camshaft tensioners recall - DOA - help!

[Gremlin_CA]

camshaft tensioners recall - engine failure

I need someone who has some inside knowledge about this issue.

The Owner Notification Program number is 00M12 recall camshaft tensioners.

Well you won't believe this ... but my 98 Explorer (36400 miles) died! It's in the shop now waiting for disposition from Ford. They are implying that the problem is not related to the camshaft tensioners as the timing gear on the cam came off. Of course the pistons are scored where the valves hit so said it need a new engine. They said they would try to get Ford to extend the warranty. I won’t know till next week what the outcome is. Engines are also backordered 30 days.


There's more!

It all started about two weeks ago my wife asked what that tic, tic noise was coming from? Sounded like lifters not getting oil to me, but drove ok otherwise. I told her not to drive it I would change the oil and filter, I did but no change. I went to Ford asked if there was a problem with oil pump not getting oil as it sounded like the lifters were making noise. They said there have been some problems with camshaft tensioners, this was on Tuesday. I made an appointment for that that Friday to have the work done. I didn’t drive it and took it in that Friday as planned. I asked to have the mechanic look at it to confirm the problem was the tensioners, he did but they said they couldn't do the work as planned and set up another appointment for the following Wednesday to have the work done. They also said I should be getting a recall notice on it some time shortly which we did that following Monday. Before I left the dealership I asked would it be ok to drive it this way and they said there would be no problem. Monday we had a big rainstorm hit the area so I told my wife to go ahead and take the Explorer in the bad weather. Tuesday night, the night before it was to go into Ford for service on the way home it made a couple of noises, jerked, so she pulled off the freeway made another loud bang and died. We had to have it towed to another dealer as she was 50 miles away when it died.

So, here I sit waiting to see just what Ford will do?

Any thoughts?

Thank you

Update:

So far the Ford dealers involved with this issue are trying very hard to work in my behalf to resolve this issue. I should have a finding shortly.




[Edited by Gremlin_CA on 01-15-2001 at 10:05 AM]

 

[Gremlin_CA]

more

Info needed:


Right now I am just trying to gather as much information as I can regarding related problem. Ford told me that the cam can't jump timing with the defective camshaft tensioners, it just makes noise as it doesn't pump up with oil. He indicated that there is not enough play with the tensioner to allow the chain to skip on the gear on the ohc. My wife heard a noise then and a jerk, she drove a short time after trying to get off the freeway then started running ruff but still going then finally died. Some where along the way the check engine light came on. Wouldn’t even crank over ... perhaps the check engine shut it down from restarting, which would make sense.

Since the gear was broken off the end of the cam, I suspect that the camshaft tensioner may have failed completely, perhaps even broke off (the first bang my wife heard), then the chain slipped and timming jumped. As a result of the above this caused the valves to hit the pistons. Finally it skipped again this put enough pressure on the chain and gear and the gear gave way from the cam. She drove about 2 miles before it died completely.

With all the problems with tires, she thought that what had happen. Had she seen the check engine light at first I think she would have pulled over right away, but that wasn't to be. We are not sure just when it did first come on. The bottom line is Ford said it was ok to drive even under the recall, as I suspect an incident like this is rare but possible?


Has anyone had a case were the tensioner failed as I described? Where are they located within the engine that I could see if it’s still intact? Would both have to fail for the timming to jump? That would be unlikey if that is the case.

Thanks for any assistance.


[Edited by Gremlin_CA on 01-14-2001 at 07:07 AM]

 

[desiree]

Re: more

Originally posted by Gremlin_CA
Info needed:


Right now I am just trying to gather as much information as I can regarding related problem. Ford told me that the cam can't jump timing with the defective camshaft tensioners, it just makes noise as it doesn't pump up with oil. He indicated that there is not enough play with the tensioner to allow the chain to skip on the gear on the ohc. My wife heard a noise then and a jerk, she drove a short time after trying to get off the freeway then started running ruff but still going then finally died. Some where along the way the check engine light came on. Wouldn’t even crank over ... perhaps the check engine shut it down from restarting, which would make sense.

