If your Kuga runs hot or smells of burning
Pull over somewhere safe and switch off. Stay out from under the bonnet if you can see smoke, and never touch the coolant cap on a hot engine. If there's smoke or flame, get everyone out and well away from the car, and call 000. Have it towed.
Which Kuga have you got?
Two generations came here. The first, the TE from February 2012, had a 2.5-litre turbo five-cylinder petrol, a five-speed automatic and all-wheel drive.
The second, the TF from May 2013, began with a 1.6-litre turbo petrol and a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel. A December 2014 update swapped the 1.6 for a 1.5-litre and added a 2.0-litre turbo petrol. Later cars here wore the Ford Escape name.
The engine matters more than the year, so find it in the service book or on the rego papers.
Common Ford Kuga problems
Overheating on the 1.6. CarsGuide reported 4,450 Kugas built 16 December 2012 to 2 July 2014 were recalled. Poor coolant circulation could overheat the cylinder head until it cracked and leaked oil, and that oil could catch fire. Until the repair, Ford's advice was to keep the coolant at the correct level.
Overheating on later cars. A second recall, in August 2018, covered Kugas built 13 December 2014 to 25 September 2015. The engine could overheat and lose its oil.
The manual clutch. Manuals built up to 24 June 2016 were recalled because the clutch could slip, overheat, crack the pressure plate and leak gearbox fluid.
The diesel's dual-clutch gearbox. A CarsGuide adviser says the Kuga's wet-clutch unit isn't the dry-clutch PowerShift from the Fiesta, Focus and EcoSport, so what you've read about those cars may not apply. If yours slips or won't take reverse, get it scanned before anyone talks about a new gearbox.
The 2.5-litre's breather. On the first Kuga, a ruptured PCV diaphragm (part of the system that vents gases from the engine) brings a whine that rises with the revs and stops when you pull the dipstick out, along with oil use, blue smoke and the engine light. More on engine lights.
Does a Ford Kuga have a timing belt?
Most do. A timing belt is the toothed rubber belt that keeps the engine's valves in step with its pistons.
Irish motoring site Complete Car says the 2.5 petrol, the 1.5 and 1.6 EcoBoost petrols and the 2.0 TDCi diesel all have belts, due every 200,000 km or 10 years, whichever comes first, and that the 2.0 EcoBoost petrol uses a chain. AustralianCar.Reviews adds that the 2.0 diesel has a belt driving one camshaft and a chain linking the other.
That's overseas advice, so your Australian service book has the final word. The youngest Kugas here are now about 10 years old, so the time limit may have arrived even on a car with low kilometres.
The size of a timing belt replacement depends on the engine and on what gets done at the same time. A good written estimate lists the belt, tensioner, idlers and whether the water pump is included. Our timing belt page has more.
Servicing a Kuga
carsales lists the 2015 Kuga at 15,000 km or 12 months. Follow the book for your car and keep the invoices.
Between services, check the coolant level with the engine cold. If it keeps dropping, see a mechanic this week rather than topping it up and forgetting it.
Tell us it's a Kuga, which engine if you know, and what it's doing. A local mechanic who specialises in your car.
What we'd do with a Kuga
Check vehiclerecalls.gov.au or ring a Ford dealer with the VIN, and make sure every recall on your car is closed. Then find out when the timing belt was last changed. If nobody can show you a record, treat it as never done and ask for a written estimate. We'd settle those two things before anything else on a Kuga.