Ford Transit Custom - suspected wet belt failure

Goudy

Yes, it isn't easy.
It'll be likely running at max rpm. Diesels don't control air to alter rpm but fuel which it now has as much as it can use, so it'll be sucking in masses of air. If it's a turbo, that'll be maxed out on boost and torque.

I wouldn't want to stick that in any gear for sure!

Blocking the air intake could work, but as it's maxed out you'd want to try that close to the inlet manifold, otherwise it could just collapse the plastic pipe work and crack it in pieces, then have even more air to work with.

I've seen one runaway and it went bang pretty quickly, I think the cam belt stripped its teeth after a couple minutes.

TransitCustom

Hammyspoons said:

Another one here. 

When are Ford going to take responsibility for these dangerous vans? The works van that my daughter and her partner were travelling in recently breaks failed catastrophically on the slip road to the motorway, they could have both been killed. 

The wet timing belt had shredded and a piece gone into the vacuum pump for the breaks leaving them with a sudden and catastrophic break failure. Ford have offered us goodwill on the repairs of 20%, which is frankly pathetic considering that their van design is downright dangerous. 

How do we publicise to get people to not buy these dangerous vehicles? Maybe a group litigation is needed to make Ford sit up and take notice before they kill someone. My daughter was lucky, her partner managed to get the handbrake on before they entered the live motorway lane, but we are not the only ones we know. 

I want to take this all the way to the top of Ford before someone looses a loved one to these dangerous vehicles - any suggestions? This was a 2019 van, not an old banger, this is a disgrace. If it had been another one of my employees we would have had the HSE on us - we will NEVER purchase or lease another Ford again, I just want to make this warning as public as I can. 

I have the same problem with 2018 Custom, 60 thousand miles, I have had it less than a year and have had an oil service in that time. Just recently I had a Low oil pressure light appear on the dashboard so I switched off and didn't drive it until I got advice. I was told by a mechanic not to drive it and have it recovered to my local Ford Dealer, which I did. To cut a very long story short, they checked the sump for particles and found nothing, then and only then did they check the wet belt for sign of wear. They informed me that no wear showed. They changed the Oil Pressure sensor which they said was faulty, all seemed good until the brakes failed!, they then said that the Vacuum pump had failed and needed replacing, they replaced that and asked me if I had problems with the brakes in the past? No, I told them, then they informed me that the Vacuum pump was faulty and needed to be replaced again, which they did. All was fine for 3 hours and a road test down the dual carriageway concluded with failed brakes, AGAIN!! Now they are saying that the Cam has stalled and thrown the timing out which is now resulting in a new engine! I have lost 2 weeks worth of work in this time and its not over yet....we have a meeting with the GM tomorrow morning to see what he has to say and what they are going to do, if anything! Will keep you posted

TransitCustom

Alanp said:

I think the newer engines are chain driven 

I believe they are still the 2.0 Ecoblue engines

TransitCustom

Tucosalamanca said:

zedem said:

Just had the same issue on my 2.0 Transit Custom 2017, I had it serviced at Ford in Oct 22 (130K), it says there was a timing belt visual inspection no issues reported.

Last week it failed (138K) and I tried to get it recovered to Ford, they wouldn't take it saying no slots available until June. A 3rd party mechanic has diagnosed timing belt failure and a recon engine will cost me £4k fitted.

I have contacted Ford UK and got the 3 day response email, don't have much hope after reading this post as I have patchy records of service history.

This is my only van and rely on it heavily. 

I've got to be honest, I think you have almost zero chance of getting an acceptable solution from Ford.
The fact that it's recently had a visual inspection might go in your favour and the servicing dealer might be happy to assist.

The Transit Custom group on Facebook (COG) has a wealth of information, but wet belt posts aren't being well received as many members are keen to defend their van's reputation!

A new wet belt failure group has recently popped up, which may be able to assist, Ford Ecoboost Nightmare is another helpful group.

I think the visual check through the very small inspection hole isn't enough in my opinion, they need to pull the cover off to check it thoroughly, you can only see the top of the belt in a very small area.

