V6 engine failure

[BassMan]

Well... another one bites the dust. I've read in this forum about oil starvation and engine failures. Add mine to the list! 60,000 miles, full main dealer service history, well treated etc... how can this happen?

Ford tech reckons big end bearing failure leading to blockage of the oilways leading to oil starvation. Replacement cost new engine £3200 (fitted) at the main dealer. My friends in the trade reckon a used or recon engine similar mileage fitted for £1000.

Neither option too palatable! Has anyone had any luck applying pressure to Ford UK on similar issues. Is it worth my while trying to get a contribution out of them?

I'd consider paying for fitting at a main dealer if they supply a new engine... that would still cost me £1200+ probably but at least I would feel more confident about the car and Ford in general.

At the very least they ought to be interested in investigating this engine from an R&D perspective, find out what failed and improve their products in the future.

[Mac1]

RIP - with sympathy. :cry:

Mine went at 7000 (seven) miles. Fully replaced under warranty, parts/labour, and was fully documented by Ford Dealer to Ford at the time, August/September 2001 - yes it took that long !

By now Ford must know they have a problem and I would suggest that you make direct representation to Ford UK. Will support you with my experience if necessary ( for all I know problem may return !).

Damian had similar problem - see his car profile.

[BassMan]

Thanks for that... much appreciated. Did a quick search about the Duratec engine... came out as one of the most common problems with Mondeo/Cougar!

[Raggy]

Sorry to hear about your problems Bassman :cry:

I think Damian posted some time ago that he would sell his old V6 lump.

[Damo]

Yes i have a V6 engine block and other engine bits. This engine has only covered 10,000 miles and is out of my car so if you want it please call me on 02476-692834

Cann all be verified and fiited by the company that did all my engine work as they know the Duratec inside out.

[cougarfella]

bassman

all sympathy mate you must be gutted. ford must know that they have a serious problem with this engine.

damo is there something we could do as an owners club and approach ford to see if they have any suggestions or mods that can be done to solve this problem. i dont fancy losing my cat to a similiar problem. after all who is going to buy a car with a knackered engine!

[BassMan]

Thanks Damo. Might well take you up on that offer. For the moment I have time to argue with Ford. Will take the Cat off the road for a while and weigh up the options.

[BassMan]

The worrying thing is... I don't drive the car hard. It's an auto with the box on "Economy" mode rather than "Sport" mode. I do mainly long journeys on motorways at constant speeds, often with the cruise control on. Never do any hard cornering.

My journeys can often be 4 or 5 hours long so maybe this is the problem. One report I found on the net says that the oil pump can "whisk" air into the oil leading to poor lubrication. Maybe this happened over a long period of time.

Another report mentions "Crank Whip" leading to oilways becoming temporarily blocked.

I dunno... seems to me this engine is not designed for normal everyday use. I had also been considering getting a Jag X-type but this has basically the same engine.

Looks like I'll have to give in to the girlfriend and buy that diesel 4 x4 after all...

[Raggy]

Did you have the car from new?

If you were doing long trips at a constant speed when the engine was wearing in, the crank and cam bearings could have worn more in one place. This may have only shown up now after £60K miles of general wear.

Alot of car manufacturers say new cars don't need running in 'cause the engines are all bench tested. I think that is bollox and running in for a few hundred miles at varying RPM makes a big difference more so than limiting rpm.

[BassMan]

No. I bought the car used with about 40,000 miles (verified). Of course the damage could have been done before I bought it but I have to say the engine revved and sounded beautiful when I bought it. No indication of any problems...

[Raggy]

This is worrying & getting Ford to admit to a design or production fault is going to be very difficult. I have read somewhere that Duratec V6s can run for over 200k miles with no problems but the oil starvation problem does seem to happen quite often.

Bearing in mind the number of these V6s worldwide I wonder what the failure rates are and if they are affected by different service intervals in different countries?

[mccx]

Hi Guys, not so funilly enough I have had the same engine failure with the same diagnosis and even though the car is still in it's 3 year warranty and has only done 50,000 with a FFSH the Ford Warranty has been rejected !!!!. They tell me that If I stump up 3500 Quid they will replace the engine and then send the old one back where it will be diagnosed. Naturally then if the diagnosis finds that something has actually broken then they may have a think about refunding some of the money!!

Currently they are treating it as not their problem and I have to find half the value of the car to get it done.

