FINAL UPDATE: Complete Engine Failure - SAS Big Bend - 3wk Old / 1000mi / 2.7L EcoBoost

[mandyhoth]

it appears the engine was built on 7/28.

There goes the April bad batch of valves theory…

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[Colorado buff]

Replacing an engine in a completed vehicle is not the same as having it assembled at the right point on an assembly line.

The chances of everything being disassembled correctly to remove the faulty engine and being reassembled around the new one, with every clamp and connection and fastener being torqued exactly right… well… it’s unlikely. The chances of something else getting screwed up are certainly real.

Thanks for this. Wouldn’t they spend a lot of time testing the new engine to make sure the same crap doesn’t happen. I get that things can go wrong though.

 

[mpeugeot]

Fuck. What was the serial number?

There goes the April bad batch of valves theory…

Not necessarily, the valves may have come in as a batch in April, but the motors built with those valves is probably far more extensive than Ford is letting be known. That's why I was hoping to get the serial number of this engine.

@flip Can you give us a the earliest Engine Serial Number and latest Engine Serial Number that you know have failed???

The earliest engine serial number that I personally know is not the earliest failed. The earliest failed Bronco 2.7 was a Badlands with a 24 Jun 2021 blend date (suggesting a motor built between May and June more than likely). The latest is now a 6 Sep 2021 blend date, so absent a range of engine serial numbers and engine build dates any Bronco 2.7 with a build date of 24 Jun - 6 Sep 2021 with 2.7 liter engines built between 9 Jun - 28 Jul 2021 - Are potentially impacted.

I don't expect @Ford Motor Company, to actually COMMUNICATE with us and tell us some factual information, but rather I expect @Ford Motor Company, to allow us to figure this out the hard way. Is it really that difficult to do the right thing and COMMUNICATE with your customers @Ford Motor Company?

 

[mpeugeot]

Thanks for this. Wouldn’t they spend a lot of time testing the new engine to make sure the same crap doesn’t happen. I get that things can go wrong though.

The 2.7 platform is actually well tested and it is likely that they got a bad batch of valve parts. Ford could get out in front of this and let people know, "Houston, we have a problem". Unfortunately, "Dirty Mike and the Boys" in charge of communications thinks that it's better to hide problems until it is too late to mitigate the potential damage done by the problem. Now, we're starting to become aware of what is likely going to be a very large problem.

If I owned a 2021 2.7 anything, I would get it past the break-in period and then heat cycle the F out of it and run complete range of RPM cycles on the motor. I would do everything possible to stress test that motor, because it will fail relatively quickly if there are bad valves in it, otherwise 500-1000 miles of hard use should be sufficient to determine whether or not you have a ticking time bomb.

So far, the vast majority have failed at less than 3,000 miles and some under 500 miles.

 

[mpeugeot]

While it sucks to twist in the wind, if Ford actually HAS sufficient info to identify suspect valves, that's prolly a good thing. My engine build is 6/28, released from DM 9/28. So you're not driving yours yet, but I'm driving mine with MUCH trepidation.

See above, you should get it past break-in and flog it like a red-headed step child (within the factory operating parameters, of course). If it's going to break, you want it to do so under warranty.

 

[SuperFord]

I’m sorry your Bronco’s engine failed.

You could ask your dealer to apply for VLA and because of the qualifying catastrophic failure Ford MAY offer assistance in trading you out of the vehicle to help cover depreciation up to maybe 10% of the sticker price of the vehicle.

Or you can call the Ford Customer Relationship Center and request an RAV buyback which is sort of like lemon law but voluntary as goodwill on Ford’s part.

Or you can wait and see how long the repair takes and see if you eventually meet the criteria to become eligible for a lemon law buyback in your state.

or more commonly you just wait and have it fixed under warranty.

Be thankful you got a rental in this strange time we are in. Despite what some said, you are definitely eligible for one with a warrantable repair over 4 hours, but just finding a rental these days can be tougher than most folks realize. & your dealer will have to ask Ford before the 10th day IF you can keep it.

 

[Virtual-Chris]

Thanks for this. Wouldn’t they spend a lot of time testing the new engine to make sure the same crap doesn’t happen. I get that things can go wrong though.

