Hi All

New to the forum. I did a quick search and could not find any discussions about radiators for the Escape Hybrid. I have not had this car long enough to modify it much but have put about 1300 miles on it in the last 6 months including a lengthy drive to Mexico.

Anyway the high engine temp / low performance light came on several times on the trip and I want to make some modifications.

Does anyone know of a high capacity radiator that would fit in the escape?

And any recommendations for aftermarket gauges to watch oil pressure and water temperature? I may look into something that allows me to track the power usage as well - would be looking for something similar to what we have in a first generation prius.

Any suggestions

 

YOU DO NOT NEED A NEW radiator!!!

You need a new water pump, and this car has three.

These cars do not over heat, and I mean EVER! With a correctly working water pump I drove through Vegas to LA in July in 115 degree heat up very steep grades towing a 3000 pound trailer!!!

My water temp. never went over 195 degrees and you are allowed something like 240 degrees.

90% chance you need a new water pump.
10% chance there is a problem with radiator fans, but at highway speed you really don't need them.

0% chance you need a larger radiator.

 

Thanks GPSman1

Any idea on how to test which water pump is not working. I tested the pump for the electric engine the other day and it is working but not sure if you mean there are three water pumps for the gas motor or not. It would be good to know more about the cooling systems.

Which leads into that I am looking for a good shop type manual to learn more about this car and how things work.

Reason I mentioned radiator is that I planned to start there - on my 1985 Toyota pickup I had some cooling problems and finally tracked them down to a faulty radiator - Was going to start there.

If you were going to make a guess as to which water pump would be the most likely to go out what would you recommend testing first?

And I made a mistake earlier - I have put 13000 miles on it over the last six months.

 

One electric pump pumps hot water to the cabin heater. - If this was bad, the car should still drive ok but you wont get heat to the cabin vents in EV mode, but you will when the engine is running. ( This has been bad on my car for 5 years and I don't care! I'm in California! - No warning lights. )

There is a traditional belt driven water pump that circulates hot water (coolent) only when the engine is running. These can go bad all at once but can also go bad slowly. I've seen cases where the fins have worn down so they pump less and less. I've seen cases where the shaft comes off the pulley so as the pulley on the belt turns the fins don't. Usually the seal goes bad at the pulley shaft and the pump starts to leak so you know you have a problem.

Lastly, on a separate water loop is a thrid pump, the Motor / Electronics cooling pump. This pump cools the high voltage and high amperage systems of the car.

The MECS pump is known to go bad. So many went bad FORD put out a recall and offered free replacent. This is your #1 suspected problem. It can be intermittent.
It can give the symptoms you describe.
It did to mine.

Most often it forces the car to stop for a 3 minute cool down period then lets you drive again. (while an engine is massive and stays hot a long time, the electronics are low mass and cool in 3 minutes or less usually)