XR5 Drive belt failure - Page 2

ian b · 21-05-2009, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zetec

Why not email the president?

Because they pass it back to CRC to tell us to basically get stuffed.

:

I have written twice to sort out the water on hatch issue and got the same letter back twice.

Might try ACA for my fix as well.

Good on yer mate

cammag · 22-05-2009, 10:12 AM

Good for you. I laughed so hard when I read about the "breakdown in communication".

Hope it is finalised quickly for you.

Cheers.

XR5 Likey · 22-05-2009, 05:40 PM

Just a quick one. Picked up the Ford arranged hire car ..... It's a Commodore

NZ XR6 · 23-05-2009, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR5 Likey

Just a quick one. Picked up the Ford arranged hire car ..... It's a Commodore

LOL.
You'll really enjoy your XR5 when you get it back! The last rental I had was a Commodore SV6 - I was surprised how unrefined it felt compared to my Mondeo, apart from tyre noise on coarse chip surfaces.

Dusty1 · 23-05-2009, 06:57 PM

Good news on the fix.

I had a look at the the Herald-Sun Cars Guide, and a lot of Territory owners are having fights with Ford CRC as well over brake hoses, so it's not good to hear that we aren't the only ones who are having issues with Ford's so called customer service.

apstar · 24-05-2009, 01:43 AM

Good news for XR5 Likey but really guys ACA & TDT are cheque book journalism TV at best of times they may do some good but overall they pushing their own agenda when it suits them wonder how XR5 story would have panned out!!

apstar

kanyadoit · 21-03-2013, 10:22 PM

Bringing this topic back to life with the current situation/experience I'm having.

Vehicle is a 2008 ford mondeo xr5 with 95,000km on the clock. (Outside of warranty)

Driving home one night I heard a noise coming from the front right, sounding like mud flicking off the tires into the inside guards. Then sudden lose of acceleration. Drive belt had sheared a section and whipping around in the engine bay. Towed it to ford as it would not start again and came back that the engine had no compression. Bent exhaust valves and input valves not seated correctly. (Orginal cost around $3k until bent valves discovered, now at this stage $8k) once the engine was running found that the power steering pump was seizing/cutting out that caused the damage to the drive belt. (Extra $1400 to replace, totally almost $10k in repairs now)

Is this a fault with drive belts, power steering pumps? That has caused all this damage. Should I be covering all the cost? I would much prefer to spend the 10k on a holiday or pay off the mortgage on the current property just purchased.

Your insight would be greatly appreciated. Do I have a case against ford to cover the cost, or at least part of the cost?

ryeman · 21-03-2013, 11:12 PM

If its got a belt driven cam shaft it's off my list immediately!

Bucknaked · 22-03-2013, 06:33 AM

Does sound like a problem with the drive belt. I hope ford cover it under warranty. $10k is no small change. Fingers crossed for you.

In some respects, I am glad I sold mine now. The cost to repair these XR imports were part if that decision to go local again.

Russ · 22-03-2013, 08:30 AM

After reading this I'm so glad my Focus is chain driven, when a failed fan belt can actually get to the main timing belt and in turn cause serious damage to the engine, that's just crazy, this issue sounds like poor design to me

ryeman · 22-03-2013, 08:33 AM

The way things are going the 'dreaded' Camry is looking better every day.
If it didn't have the media spruiked cardigan image you'd be surprised at just how good it is and that's without considering its reliability/longevity.
There are no simple cars anymore, instead increasing complexity.
End result...white goods.

Bucknaked · 22-03-2013, 10:34 AM

I think the early commodores ran a plastic timing chain on one of their models in the 80's/90's. I think after constant failures, the design was revised. I think also the early boss anyone's had dodgy chains as well. You would think these companies would learn from the failures in the past of their and their competitors components. Maybe the only aim is saving a buck to their bottom line.

EF-MattyB · 22-03-2013, 10:48 AM

My mum had a similar issue with her 2009 focus. There was a faint ticking coming from the engine and it turned out to be the serp belt had frayed at the edge and was slapping around. Ford originally wanted to charge her for it (car only had 23k klms on it), i think it was around the $300-350 mark inc labour.

Luckily i was the one picking the car up for her and blatantly told them that we werent going to pay it. It took a day or two for them to get back and say that ford were going to incur the cost, but apparently it took a bit of persuading.

What a joke! Why put a part on a car, that has no warranty and that can cause catastrophic problems to the engine? So as a wear and tear item, there is no distance/time in which the part is designed to last? If it goes bang first start up after putting the new belt on, too bad, the customer gets reemed by a ten foot pole....... I guess just a smart money making exercise by Ford.......

PS Glad it worked out ok for the OP

ryeman · 22-03-2013, 11:17 AM

It all goes to show how financially stressed the situation Ford Oz must be in to demonstrate such meanness and prepared it seems to send you into the arms of Toyota!?