Since the gear was broken off the end of the cam, I suspect that the camshaft tensioner may have failed completely, perhaps even broke off (the first bang my wife heard), then the chain slipped and timming jumped. As a result of the above this caused the valves to hit the pistons. Finally it skipped again this put enough pressure on the chain and gear and the gear gave way from the cam. She drove about 2 miles before it died completely.

With all the problems with tires, she thought that what had happen. Had she seen the check engine light at first I think she would have pulled over right away, but that wasn't to be. We are not sure just when it did first come on. The bottom line is Ford said it was ok to drive even under the recall, as I suspect an incident like this is rare but possible?


Has anyone had a case were the tensioner failed as I described? Where are they located within the engine that I could see if it’s still intact? Would both have to fail for the timming to jump? That would be unlikey if that is the case.

Thanks for any assistance.

[Edited by desiree on 01-14-2001 at 11:19 AM]

 

[awhughes]

Refund

I received my refund today for a cam tensioner replacement I had the dealer perform before the OOM12 campaign. The refund took only two weeks to be processed and all I had to do is take the paid receipt to my dealer and ask for the refund. Now if I could only get Ford to refund the monies paid to replace the blend door assembly that fails on the 97's.

 

[srpauliesr]

Re: Refund

Originally posted by awhughes
I received my refund today for a cam tensioner replacement I had the dealer perform before the OOM12 campaign. The refund took only two weeks to be processed and all I had to do is take the paid receipt to my dealer and ask for the refund. Now if I could only get Ford to refund the monies paid to replace the blend door assembly that fails on the 97's.

I don't get it? Please tell me what is the "blend door assy"?

 

[awhughes]

Blend door assy

The blend door assembly is a component of the air duct actaution system which mixes (hence the term blend) outside air with conditioned air in your heating and AC system. This combination creates the desired temperature you select with the air temp. controls in your cabin (red to blue ie. hot to cold).
What happens is this door ( a louver) which pivots to particular positions regulating air flow, breaks or fails due to a poor design (imagine that) in the plastic injection molding and mounting of the structure.
The integrity of this component is poor. A typical symptom is poor temperature control or lack of temp. control. When it fails you have no temp. control.
Many 97's experience this lack of temperature contol. A typical situation is extreme heat or very sensitive heat output due to malfunction. When it fails many experience no cooling on low and little cooling on high cool.
When it fails Ford will quote upwards of $800 to repair. The door assembly component cost about $150.00, but labor is intensive as the dash must be removed to replace and raises the total repair cost. If this component fails, complain as I did and they will give you a break on the cost even when it occcurs out of warranty. I had to pay only 10% of the total cost. Hope I answered your question.

 

[redx98]

Hey Gremlin,

I had the same problem. Everytime I started my truck it also made a metallic noise. She said " Your engine sounds sick"! I also thought it was low on oil. Weeks later the idle was erratic,then the Check Engine light came on. I brought my truck to the dealership and replaced the intake gaskets and cam tensioners.

They did all the work in one day under warranty. They were aware of the problem & gladly corrected it no questions. This was back in Nov. '00

 

[srpauliesr]

Blend door

Thanks for the info. Luckily I have not had any problems to date. Again thanks for the heads up.

 

[Jeff]

awhughes

I too just had the same heater control problem on my '97. The dealer quoted me $775 and I haven't had it fixed yet.

Is this is widely known problem? TSB? Any recalls?

How did you get them to only charge you 10% for labor? If the assembly cost $150 and the total charge would have been $800, you only paid $65 for labor? How so?

 

[awhughes]

Jeff

I had to pay only 10% of the total cost not 10% of the labor, my cost was under $100.00. My complaint was that the system "NEVER" had any real control with temp. ranges and I stressed that the system experienced this problem while under warranty for which they replced the o-rings instead. BTW their is an upgrade for AC system o-rings, different material and diameters.
I spoke with the service manager and he offered assistance from Ford for the repair. The designation on the repair order was "Customer Assistance P05". Ford will typically offer assistance to a failed component out of warranty for which thay have had problems with on similiar models.
This was not a silent recall, just Ford coming to the plate on a bad design. I did find a site on the web that lists the blend door assy. problematic and as an area to check when purchasing the 97'. What this tells me is that it is a know problem. I found this after the fact though. It was www.carpoint.com. for reliability of the 97'. Just do the search and you will see the description.