The situation really stinks as the Dealer guy basically told me it wouldn't be their fault before they had opened the bonnet!!

At that time I called the Ford Customer Service guy for arbitration but he just called the dealer, got his script and read to me again how it wasn't their fault !!

It seems that the Ford 3 Year warranty is great until something actually fails then all of the wriggle out excuses come out and you are on your own.

I have heard of this problem many times informally and seen the examples on this board.

It looks like there may be enough of us soon to get them to own up and pay up, this kind of consumer abuse by a big company makes for good TV viewing.!!


Adios

[BassMan]

OK... I've always wanted to appear on Top Gear. (we'll have to put up with JC taking the p*** though). How about we write to Top Gear & Auto Express etc. highlighting this problem. They can then appeal for EVERYONE to come forward who's suffered a Duratec V6 failure and then Ford might well have hundreds of angry customers and media hassle as well.

What do you think?

[Mac1]

Suggest approach Ford first with a reasonably worded proposal of intent.

Then I'm up for it.

[BassMan]

Absolutely. I intend to contact Ford first personally with a polite letter indicating my dissapointment... how can they restore my faith in their products... blah, blah, blah. See what they offer (if anything).

My previous posting was slightly tongue in cheek, although If I (or other owners) get a shabby response then I am quite happy to embarass a manufacturer publicly.

[Skinful]

Perhaps we ought to organise a group buy of the baffled sump that is said to help prevent oil starvation?

[Blackadder]

I'd been under the impression that the oil starvation problem only occured under a combination of high revs and hard cornering......hence the sump baffle fix (sounds reasonable). But as Bassman says, his engine failed with only a moderate driving style, so this is certainly worrying.

Given that we are a relatively small group of Cougar owners when compared with the much larger sales of the Mondeo (Contour) in the UK, you would think that problems with the Duratec V6 would be fairly common knowledge, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Also we have several members with high mileage cars which have survived with no problems.

Perhaps our fellow Cougar owners in the US could give us some input.....I'm sure it would be appreciated :)

[Jason J]

i tend to agree with ron,with the amount of v6 mondeo's out there if this was such a common failiure(i use the word common very loosly) i am certain i would have read about it SOMEWHERE in a magazine i buy every well respected car magazine weekly and monthly's(autocar etc) and so far have read nothing about these problems,I am not saying there is no problem BUT when bmw straight sixes had wear problems on the bores they were all over it every week for a long time these sort of magazines rely on story's like these to keep people informed and are relativly unbiased in there opinions.

[Damo]

Phil can you call me after 5.30pm as i have deleted your message and did not get your phone number, i have lots to say on this subject but have not got the time now, work is calling.

[mccx]

Will do Damo, I'll call later on.

With regard to the problem existing in the Mondeo or X Type : I may be wrong but weren't the pre 2001 Cougars 2544cc Duratec whereas the late model Cougar and the X Type Jag / Mondeo the revised and slightly smaller 2495cc (i.e. also with other Modifications or engineering changes which may not have the same weakness)?

Like Bassman I'm still up to my neck in "fighting for fairness" with Ford so let's see how many other unfortunates who have suffered we can find out about and approach Ford for recognition of the issue.

Adios

[bryn1000]

Has anyone got anywhere??

i was thinking ofa v6 but this is putting me off...

i dont want to be put off, someone find a soulution :(

[BassMan]

Have been away working for a while. Thanks for all the advice and responses so far. I've now got chance to write to Ford for their reaction...

Feel I must bring this to your attention... blah, blah, blah,... shouldn't have happened... blah, blah, blah... no confidence in Ford products now... blah, blah, blah... heard it may have happened to others... blah, blah, blah... what can/will Ford do to restore my faith etc.

I'll make it polite, won't make any demands. Let's see what kind of a reaction I get.

[EricF]

I had this happen to me, I called ford, and wrote a letter of appeal... to no avail.
I would be interested in any information you come across
ended up being about $3400 USD to rebuild my engine

[LeonsCat]

Ahhh Damo, you going to tell about your 'Italian Job' - now there's a great story - having an engine blow a LONG way from home.

[Skinful]

Think that was Clive.
Come to think of it Clive hasn't posted for ages. Where are you? Are you OK?

[Blackadder]

Originally posted by: Skinful
Think that was Clive.
Come to think of it Clive hasn't posted for ages. Where are you? Are you OK?
He last logged-in 30th April....shame if he's gone, nice guy :(