Ford Puma Engine Problems
Discussion
Form Puma 1.7 S reg
Just been told by a Ford Car Dealer that to fix my car ising going to cost £1300. Engine just stopped, their dignosis is that the Cam belt has slipped and caused piston damage.
The reason for the slip they reckon is low oil pressure!!!!
Anyone know of or have had similar problems, although the car is S reg it's only done 40k and it's been serviced every year without any unusual hitches.
Somone has mentioned to be about NIKASIL problems but Ford are very cagey, I am waiting for a full report on their findings, but it seems unusual just to have piston damage......... Can anyone enlighten me?
Just been told by a Ford Car Dealer that to fix my car ising going to cost £1300. Engine just stopped, their dignosis is that the Cam belt has slipped and caused piston damage.
The reason for the slip they reckon is low oil pressure!!!!
Anyone know of or have had similar problems, although the car is S reg it's only done 40k and it's been serviced every year without any unusual hitches.
Somone has mentioned to be about NIKASIL problems but Ford are very cagey, I am waiting for a full report on their findings, but it seems unusual just to have piston damage......... Can anyone enlighten me?
The only assumption I can make on this without seeing the power unit, would be a failure of the VCT helix if main line oil pressure was the cause.
As you are probably aware, the variable cam timing is reliant on oil pressure. It's possible that an excessivly slack cam shaft drive belt has caused the timing to jump.
Both types of failure would usually cause head/valve damage though aswell.
Crank/piston and cylinder running surfaces can not be repaired in service.
If you are in any way in doubt of the root cause, ask an independant engineer to report on it.
Oil pressure failure will almost always cause score marks in the oil pump and the cylinder head (cam shaft journals) before it takes out the crank.
As you are probably aware, the variable cam timing is reliant on oil pressure. It's possible that an excessivly slack cam shaft drive belt has caused the timing to jump.
Both types of failure would usually cause head/valve damage though aswell.
Crank/piston and cylinder running surfaces can not be repaired in service.
If you are in any way in doubt of the root cause, ask an independant engineer to report on it.
Oil pressure failure will almost always cause score marks in the oil pump and the cylinder head (cam shaft journals) before it takes out the crank.
T88CAN said:
I know the car is well out of warranty but if it`s only done 40K With a FFSH then a call to Ford customers services is worth a try, you may get something out of them on "goodwill" worth a phone call?
Tony
Unfortunatley, it's well outside the goodwill contribution scale, but if you maybe have if your considering a new Ford etc, and you ask firmly enough you might get somewhere.
Don't hold ya breath though
OMG I have had the same problem with mine.I have had problems with it since and 2.5 k later I am still none the wider,just got the car back from the garage today as the said it was the VTI whatever that is but the car has a really bad noise coming from somewhere to be honest I whis I wold have got rid its done under 1000 miles in 3 yrs as it is consantly in the garage I only take it out for a day out !!!!!
After extensive looking on the net I went to a website called fordeurope and apparently you can make a complaint to ford and even though the car is out of warrenty they may fix it.It is just what I am going to do right now.
After extensive looking on the net I went to a website called fordeurope and apparently you can make a complaint to ford and even though the car is out of warrenty they may fix it.It is just what I am going to do right now.
Have seen some bottom end problems with these engines, but have also had to sort out quite a few that have gone to other garages and come out worse than they went in. 
It normally relates to the cam timing being incorrect, after they have had the timing belt off which causes a dramatic loss of power and a horrible noise from the varible valve timing unit.
Often the fault is diagnosed as the variator itself which is very expensive to replace & if the timing is not then corrected wont make any differance.
If the timing belt has slipped due to loss of oil pressure the pistons will probably be the last thing that got damaged as the crank, cams & valve will all need looking at for damage first.
I would be inclined to get a second opinon & if indeed the car has got loss of oil pressure i suggest that in the long run it would be better to get another engine, if the engine has run with low oil pressure for a period of time there will be other damage which may not be immediatly obvious which will just end up costing you more money. Better to bite the bullit now imho of corse
Hth Neil.
It normally relates to the cam timing being incorrect, after they have had the timing belt off which causes a dramatic loss of power and a horrible noise from the varible valve timing unit.
Often the fault is diagnosed as the variator itself which is very expensive to replace & if the timing is not then corrected wont make any differance.
If the timing belt has slipped due to loss of oil pressure the pistons will probably be the last thing that got damaged as the crank, cams & valve will all need looking at for damage first.
I would be inclined to get a second opinon & if indeed the car has got loss of oil pressure i suggest that in the long run it would be better to get another engine, if the engine has run with low oil pressure for a period of time there will be other damage which may not be immediatly obvious which will just end up costing you more money. Better to bite the bullit now imho of corse
Hth Neil.
Can't shed any light on the problem I'm afraid. I had one of these from new and the car is still in the family. More than 100k on the clock and never needed anything other than routine servicing. Must be a good one.
Still,with most of these cars now 10 years plus old I would be amazed if Ford would be interested. Would set an incredibly dangerous precendent for them if they did. Puma numbers are relatively low, but what if a similar problem arose on 10 year old Mondeos! We are enthusiasts and like older cars, but I would expect manufacturers of mass produced, relatively cheap cars to say that if you get 10 years out of it you've done well - It's life expired. Throw it away and buy a new one.
Still,with most of these cars now 10 years plus old I would be amazed if Ford would be interested. Would set an incredibly dangerous precendent for them if they did. Puma numbers are relatively low, but what if a similar problem arose on 10 year old Mondeos! We are enthusiasts and like older cars, but I would expect manufacturers of mass produced, relatively cheap cars to say that if you get 10 years out of it you've done well - It's life expired. Throw it away and buy a new one.
I'd agree with some of the above. The VCT unit is oil pressure controlled, and it only runs the inlet cam so if that cam retarded too much it could cause a slack belt in theory. Would it though? I doubt it! Surely on tickover it's retarded as much as it's ever going to?
A slipped belt could cause piston damage (although in most cases its only usually the valves and guides that bite the dust) but I doubt it's an oil pressure problem. The tensioner is spring loaded, not pressure fed.
A slipped belt could cause piston damage (although in most cases its only usually the valves and guides that bite the dust) but I doubt it's an oil pressure problem. The tensioner is spring loaded, not pressure fed.
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