Ford forgot to bolt my engine to the engine mount...

[HTBadlandsBronco]

I purchased my Bronco brand new in May of 2023. There was a loud audible squeak from the time we purchased the vehicle. On 6/13/24 we took the vehicle in for an oil change where the service department discovered that the vehicle had an oil leak.

After further investigation, they were able to verify that that several bolts were never installed at the factory between the engine and engine mount. This resulted in the engine shifting down and towards the driver's side of the vehicle. The oil pan was riding on the front differential which eventually led to the oil leak.

Ford approved a "repair of the vehicle" under the warranty. Their solution was to simply lift the engine back up and properly bolt it to the engine mount.

Should I be concerned with any long-term damage to the engine, transmission or drive line as a result of missing bolts and shift of the engine?

Dealing with this process through Ford has been extremely frustrating. They do not seem to be concerned or alarmed with the fact that they forgot to bolt the engine to the vehicle. To say that I am disappointed with Ford and how they have handled this process would be a bit of an understatement.

I hope you guys are having better luck with your broncos,
CB

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[2Jeeps&PatriotX1]

Not sure how this even happens on the production line. When was your build date?

 

[Moto26]

Was your Bronco built at the Boeing plant?

 

[Lowcountry Bronco]

While it's not really a safety item I'd file a report with the NHTSA:

https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem

You might not be the only one from the line at that time frame, Ford needs to look into it!!!

@Ford Motor Company, are you really wanting to tack on another recall to your record???

 

[Naxster]

Was your Bronco built at the Boeing plant?

Hope not. If so he'll soon be suicided.

 

[Krimzun]

I would want a new engine, the engine moving around obviously causing an oil leak isn't good. What unseen issues are waiting to pop up as a result of Fords negligence. Sucks that this happened just seems like what is Ford doing in the QC department. I used to work for a Boeing Sub many years ago and the amount of inspection processes from numerous people always caught issues before they left the factory floor.

 

[Tricky Mike]

WTF. I was expecting the isolator to be loose from the bracket or frame, not the bracket loose from the engine. I'm not sure how that didn't cause a bunch of collateral damage.

 

[Headsong]

Not sure how this even happens on the production line. When was your build date?

Out of bolts in the feeder? Happens with progressive reloading equipment for ammo. If you're not watching....

 

[Lowcountry Bronco]

Hope not. If so he'll soon be suicided.

I pass right by where that happened on my way up to Charleston, this was big news here.

 

[Reidt131]

Not sure how this even happens on the production line. When was your build date?

Yeah they should have nut runners (power wrench) that track both bolt torque and amount of thread rotations to allow the vehicle to continue down the production line.

A person on the line would have had to manually bypass this for the vehicle to travel down the line, from my understanding.

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

Look at your window sticker. Perhaps there was a supply constraint, similar to the subwoofers for early '23 models, and they decided to go ahead without and build them. Ford should have labeled yours with "Motor Mount Delete" and issued a credit.

 

[TXBronco1313]

Ain’t no way! This is absurd

 

[Johnkn]

It appears to me that in the first picture there is an imprint of a large washer on the cast piece...


.

 

[HotdogThud]

And nobody at MAP noticed all the engine mounting bolts were missing ?
Wow

" Just ship it "

Guy on the line with a few extra bolts:
"Enh, there's always a few of these at the end of the day...."

 

[HTBadlandsBronco]

It appears to me that in the first picture there is an imprint of a large washer on the cast piece...


.

The dealer doing the repair tried to say that the bolts couldn't be missing from the factory. They had a few discussions with the local Ford rep and decided that three bolts were completely missing and had no indications of "witness marks" (is what they called them). This allowed the local dealership to move forward with the "repair" under warranty.

If they would have found any evidence that the bolts were there from the factory then there is no doubt in my mind that I would have paid for the repair out of pocket.

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