NHTSA Complaint #11420649 — 2017 FORD ESCAPE

In January 2021 it began with the check engine light coming on. The #2 spark plug and ignition coil were replaced by local mechanic. About a month later the check engine light came on again. Again there was an issue with the #2 spark plug. It was fixed. Another few weeks goes by and the light comes on again. I take it in and the check engine light goes off just before I drive it there. We decide to wait for it to come on again. Each time I got the sense from my mechanic that this was slightly unusual. June 2, 2021 on a cool evening, I notice the heater isn’t working. The next day the check engine light comes on. On June 5th I get a warning light that says my vehicle is overheating and to pull over to a safe spot. My kids and I pull over to a parking lot and I have to have it towed to my mechanic. Today, June 11th, the mechanic finally has a chance to look at it and discovers that coolant is leaking into the engine. He uses a borescope to show me the coolant in the engine. He then pulls technical service bulletin 19-2346 which indicates that the exact symptoms my vehicle is having has been know since at least December 2019! The result is that I need a new engine. It has just over 100,000 miles on it. The vehicle isn’t even paid for and I have to replace the engine! Other than the check engine light, there were no warnings that the coolant was low. When the check engine light came on, I did occasionally have white smoke and it chugged when running like there was a blockage. Why on an issue as serious and as expensive as this has Ford Not issued a recall of this engine? If I get it replaced, will the engine installed have been re-engineered to have fixed the problem? If the company has known about this issue for this long, I should have been notified of the potential problem.