Have an '09 with 30k on it, the degas bottle is loosing coolant, no leaks to be found, oil and coolant look good with no cross contamination, original hoses, clamps and water pump, any ideas for a solution to the issue?
Thanks in advance for your help

 

About all you can do with no sign of coolant loss on the ground is to rent a cooling system pressure tester and use it on cold engine.

Cooling system has no internal pressure until coolant warms up and expands.
And so a small leak won't showup/leak much until everything warms up and then it evaporates pretty fast so may not make it to the ground.

Cold engine pressure test can crank pressure up to 20-25psi and coolant will not evaporate as it comes out.

Because this 2.3l duratec engine was designed for transverse mounting there is a coolant hose and connection on the back side of the engine when used in Ranger.
Hard to see it but it is there, and can leak.

Pressure tester is just a rad cap that has a pressure gauge and hand pump attached, not expensive at all to rent

 

Thanks for the reply
Will do the pressure test asap
If it's the hoses/clamps will replace them all + new coolant
Any recommendations on brand, type, color of coolant to use?

 

Safest coolant type is HOAT, hybrid organic acid technology, this is not a brand it is a type

There is no "color code" for coolant, seems like there is, but there is no industry standard that must be followed

There are 3 basic types
Silcate, was first used back in the 1920/30's, and this is usually Green, lasts for 2 years

OAT, usually red/pink, lasts 5 years, OAT and Silicate CAN NOT be mixed, makes a cruddy slime in the cooling system

HOAT, can be used with either silicate or OAT which is why it is the safest if you are unsure of what you had, also costs the most, lol.
Lasts 5 years, although some consider that "the lifetime" of a vehicle, so often sold as Lifetime Coolant, it isn't, 5 years and change it.
Yellow, orange or Gold are often the colors

And as for color, READ THE LABEL!!!!!

I only use Green Silicate in older vehicles, reason being is that it costs less and I am pretty sure I will probably have a coolant leak sooner than later so the 2 year change interval is probably optimistic, lol.

The OAT and HOAT do offer better anti-corrosion for multi-metal engines, i.e. iron and aluminum mixed engines, which was the reason they were developed.

But if you change silicate based coolant every 2 years that isn't an issue.

All use the same 'anti-freeze' component and water pump lube, only the anti-corrosion components are different

 

Thanks again
The coolant is the yellowgold HOAT you described and will get changed as it has aged out

 

Found out it was the radiator, hate those damn OEM plastic end tank units, had it replaced with an aluminum one

 

Still losing coolant about double the amount from the hot to cold lines on the bottle every 600 miles. Was told by a reputable shop that replaced the radiator they checked all the hoses when the system was pressure checked.
Oil and coolant still look good, any ideas on what they may have overlooked?

 

So you haven't done a pressure test yourself?

I would do that
Call around you can rent the pressure test kit

Pump up cold engine to 25psi and watch pressure, it will be dropping if you are loosing coolant, then wait a few minutes and you should see where it is coming from.

Hopefully not the rear hose connector on the head, you pretty much have to pull off the transmission to get to it.

The 2.3l Duratec engine was designed for transverse mounting, so that coolant fitting would be on the side so easy enough to get to, in a Ranger not so much :)

 

Thanks for the help
Just realized I forgot to tell it only has 29k on it, don't know if that makes a difference or not

 

You said 30k in first post but no, it doesn't matter for cooling system

Outside of the water pump cooling systems have no moving parts so TIME is the factor not miles
Plastic and rubber parts deteriorate over time, so break or leak as "time goes by" not miles

 

Thanks again