MY CRANKSHAFT SNAPPED INTO PIECES!!!!

[Nate1]

It's not SOHC, it's ford. I'm so sick of their crap. I wouldn't care at all if they would fix my engine under warranty like they SHOULD. The engine definatly has some snazz to it. I'm just sick of the runaround Ford gives me. When I took my dad's saturn in, theyasked if I would be willing to go on a test drive with them, took me seriously, found the problem, and fixed it, because the coil packs were defective. They did it under some customer warranty protection program... and had the car done in a few hours. They didn't dick around, they took me seriously, were nice, cared, prompt, and efficient. If Ford were anything like Saturn was I would be VERY happy... but they arent, it's like a total polar opposite. In fact it sould be called anti-customer service... because it seems like they just want to turn me into another anti-Ford person... the service is just deplorable. I want to find one of those golden reformed dealers that you ocasionally hear about... if only there was one on the freaking east coast.
-----Nate FUWF (Fed Up With Ford)

 

[IAmTodd]

It seems that i've had quite the opposite experience. When i first got the '95, the emergency brake got stuck on the one side. Took it in fixed it under the 30day warrenty. That same day, my dad complained about how poor the tires were. The owner of the dealership took it for a drive and said there was something wrong in the back, and explorers were bad on tires. Turns out the tires were badly cupped. But all good w/Glenn Bush Ford. Even replaced the Emblems on the '02 b/c finish went bad

 

[Stephen]

If you wanna drive up to MD, there's a good one here lol.

 

[Ranger Rick]

The same thing happened to my parents' '98 Sport. Identical failure. There is a thread about it, that was the reason I registered here in the first place. The Ford deal they took to was in the process of replacing the engine in another one (an OHV 4.0L, not an SOHC) at that time. Ford HAS seen this before, they've even paid for replacing engines.

The dealer wasn't able to tell them anything, but I was able to ask some questions with a friend of mine at Ford Truck Engineering. There is a potential tolerance stack up issue on the front journal. If things happen to stack up the wrong way, it will squeeze the crank. Not enough to stop it, but enough to cut into it over time. By the time the engine is well out of warrantee, its cut in far enough to cause a significant stress concentration. And the snout breaks off. There's nothing in the world the drive/operator can do to it make this happen, there's no way it can be their fault.

My parents' engine failed 2 months ago, they're still waiting for a resolution with customer service (I've been picking my dad up everyday and bringing him to work). FWIW, crank failures are uncommon but not unheard of. Mazda had issues in the late 1980's with their 1.6L used in the 323, Miata and Tracer due to a keyway design flaw...

 

[Jon_Herr]

please don't let this one go

This is just a bunch of crap. I absolutely cannot stand dealerships that are a bunch of monkeys.

Please, state your case at the message board here:

http://www.flatratetech.com

It's a bbs run by disgruntled Ford technicians - disgruntled at Ford - so they are on your side.

Basically, even if you find a good dealership to cover your repairs the technicians take it in the shorts by Ford only allowing a certain amount of time for a job. To save money Ford has cut warranty hour allowances for dealers - the common dealer response has been to push jobs in to the 'out of warranty' status so they can bill you what it really costs them for the repair.

Please, get the word out on this. It's Fords problem - not yours.

Jon

 

[Magicfan25]

That really sucks man. Theres nothing we could do to this engine to snap the crank. Any kind of real power and the rods would just go..not the crank..

Ford has some crank issues for sure. My buddies BONE STOCK 00 GT stang snapped its crank. We had to drive home on 4 cylinders. Fords special rep came in, looked at the plain grey oil filter (a mobil one) and said "this is the factory oil filter, you havent changed your oil in 25k miles. The guy used amsoil in it and changed it regularly. After 25k factory oil wouldnt even be able to flow. Called a Ford rep, they sent a new engine, an apology and an extra 25k on the warranty.

Dont let up on em man, get your money back

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

I did a search at flatratetech, and came up with one instance of a broken crank. The techs had no idea what caused it, and hadn't even seen one broken at their dealerships. This leads me to beleive that broken cranks are indeed rare, but even a few are a few too many. Ford has to be aware of this problem, they just won't do anything because the vehicle is out of warranty and they are isolated instances.

These cranks all snap right behind the harmonic balancer. This leads me to beleive the cause is a harmonic vibration problem, which gradually weakens the crank and causes it to fail. Unfortunately, I think there may be more of this when the 97+ engines accumulate more miles.

 

[Ranger Rick]

Originally posted by Runnin'OnEmpty
These cranks all snap right behind the harmonic balancer. This leads me to beleive the cause is a harmonic vibration problem, which gradually weakens the crank and causes it to fail. Unfortunately, I think there may be more of this when the 97+ engines accumulate more miles.

What I just stated regarding what caused the problem was based on what was told to me by Ford Truck and Ford Powertrain engineers. Its due to tolerance stack-up problems on the #1 journal. This causes a stress concentration at that point. Side loading from the belts over time fatigues it, and eventually it breaks.

