Photo: Ford
Better late than never, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into the catastrophic engine failures of the 2021 model year Ford Bronco equipped with the 2.7-liter EcoBoost. The Office of Defects Investigation is aware of three petitions as of May 27th. The petitioners have identified 32 complaints filed with the watchdog.
“Under normal driving conditions, without warning, the vehicle may experience a loss of motive power without restart due to catastrophic engine failure related to a faulty valve,” reads the document attached just below.
The question is, are they right or are they bluffing? The answer is pretty obvious if you glance over the January 2022 newsletter of the Lima plant in Ohio, which confirms a valve supplier issue that has been resolved with more robust design and material changes. Ford also introduced new head assemblies into production: ML3Z-6049-K instead of ML3Z-6049-G for the left bank of cylinders and ML3Z-6049-J instead of ML3Z-6049-D for the right bank of cylinders. The whole powerplant has also received a new code, namely MB3E-6007-AB instead of the previous MB3E-6007-AA.
“At 2,000 miles, the engine dropped a valve,” according to a complaint submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Another one notes that “the vehicle was towed to the dealer and catastrophic engine failure was determined with a faulty valve being the contributing factor.”
Ford is fully aware of this problem, yet refuses to recall every single 2021 model year Bronco equipped with the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 engine because it would be much costlier than what it’s doing right now. On the upside, any customer who experiences an engine failure caused by a dropped valve is covered by the Bronco’s five-year or 60,000-mile powertrain warranty.
The document attached below lists a population of 25,538 potentially affected vehicles. As to when the investigation will come to a conclusion, your guess is as good as mine given the automaker’s well-known stalling tactics.
The question is, are they right or are they bluffing? The answer is pretty obvious if you glance over the January 2022 newsletter of the Lima plant in Ohio, which confirms a valve supplier issue that has been resolved with more robust design and material changes. Ford also introduced new head assemblies into production: ML3Z-6049-K instead of ML3Z-6049-G for the left bank of cylinders and ML3Z-6049-J instead of ML3Z-6049-D for the right bank of cylinders. The whole powerplant has also received a new code, namely MB3E-6007-AB instead of the previous MB3E-6007-AA.
“At 2,000 miles, the engine dropped a valve,” according to a complaint submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Another one notes that “the vehicle was towed to the dealer and catastrophic engine failure was determined with a faulty valve being the contributing factor.”
Ford is fully aware of this problem, yet refuses to recall every single 2021 model year Bronco equipped with the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 engine because it would be much costlier than what it’s doing right now. On the upside, any customer who experiences an engine failure caused by a dropped valve is covered by the Bronco’s five-year or 60,000-mile powertrain warranty.
The document attached below lists a population of 25,538 potentially affected vehicles. As to when the investigation will come to a conclusion, your guess is as good as mine given the automaker’s well-known stalling tactics.
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