The engine should be tested … for sure.

What I was mentioning was all the potential issues that can arise from mating a new engine into a completed vehicle. There are probably hundreds of connection points that all need to be made… wiring, tubing, bolts, sub-assemblies that had to be removed, etc. some will be hard as fuck to access and who knows if the guys doing the job are careful making sure everything is put back to spec. I would avoid buying any vehicle that had an engine swap. But that’s just me.

However, some say it’s not a problem. I guess it depends on how diligent your mechanic is.

 

[rgwinn]

So, I know I have heard of a couple of these, I have not seen any clear explanation why, but the engine itself is not “new” I spent some time looking and I have not found any instances of Trucks having this problem. I have found many F150s with over 100k miles with no problems. I personally have no issues with getting the 2.7 EcoBoost. Hopefully they can do a root cause analysis and figure out where the issues. For reference here’s a thread;
https://www.f150ecoboost.net/threads/who-has-the-highest-mileage-on-their-2-7-eb-so-far.64969/page-4

 

[2.3BigBend]

2.7 is an awesome engine. Had one in my F-150. It has been the most reliable in the truck (according to F-150 Forums) sine it's inception. Is there a common denominator in the Bronco failures? I know some were hitting the coolant hose due to piss poor routing. Is this something different? I wouldn't sweat it if I had a 2.7 ordered. It has been a great engine. Could be a bad batch of something, heads, cams or whatever, but it's definitely not a bad designed motor.

 

[bellbmore]

How are you guys looking up your engine build date. I had blend date of 09/09.
Fingers crossed I guess….
Thanks

 

[buzpro]

On Friday afternoon, the service advisor at Conway calls with the bad news. They dropped the oil pan and found a bunch of metal in the oil. THE ENGINE AND TURBOS NEED TO BE COMPLETELY REPLACED. Pretty crushing - to wait 16months for a vehicle and have that happen in the first 1000mi.

This is the part that caught my attention! Although this might be an extreme case, that first oil change after the break in period MATTERS. It MATTERS A LOT!
You can't just assume that the factory will clean every engine after machining. Unfortunately this case is so severe the car didn't even make it past the break in period. But if yours does, try to get your oil changed at 1500 miles or so.

 

[mountainbronco]

Why in the world do you think they should buyback and give you a new one? The warranty clearly states they will fix it if anything happens. period. Unless it spends a certain length of time in the shop before they repair it to qualify for lemon law they are doing exactly as they should.

Level of service the situation demands? Again sounds like they are doing exactly what they should.

What are you, or better, do you work for Ford? When you lay down 50k for a new vehicle, and the engine fails at 1000 miles, YES, you should expect immediate remediation. You can not get and install a new engine in less than 30 days. Then what mis-matched numbers with the rest, oh did you say depreciated value? Get real!

 

[flip]

I don't have the dates but can tell you my BL with 2.7, non-SAS has 3035 miles on it and I've run the crap out of it from day 1. We've heard valve train problems but like I told one person, a dropped valve from a valve failure is fairly uncommon and difficult to diagnose after a catastrophic failure. The most common dropped valve scenario comes from a broken valve spring, valve stuck in a guide and less common, stuck follower or lash adjuster.

Since there are only 4 of these engines backordered according to DOW part info system, I think we are making a bigger issue of this than warranted and making a lot of assumptions about the actual causal or primary failed part. I'm not downplaying the suck these owners are going through because of the less than timely repair due to part delays. I just don't think we have a systemic problem with this platform based on a handful of failures and no post-mortem info from Ford when they do the failure analysis. That's all kept in house unless they find a recurring problem at which time they would likely come out with a SSM or TSB.

For those that are down for an extended time, Ford does have tools to help including loaner, payment assistance and complimentary ESP. Each situation is unique but there are things the dealer can ask for to help ease some of the inconvenience and restore some faith in the product. I'm not a huge fan of buy backs as the process usually takes a bunch of time and is more for repeat failures that are not getting fixed after multiple attempts including service engineering intervention. Getting a new engine or trans under warranty is not gong to impact long term value of your vehicle and could be more of a benefit as new parts will have updates or upgrades older ones might not. The only thing that will really hurt values is extreme modifications, mileage, wear and significant accident reports.

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