But I agree that we may see an increased occurance of this as vehicles with this engine age. But it isn't limited to just the SOHC version... Regardless, Ford's customer service seems to think 75K miles is the magic cut-off, after which they don't need to help out. My folks' Explorer was just at 80K when this happened...

 

[WTF_in_NYC]

Jon, Thanks for that link, Unfortunately I got lost when I clicked on it, not knowing exactly what section to click on next. The truth is I'm just a poor working girl, who depends on that truck to get me back & fourth to work, I live somewhat in the bondocks. I have my back against the wall, I called ford , they told me that no recalls were made on my truck concerning the engine, and I could bring it to their mechanics, and pay for diagnostics , and repairs, due to it being out of warranty. Now I know this would cost me in the range of somewhere I truly can't afford, and I would probably be without my car for some time. My mechanic is great, he just told me he found an engine with 27k on it (same engine) and he would charge me 1300.00 for the whole job (including labor) and I will have my truck back before the end of the week. Well I had to go that route, but I'm askin him to hold onto the engine for some time for me, just in case. I'm at lost, I see bankruptcy in Fords future. This is bad for business and whats so sad by the time they figure out this is a ford problem and decide to do something about it, I will already be out of my hard earned cash. In an earlier post someone wrote they contact the BBB and other agencies, all negative results.

 

[Stephen]

You'll never see Ford go bankrupt. Somehow they're bulletproof in the eyes of the buying public, because they sell more and more vehicles every year despite the increasing number of recalls, almsot clockwork failures (transmission) etc. Also, it the modern era of the car industry, 75,000 miles is WAY too low to be a life expectancy, people are keeping cars longer now than they ever have before. I've said it for a long time, I like the Explorer as a vehicle (well I did before 2002) and I like several other offerings Ford has, but I HATE Ford corporate and I truly at this point will never buy another Ford product. Volkswagen is said to be the worst in customer service there is, and I agree they're bad but I found them worlds better than Ford when I tried to get my wife's New Beetle repaired out of warranty, they finally caved, and they were very congenial about it. Ford was nothing but rude and crude when I tried to get my Lincoln taken care of, and it was UNDER warranty!

My advice to you, honestly since like you said you are a "poor working girl" that needs the truck, bite the bullet and pay for it, really thats my advice. Call Ford, see what you can do, but in my own experience (which included lawyers) with my Lincoln, it will be no help. Ford is not interested in helping you, they sell 500,000 Explorers a year, and you already bought yours. Honestly, you're meaningless to them.

Its all well and good to be a martyr for your cause and to show Ford the light, but in the real world, just let it go, and show Ford how you feel next time buy taking your money elsewhere. That way you'll feel vindicated, and you'll be through with the problems.

I think if the crank truly is broken, then $1300 for an engine installed is not a bad price. Pay it and be done.

Its not worth the stress, trust me.

 

[WTF_in_NYC]

Stephen you are so correct, Like I mentioned my mechanic already has the old engine out and will start replacing it this evening or tomorrow. Of course I had never heard of a crank shaft before this occured. My mechanic is like family and he said he only seen this once before, but its usually caused by a company defect, so thats why I decided to let him start the work. I know I'm getting off good with him, rather than go through the months and months it would probably take to get anything done with ford. I just had to check to see if this was a common problem, Maybe I missed a recall, I had to come here to ask around to find out if it happened to anyone else and what did they do, and from what I've read, Everyone had to handle this problem theirselves. I really appreciate the info.

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

What I just stated regarding what caused the problem was based on what was told to me by Ford Truck and Ford Powertrain engineers. Its due to tolerance stack-up problems on the #1 journal. This causes a stress concentration at that point. Side loading from the belts over time fatigues it, and eventually it breaks.

Hi Rick. I wish I could see one of those broken cranks, (but not enough to wish mine to fail). It just seems to me if it is truly a tolerance stack-up problem, the (German) engineers should have caught it; after all it's simply a matter of doing the math and adding up the potential bearing clearances. This technique (+1/-1)is used on the assembly line for putting vehicles together, but I've never heard of it in engine assembly. With engines, the tolerances should be within the specs, period.

Either way, I'm afraid we haven't heard the last of this. From now on, every time I take my X on a road trip, I'll feel like I'm sitting behind a grenade with the pin pulled, just waiting for it to go off.
Thanks for your input.
Don

 

[eokie1]

TALK to the ZONE REP., they are about the only ones who will do any assistance $$$.... but, with over 100k....it is not too likely they will pony up much. I do, of course, agree, that unless maintenance-neglected or seriously over-revved, or something, a crank should NOT break....
James Jensen (when the 4wd engage at freeway speed, did that over-rev you pretty bad????.....)

 

[Jon_Herr]

Not bad

$1300 for an engine and labor is cheap for a modern vehicle. You're lucky to have a good mechanic.

It seems to me that voting with your $$$ is the only way to effect Ford's behaviour.

The failure you have described is, in my opinion, a manufacturing defect. The crank had a cold spot at forging or some process issue. You might lever some support from Ford over it.

Best of luck,
Jon

 

[WTF_in_NYC]

Thank You Jon