2013 Ford Escape SEL

So I just got my vehicle back from the dealer and now it’s making a weird sound when. I press the accelerator down. It starts making the sound after about 15mph and only when I press the pedal down. Dealer says I need a new intercooler… I just got the transmission, water pump, engine coolant bypass valve, and turbo replaced. Here’s videos of the sounds.
The reason the info light and tire light is on, is bc i have a spare tire on. So that’s not it. Also all fluids are topped off, New spark plugs and ingtion coils, New air filters…

Seems to me the Dealer should be answering these questions for you…that’s the first place you should be looking for a solution as they just returned the vehicle to you, so they own the problem.

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Yeah. I just don’t want to pay $110 for them to diagnose the issue.

You shouldn’t have to. This is related to a system they touched and that you already paid them a lot of money to fix. Tell them to fix it right this time.

The audio is kinda hard to discern. I can’t decide if it sounds like a boost leak or a stuck blowoff valve (though both scenarios could be caused by a bad valve depending on whether the valve was stuck open or closed).

When you let off the gas do you hear a weird tweeting/fluttering noise that sounds sort of like a car from The Jetsons? If so, your blowoff valve isn’t opening. I think Ford calls it something different, but I can’t remember what that term is.

I just had the blowoff valve replaced last August. But I’ll definitely check that again. Bc it does flutter when I release the pedal, and doesn’t start making that sound until about 15-20mph and only when I’m pressing the pedal in. So that sounds more or less like it.

If the intercooler is damaged it will have to be repaired or replaced. Did you ask why the vehicle needs a new intercooler?

The showed me a nipple on the intercooler broke off for a vacuum line to connect

Holy Cow, if you actually have a nipple on the intercooler that has broken off, then we must assume (hate to use this word, but) that there is essentially a hole in your intercooler now! This is where your strange noises will be coming from and it is also a source of un-metered as well as unfiltered air entering the engine. This is sort of a no-brainer here, because if this nipple was for a hose to attach to the intercooler and is now broken off…there must be a hole where it broke off and there also must be a hose dangling from somewhere, no? Your problem begins and ends right here.

Yeah. The dealer showed me the nipple broken off. Other than that I can’t find a loose hose or anything, but I ordered a new intercooler and im going to put that in on Wednesday. So hopefully that’s the issue. I just needed some help and to make sure that’s the only issue from the sounds

So you do indeed have a confirmed HOLE in your intercooler?! This is for certain?

A crack in the cooler could easily make a noise, but an outright hole? So, uh, yeah, I would say the hole in the pressurized container fed by the Turbo might be an “area of interest” to focus upon when searching for the source of this strange noise. The search really shouldn’t have begun anywhere else.

Considering a lot of work was just done at the dealer, I’m wondering if that intercooler nipple broke while it was at the dealership

:thinking:

If so . . . shouldn’t the dealership eat the cost of that repair, not you?

Alright. I’ll get under the car and snap a pic when I find it again and post on here.

They brought me in after they pulled the tranny and showed it to me

If it makes this sound rev’ing the engine in the driveway, using a length of old garden hose or vacuum hose as a stethoscope, you may be able to narrow down the location of which engine part it is coming from. As posted above, the intercooler must be fully functional in any event, so repairing that first makes a lot of sense, as it may solve the problem you are posting about.

Was the damage caused by road debris or does it look like someone broke it while working on the car?

Yeah it only makes the sound after I surpass 15mph. Not when I’m in a driveway. I’ve been very carefully studying what the sound is and where it’s coming from and it’s no where near any of the belts. It’s from the front driverside from what I can tell… Ill know more once I get the part in on Wednesday and put it in.

Not road debris as the intercooler is protected by the bumper assembly. It just looked cracked and old from the heat of the engine bay.

The sound begins after 15mph and not in the driveway, because that is when the ecu allows you to start making boost. Which is leaking out of a hole in the intercooler and probably trying to whistle a tune for you.

Please, for your own sanity, if you do indeed have a hole in the intercooler…don’t go looking anywhere else for the source of the noise. That just makes no sense.

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Yeah im replacing the intercooler first, I’ve already paid for and ordered the part. And if it doesn’t fix it then ill be back on here looking for further answers lol.

Can you post a pic of this hole perhaps? I am only going off of what you stated…so If we can see the hole and it is indeed a perforated intercooler…there is your noise… I promise.