KS290 · 22-03-2013, 12:05 PM

Does the Focus XR5 Turbo have the same set up with the same risk of belt failure damaging the timing belt? I've been thinking of buying one but maybe not if this is an issue.
Thanks

kanyadoit · 22-03-2013, 06:04 PM

It just keeps getting worse, received a call from ford saying that the steering rack requires replacing as there is a blockage.. In turn cause it to overheat and surge back to the power steering pump (which has failed and also needs replacing). Every time I see the number come up from ford I'm hesitant to pick up now as its never any good news. Car won't be ready until mid next week now. It's already been 3-4 weeks now.

Been doing some minor research and finding out that a few people have had power steering pumps and racks fail. What are the chances that this is a common problem and in turn ford should be made liable?

DRU842 · 23-03-2013, 10:13 AM

I'd be asking for a second opinion from somewhere with this sort of cascade of events. Are you a member of the NRMA, RACV etc?

kanyadoit · 23-03-2013, 11:39 AM

I do have ford road side assist and vehicle is under insurance also. The original price to repair was going to be around the 3.5k mark, but after that it just kept on creeping up by 1-2k as more and more things where found needing replacing. It looks like the route cause from what I can gather is the blockage in the power steering rack. Some how this caused the power steering pump to seiz shredding the drive/fan belt. As for the bent valves they are saying from over revving (I'm the only one who drives this car and can honestly say that I have never over revved it). How could all this happen in an instant, bent valves and shredded drive/fan belt, power steering failure etc. I just don't know what to do anymore.

allanv6gt · 23-03-2013, 05:10 PM

Over revving eh?
I thought all modern cars had electronic rev limiting as part of the design.
So. if truly from over revving, then it is a design fault.

hoofie · 28-05-2014, 01:18 PM

I'm in the same very unhappy boat as others about this.

Last Friday the fan belt snapped on the freeway in Perth. I had it towed to the RAC in Perth. Its a 2008 XR5 with 95k on the clock.

On Monday they told me the fanbelt when shredding has penetrated the drive belt cover so they will need to take that off to inspect it. Fair enough.

I received a call this morning saying they now suspect valve damage so they want authorisation to take the head off and send it to a specialist for inspection. Once they have a better idea of the cost they will call me but they projected 2.5k to 3k for the repair but it could [almost certainly] go higher.

I suspected as much since when the engine died I felt the front wheels lock for a second before releasing.

So I'm now looking at a 3-4k bill if I'm lucky on a car worth 10k tops; the Novated lease runs out in August and my plan was to trade it in and walk away from Fords since the quality control is poor [re the steering rack issue] and Ford Australia don't give a toss.

Anyone got an idea how much its worth with a knackered engine ???.....

GingerAle · 28-05-2014, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoofie

I'm in the same very unhappy boat as others about this.

Last Friday the fan belt snapped on the freeway in Perth. I had it towed to the RAC in Perth. Its a 2008 XR5 with 95k on the clock.

On Monday they told me the fanbelt when shredding has penetrated the drive belt cover so they will need to take that off to inspect it. Fair enough.

I received a call this morning saying they now suspect valve damage so they want authorisation to take the head off and send it to a specialist for inspection. Once they have a better idea of the cost they will call me but they projected 2.5k to 3k for the repair but it could [almost certainly] go higher.

I suspected as much since when the engine died I felt the front wheels lock for a second before releasing.

So I'm now looking at a 3-4k bill if I'm lucky on a car worth 10k tops; the Novated lease runs out in August and my plan was to trade it in and walk away from Fords since the quality control is poor [re the steering rack issue] and Ford Australia don't give a toss.

Anyone got an idea how much its worth with a knackered engine ???.....

May be cheaper to buy a reconditioned engine which should come with a brand new timing belt.

hoofie · 28-05-2014, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GingerAle

May be cheaper to buy a reconditioned engine which should come with a brand new timing belt.

Does anyone have any idea where I should look for one in Perth ?

mighty-mon · 29-05-2014, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoofie

Does anyone have any idea where I should look for one in Perth ?

Try ringing James at Perth Swedish Autos. They look after the XR5 boys in Perth. Had them do my LSD and RS clutch in my XR5 Mondeo.

Mark

hoofie · 19-06-2014, 05:26 PM

Further update - the cost is now up to 6K - head has been sent away to be rebuilt. Some scoring on the pistons but RAC have tried to machine it off so we will see. New Timing belt etc. etc. etc.

brenx · 22-06-2014, 07:52 PM

I've had arguments with ford service re timing belt replacement as they say 180000. I personally think 100000+ is pushing it. My partner and I both have xr5's. I do the maintenance myself as I get sick of the wait till it fails then fix it attitude. I prefer preventative maintenance. I don't go bankrupt that way.

The xr5's series of fords are a high maintenance euro import. What's this mean? Don't expect cheap repairs and/or to drive it till it drops like a Hyundai. If you can't spin a spanner you require a thick wallet.