Tucosalamanca

TransitCustom said:

Tucosalamanca said:

zedem said:

Just had the same issue on my 2.0 Transit Custom 2017, I had it serviced at Ford in Oct 22 (130K), it says there was a timing belt visual inspection no issues reported.

Last week it failed (138K) and I tried to get it recovered to Ford, they wouldn't take it saying no slots available until June. A 3rd party mechanic has diagnosed timing belt failure and a recon engine will cost me £4k fitted.

I have contacted Ford UK and got the 3 day response email, don't have much hope after reading this post as I have patchy records of service history.

This is my only van and rely on it heavily. 

I've got to be honest, I think you have almost zero chance of getting an acceptable solution from Ford.
The fact that it's recently had a visual inspection might go in your favour and the servicing dealer might be happy to assist.

The Transit Custom group on Facebook (COG) has a wealth of information, but wet belt posts aren't being well received as many members are keen to defend their van's reputation!

A new wet belt failure group has recently popped up, which may be able to assist, Ford Ecoboost Nightmare is another helpful group.

I think the visual check through the very small inspection hole isn't enough in my opinion, they need to pull the cover off to check it thoroughly, you can only see the top of the belt in a very small area.

Yes, the visual check is a waste of time as you can't see degradation of the belt's teeth, which seems to be a typical feature from what I've read.

TransitCustom

Tucosalamanca said:

Yesterday, one of my company vans broke down.

Driving as usual, the brakes appeared to be malfunctioning, moments later 'low oil pressure' warning notification, quickly followed by engine cutting out.

RAC called, operative diagnoses suspected wet belt failure within minutes of arriving, apparently it's a common fault (I would tend to agree after some quick research).

On RAC advice, the vehicle has been taken to the nearest Ford dealership.
At this moment it's waiting for diagnosis, suggested 3-4 weeks as dealership is so busy.
When booking in, I was told that the vehicle is subject to a recall, although I have not been previously contacted, there are no details on .gov and Ford's own online checking tool shows no recalls.

The vehicle is a 2018 model, currently less than five years old.
Mileage is 80k with full and up-to-date history (not carried out by Ford, which I appreciate complicates things slightly).

The recommended belt change interval is ten years or 150,000, so it's not something that I would have considered, although looking about, it appears that some 'in the know' are suggesting that at 80k it needs doing.

If the fault is shown to be wet belt failure (unknown at this point) it's almost certain that a new engine will be required.
I will be pushing Ford UK for a contribution (at the minimum) as this seems to be a known issue and recommended service intervals appear to be too long.

I'm posting this thread for my own benefit and to possibly ask for advice as things develop.....

Mine is a 2018 Custom Limited, had it less than a year from a "reputable" company, low oil pressure light came on, stopped driving and had it shipped to local Ford dealer, after over a week of diagnosis and numerous parts tried including 2 vacuum pumps and a sensor, the engine is dead and needs a new one @ £7k. Ford (franchise) accept no responsibility for this and will expect me to pay the £700 bill for "repairs". This vehicle has done 60,000 miles. Ford (franchise) are saying I should take it back to the company I bought it from and say its "Not fit for purpose" and demand my money back, not sure where I stand with this at all and I am at my wits end. I am self employed and need my vehicle for work and up to writing this I have not been to work for 3 weeks. 

TransitCustom

TransitCustom said:

Hammyspoons said:

Another one here. 

When are Ford going to take responsibility for these dangerous vans? The works van that my daughter and her partner were travelling in recently breaks failed catastrophically on the slip road to the motorway, they could have both been killed. 

The wet timing belt had shredded and a piece gone into the vacuum pump for the breaks leaving them with a sudden and catastrophic break failure. Ford have offered us goodwill on the repairs of 20%, which is frankly pathetic considering that their van design is downright dangerous. 

How do we publicise to get people to not buy these dangerous vehicles? Maybe a group litigation is needed to make Ford sit up and take notice before they kill someone. My daughter was lucky, her partner managed to get the handbrake on before they entered the live motorway lane, but we are not the only ones we know. 

