driveway doesn't have, a hoist to get under it properly, a press or a machine shop for the parts that come out, and a controlled space for an engine or gearbox that's in pieces for days. I work out of driveways with hand tools. That's not false modesty, it's the published limit of what I take on, and it's listed on my trust page alongside the warranty.
What that means for you: this page is here to tell you what's failing and what it should cost, so you walk into a shop knowing the job instead of nodding at a number. And if you want that number checked before you pay it, that part I can do, $100–$250 flat, at your location.
Coolant in a cylinder washes the oil film off the cylinder wall, hydro-locks the engine in extreme cases, and steam-cleans the piston while contaminating the oil. Every week of driving on intrusion grinds the bore and bearings. Caught early, the rest of the engine is salvageable. Driven for months, a repairable engine becomes a dead one.
Testing, not guessing: a cooling system pressure test, a chemical combustion-gas test, and a borescope inspection of the suspect cylinders. A cracked open-deck block can't be fixed with a gasket, so confirming which failure you have is the most important step of the whole job, and it's where we start.
No. Coolant Intrusion Repair. Head Gasket / Short Block Replacement is on my published list of jobs I turn down, it needs a hoist, a press or a machine shop, and I work out of driveways with hand tools. I'd rather lose the job than learn it on your engine.
Two things, and both are real. A second-opinion diagnostic at your car, $100–$250 flat, at your location, so somebody independent confirms that's actually what's wrong before you commit to a $6,500–$10,000 repair. And if you're weighing replacing the car instead of fixing it, a pre-purchase inspection on the replacement, $149–$399 flat, at the seller's location.
Because the useful part isn't the wrench. It's knowing what's actually failing, what the correct repair involves, and that shops quote $6,500–$10,000 for it, so you walk in knowing the job instead of nodding at a number. If you want that number checked before you pay it, that part I can do.
Send it over for a free second opinion. I'll tell you straight what the job actually involves, and if their quote is fair, I'll tell you that too.
Get a Free Second OpinionOther makes:
I'm not the guy who does this repair. I'm the guy who tells you whether you actually need it, before you spend $6,500–$10,000. Second opinion at your car, $100–$250 flat, in Mississauga, Oakville, Milton, Brampton and Etobicoke.
Book a Second Opinion Inspect a Replacement CarYour options on this one