AlanD · 26-06-2014, 08:12 AM

Hi all,

Couple of points:

1. Valley Ford are located in Traralgon and Moe in the Latrobe Valley. If the OP's XR5 is with the Warragul Ford Dealer then that business is Warragul City Motor Group and this group deals in Ford, Hyundai, Honda and Great Wall vehicles.

2. I can also say that this business changed ownership about a month or so ago and this would correspond with the alteration in attitude regarding whether or not repairs to the OP's engine were warrantable. So it just might be that the new owners have a different attitude to customers. I say this because I have had two instances of "dialogue" with the previous owners. In one case it was to do with a refund of a part of a premium paid for an extended warranty - took 5 months to resolve that one. The other was work claimed to be done during a service which was not done ( they claimed they had rotated the wheels and this would have been a bit hard as the security nut key was in my pocket). The dealer principal, when confronted, tried the "I didn't work on your car, how can this be my fault". He got told pretty bluntly that EVERYTHING that happens inside his dealership ultimately is his responsibility and he needed to get control of the service department. I pointed out that when a customer identifies this kind of thing, it makes them wonder how many other things might not have been properly done.

One of the factors in the capped price servicing business is that it provides 12 months of roadside assistance, which, it turns out, is contracted out by Ford to the RACV and there wasn't any suggestion that imported vehicles were excluded. Indeed, it happened that my "Total Care" RACV membership was due at about the time of the service and as I had paid this, the RACV sent me a cheque in rebate of my payment as it had been picked up under the Ford Roadside assist component of the service.

Cheers

hoofie · 26-06-2014, 11:46 AM

Ok got the car back this morning after 5 weeks.

Final bill was $5978

$1750 to repair the head
$3250 odd in labour
$700 in parts - timing belt kit, thermostat, oil, plugs etc

less 10% RAC members labour discount

then whack on GST

Sounds very sweet now

The moral of this story is

1) Don't wait until 180,000k for timing belt chnage - don't wait for it to fail
2) If you get ANY fanbelt noise, check the car into a garage as quick as possible.

mik · 28-07-2014, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanD

Hi all,

Couple of points:

1. Valley Ford are located in Traralgon and Moe in the Latrobe Valley. If the OP's XR5 is with the Warragul Ford Dealer then that business is Warragul City Motor Group and this group deals in Ford, Hyundai, Honda and Great Wall vehicles.

2. I can also say that this business changed ownership about a month or so ago and this would correspond with the alteration in attitude regarding whether or not repairs to the OP's engine were warrantable. So it just might be that the new owners have a different attitude to customers. I say this because I have had two instances of "dialogue" with the previous owners. In one case it was to do with a refund of a part of a premium paid for an extended warranty - took 5 months to resolve that one. The other was work claimed to be done during a service which was not done ( they claimed they had rotated the wheels and this would have been a bit hard as the security nut key was in my pocket). The dealer principal, when confronted, tried the "I didn't work on your car, how can this be my fault". He got told pretty bluntly that EVERYTHING that happens inside his dealership ultimately is his responsibility and he needed to get control of the service department. I pointed out that when a customer identifies this kind of thing, it makes them wonder how many other things might not have been properly done.

One of the factors in the capped price servicing business is that it provides 12 months of roadside assistance, which, it turns out, is contracted out by Ford to the RACV and there wasn't any suggestion that imported vehicles were excluded. Indeed, it happened that my "Total Care" RACV membership was due at about the time of the service and as I had paid this, the RACV sent me a cheque in rebate of my payment as it had been picked up under the Ford Roadside assist component of the service.

Cheers

G`day Alan, the wheels not being rotated would probably be a miscommunication between the mechanic and the service guys in the office, the mechanic has probably forgotten to write down no wheel lock nut key was provided by the customer so therefore could not remove wheels.

AlanD · 28-07-2014, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mik

G`day Alan, the wheels not being rotated would probably be a miscommunication between the mechanic and the service guys in the office, the mechanic has probably forgotten to write down no wheel lock nut key was provided by the customer so therefore could not remove wheels.

Hi Mik,

Sorry, but I think it rather more likely that the mechanic did not bother about the wheel rotation and therefore was not aware that the wheels had security nuts, that the key was not available and thus made no note. (The key has a recess in the jack/wheel nut handle insert beneath the "spare" wheel and the stuff in the boot above this was in the same position as when we dropped the car off for the service!).

So how can I, as an owner, have confidence that the other rather more important stuff has been properly attended to, and in so doing safeguard an investment that cost a significant proportion of an annual salary?

In a dealership we asked to pay hourly rates of $120 per hour or more, I believe, and until we as the customers that pay their bills start to demand better service then we will go on getting the kind of service that is often complained about on this forum.

Thanks for your comment, but you may care to open a new thread about dealership service centres, if you want to pursue this line of dialogue because this thread is about serpentine (read "fan") belt failures leading to timing belt failure/slippage resulting in major engine damage.

My input was to correct a statement about the dealership name based on location by the OP and why there might have been an alteration in the nature of the interaction between owner and dealership.

Cheers