Canuckican Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 First we had a beautiful black loaded 2013 Fusion SE with the 2.0 Ecoboost. Then we hit two deer with it that totaled said Fusion. To replace it, we bought a beautiful black loaded 2016 Fusion SE with the 2.0 Ecoboost. Then last week an inattentive driver rear-ended us while we were stopped at the end of the traffic jam on a local freeway. That was the end of that Fusion and thankfully there were no injuries to anyone involved. We're deciding if we want to have a shot at Fusion number 3 or if we should just cash in our chips and get a different vehicle. We really like the Fusion and figure third time is the charm. Again we're looking for a low mileage 2013+ loaded SE or Titanium with the 2.0 Ecoboost. I was not aware of the potential head gasket / coolant intrusion problem when I bought the 2016 but seeing how expensive it is to repair if you do have the problem, we're thinking of sticking to 2013-2015 or late 2019-2020. I saw a TSB for the 2.0 EB that listed April 9, 2019 as the "safe" date, meaning Fusions built after that date probably have the block with the head gasket leak vulnerability fixed. I read that 2013, 2014 and early 2015s had the old block without the head gasket vulnerability. I've been trying to determine if there is a build date in 2014 or 2015 on which the engine block with the troublesome coolant changes were introduced but I have not been able to find one. Can anyone point me to any official information on what the start date of the 2.0 EB vulnerability was introduced? I can get the build date from either the door jam or the CarFax report and can also get the details on the engine itself from the sticker on the cam cover, assuming the sticker is still there. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10169807-0001.pdf I just don't want to fork out potentially $15K+ and then have to fork out $7K for a new engine a few months later. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WKelley Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Just go with the 2.5L engine. Sure it does not have the power of the Ecoboost motors, but it is a rock solid engine. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuckican Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 On 1/30/2024 at 1:08 PM, WKelley said: Just go with the 2.5L engine. Sure it does not have the power of the Ecoboost motors, but it is a rock solid engine. I think here this engine in only in the Fusion S. We were looking more towards another loaded SE or Titanium. However, now we are likely to not buy another Fusion due to the risk of this very expensive repair. We are looking at a 2016+ Taurus Limited but then I saw their costly repairs for the water pump and it made me wonder. Then we looked at 2016 Kia Optima EX and found 2017 is the earliest Optima with acceptable engine reliability. Then we're looking at 2016 + Impala and Malibu. Who knows what lurks there. I also know that the vast majority of people that buy the Fusion with the EB 2.0 or the Taurus with the 3.5 engine will not have the coolant intrusion or water pump issue respectively, but that's of little comfort if you're one of the owners that does. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCEcoBoost Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 I have a low miles 2017 SE with the 1.5L EB. Ford extended the engine warranty to 7 years and may extend it further. So, that takes me to this coming September. Last September, Ford offered to extend my extended bumper to bumper warranty for another 3 years (to 9/26) for $30/month and I went for it. So, there are options with Ford to get around the coolant intrusion issue. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuckican Posted February 10 Author Share Posted February 10 The search has been continuing for another Fusion, at least for the time being. We've also been looking at some 2020 ones as well as 2013-2016. I think we found a 2016 Fusion SE with the 2.0 EB that pre-dates the cylinder block change. It has the same engine code as our recently destroyed 2016 EB 2.0. It is a 2016 Fusion SE EB 2.0, 50K miles, engine code 330, built 9/2015. It's a private sale and I am going to see if the seller will let me pull the plugs and stick a scope down its gullet. I don't expect to be able to do the full pressure test and let it sit for at least 5 hours. But if the plugs and cylinders look good and it's not losing coolant, I think it should be "safe", at least as safe as any of these engines can be. Our 2013 EB 2.0 had at least 135K miles on it and 2016 EB 2.0 had 124K miles on it when they were totaled. Neither one had any coolant intrusion or coolant loss issues. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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