I want to take this all the way to the top of Ford before someone looses a loved one to these dangerous vehicles - any suggestions? This was a 2019 van, not an old banger, this is a disgrace. If it had been another one of my employees we would have had the HSE on us - we will NEVER purchase or lease another Ford again, I just want to make this warning as public as I can. 

I have the same problem with 2018 Custom, 60 thousand miles, I have had it less than a year and have had an oil service in that time. Just recently I had a Low oil pressure light appear on the dashboard so I switched off and didn't drive it until I got advice. I was told by a mechanic not to drive it and have it recovered to my local Ford Dealer, which I did. To cut a very long story short, they checked the sump for particles and found nothing, then and only then did they check the wet belt for sign of wear. They informed me that no wear showed. They changed the Oil Pressure sensor which they said was faulty, all seemed good until the brakes failed!, they then said that the Vacuum pump had failed and needed replacing, they replaced that and asked me if I had problems with the brakes in the past? No, I told them, then they informed me that the Vacuum pump was faulty and needed to be replaced again, which they did. All was fine for 3 hours and a road test down the dual carriageway concluded with failed brakes, AGAIN!! Now they are saying that the Cam has stalled and thrown the timing out which is now resulting in a new engine! I have lost 2 weeks worth of work in this time and its not over yet....we have a meeting with the GM tomorrow morning to see what he has to say and what they are going to do, if anything! Will keep you posted

Latest update, Ford (franchise) will not admit liability and have told me to take it back to the company I bought it from and claim that it wasn't "fit for purpose" and ask for my money back. £7k for a new engine and only had the vehicle for less than a year and covered 4000 miles in that time.

sevenhills

TransitCustom said:

Latest update, Ford (franchise) will not admit liability and have told me to take it back to the company I bought it from and claim that it wasn't "fit for purpose" and ask for my money back. £7k for a new engine and only had the vehicle for less than a year and covered 4000 miles in that time.

Ford direct cars come with a two-year warranty, you state that you had it for twelve months.

https://www.ford.co.uk/owner/your-vehicle/warranties

TransitCustom

Hammyspoons said:

Another one here. 

When are Ford going to take responsibility for these dangerous vans? The works van that my daughter and her partner were travelling in recently breaks failed catastrophically on the slip road to the motorway, they could have both been killed. 

The wet timing belt had shredded and a piece gone into the vacuum pump for the breaks leaving them with a sudden and catastrophic break failure. Ford have offered us goodwill on the repairs of 20%, which is frankly pathetic considering that their van design is downright dangerous. 

How do we publicise to get people to not buy these dangerous vehicles? Maybe a group litigation is needed to make Ford sit up and take notice before they kill someone. My daughter was lucky, her partner managed to get the handbrake on before they entered the live motorway lane, but we are not the only ones we know. 

I want to take this all the way to the top of Ford before someone looses a loved one to these dangerous vehicles - any suggestions? This was a 2019 van, not an old banger, this is a disgrace. If it had been another one of my employees we would have had the HSE on us - we will NEVER purchase or lease another Ford again, I just want to make this warning as public as I can. 

DVSA won't do anything, I wrote to them about this problem, loss of brakes etc and they say that FBS (Failed Boost Support) is a back up system designed to help with braking through the ABS system should there be a loss of vacuum....end of!

nataliel2728

Hi this happened to my partners van last month ford customer relations said it had to go to ford to confirm went in yesterday. Its a 2018 obviously out of warranty first service was 4000 miles late due to covid bought it in 2020 and a service was done then 5 months late. I got it serviced a year ago have the invoices.

So I got a walk round today they said in video no service history so ford won't give me a good deal so I phone the garage and they say not under warranty and its not got the timing belt recall does have the typical oil dilution.

Will send invoices off to ford tomorrow. Does anyone know if they will offer a good will gesture or should I just get the van recovered and put it in else where.

Thanks