2.7L blown engine failure list . . 68 so far [Updated: December 13, 2022]

[ryridesmotox]

You will get a ticket here if you do not move over and reduce speed when a car/emergency vehicle is on the shoulder. I think you have to be at 35kph if you can't get out of the right lane and into the left lane when passing an emergency vehicle on the shoulder. Most drivers here will move over to the left and reduce their speed a bit ... some will unfortunately slow way down and then move over to the left creating a hazard. It is pretty dangerous being on the side of a highway with cars and trucks passing at 80+. BTW, perhaps you know why German cars have their gas fill door on the passenger side. Pretty smart. Why do American cars still have their fill doors on the left side? I guess the designers have never run out of gas on the highway. Well, neither have but it is still a good idea to put it on the passenger side.

I've had American cars with fill doors on the passenger side, but not many. 90% probably is knowing how lazy us Americans are that don't want to walk all the way around our car to fill up and 10% is probably packaging lol

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[JPye]

I've had American cars with fill doors on the passenger side, but not many. 90% probably is knowing how lazy us Americans are that don't want to walk all the way around our car to fill up and 10% is probably packaging lol

I think ALL German cars have the door on the passenger side. Not sure about when they are sold in the Right Hand Drive markets though.

 

[Snydermann]

If it turned out to be valves, I bet they just send out whole heads.

That's exactly what they will do. They will rebuild the replaced heads off-site. Generally, they don't do component level engine repair at the dealer anymore. (Worked at a dealership for years).

 

[ryridesmotox]

That's exactly what they will do. They will rebuild the replaced heads off-site. Generally, they don't do component level engine repair at the dealer anymore. (Worked at a dealership for years).

Yea thats been my experience as well. Unless it was an isolated thing. Like on GM stuff with LS6s, they would replace the ONE spring that broke... nevermind the other 15 that were sitting there about to break. I got real lucky with mine. They replaced the single that broke and I ordered a set of LS9 springs and swapped em all out. Companies nickel and diming shit... 16 springs for that LS6 was less than 100bux at the time through Lingenfelter. But oh no, we can't have the tech waste time doing all of em.

 

[DrBriGuy]

Exactly

I'm really starting to think this is the only meaningful recourse if we're not happy at some point with the response - get someone in this group to take one apart and document it thoroughly, videos + pictures + writeup somewhere. Still not convinced that is necessary but let's wait another month here and see how what the overall picture looks like. 1000 more miles on a lot of the vehicles will be telling one way or another.

 

[JollyFolly]

Unfortunately down here people tend to panic and stop in whatever lane they are in on the interstate. People also have no respect for amber lights or emergency vehicles. Georgia has a move over law but I rarely see it enforced. I was sitting on a very small shoulder with my hazards on and people were still flying by at 80+.

ha! I broke down on King Street downtown Charleston and I was in a driving lane with a left lane turn only, people were honking and yelling at me as I sat there with my hazards on, my kids crying, and it was freezing cold...

 

[Snydermann]

Yea thats been my experience as well. Unless it was an isolated thing. Like on GM stuff with LS6s, they would replace the ONE spring that broke... nevermind the other 15 that were sitting there about to break.

Sure, we did some engine work. Valve guide seals, crankshaft bearings as PM, noisy lifters, walnut shell intake blasting. Components like valves, pistons, shafts, not so much.

 

[Snydermann]

I'm really starting to think this is the only meaningful recourse if we're not happy at some point with the response - get someone in this group to take one apart and document it thoroughly, videos + pictures + writeup somewhere.

I think I suggested this in a post somewhere. Problem is you'd void your warranty repair. Normally, you might be able to pay a dealer mechanic to take it apart for you on his own time, but since this is a warranty thing, and hush-hush, that's not an option either. Those damaged engines are shipping out intact. The mechanics have been warned not to post photos of damage on social media, for sure.

 

[JPye]

I'm really starting to think this is the only meaningful recourse if we're not happy at some point with the response - get someone in this group to take one apart and document it thoroughly, videos + pictures + writeup somewhere. Still not convinced that is necessary but let's wait another month here and see how what the overall picture looks like. 1000 more miles on a lot of the vehicles will be telling one way or another.

Crowd funding. How much would it cost?

 

[Snydermann]

Crowd funding. How much would it cost?

The price of an engine and installation.

The possibility exists you could just do a valve job and replace a piston, depending on the damage. Good opportunity for someone who wants to build up an engine anyway.

 

[VoltageDrop]

Completely agree. What owners of failed engines need to do though is report it to the NHTSA. It's easily done through their website. If they see enough failures, they will investigate. Then most likely cause Ford to initiate a recall based on their findings.

Subaru in recent years had an issue with some bad valve springs. They would crack and fail with very similar results to what is going on here. The NHTSA made them do a recall on the over 400,000 cars affected which is a heck of a lot more than with the 2.7 situation here.

You might be right because NHTSA is currently investigating Ram diesels for a stalling issue with 22 complaints in a pool of 600k trucks.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a37992530/nhtsa-investigating-ram-diesel-engines-stalling/

 

[DrBriGuy]

I think I suggested this in a post somewhere. Problem is you'd void your warranty repair. Normally, you might be able to pay a dealer mechanic to take it apart for you on his own time, but since this is a warranty thing, and hush-hush, that's not an option either. Those damaged engines are shipping out intact. The mechanics have been warned not to post photos of damage on social media, for sure.

Yes, I was on that train of thought, too, earlier - it's been a long thread! I have been trying to keep an open mind and think through the "what's next?" more from my or our point of view. That's really all we can control, not the manufacturer. But we sure can influence them when/if we want.

I think if something like this writeup were to go up, or at least be known to be going up on the internet, you'd get some phone calls and have some options. So I wouldn't personally worry about the warranty much - that's nickels in the grand scheme of this thing. Taking a little risk there will go a long way but it will take the right person to do it. Like I said back a ways in the thread, I'm totally game if mine is the one to go down - it's a second vehicle and I'm patient. Also a pretty cool project if it comes to that.

And I think a crowd source could easily cover the work and future warranty claims for anyone that wants to take one for the team.

 

[Snydermann]

It definitely would be embarrassing for Ford if someone documented the failure mode and made it public. They'd almost have to respond then if it took off.

I suspect Ford is completely aware of the range and scope of the problem by now. They've done the cost analysis and are just going to wait it out and hope the problem resolves before it goes viral.

 

[Clearwater native]

It's day 4 since another failure!
Hopefully this issue starts getting either resolved or starts to dwindle down, I really think Ford wants to get it under control for all the obvious reasons, if it gets really bad and goes viral it will not only tarnish Fords reputation but also hurt the resale value of our Bronco's and tarnish their expectation of reliability.
For a year and a half, I was glued to this Forum, watching videos, researching online, pretty much always thinking about my bronco and the anticipation of its arrival just like most of you, and now I find myself reading this thread when I wake up, during the day at work and pretty much on and off all evening and it makes me overthink and worry about something that none of us really know anything about as far as if, why, when and where a failure could possibly happen and what the outcome would be if/when it does, WOW I am out of breath proofreading all that!
I am hoping soon with some good news and/or new information this will all get better and be way behind us and we can stop worrying about the 2.7 failure rate and get back on the Happy Bronco Trail.

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