Help! 2.5T Mondeo timing belt problems....

[revhed]

Following on from a post i made a couple of weeks ago i thought I'd seek some advice from you guys.

I bought a 2007 2.5T mondeo on Friday from a colleague and today i think the timing belt has slipped. The background of the car is that it had covered 126K and hadn't had the timing belt changed (due at 125K) so before i bought my colleague insisted he had it changed at his cost. The belt was changed on Monday 15th Oct 2012 at a Ford Main Dealer. Since then the car has done about 150 miles and ran fine.

Today i was joining the motorway off a roundabout and getting up to speed (first hard acceleration since timing belt change) when i heard what sounded like gravel flicking up into the wheel arches but it didn't go as you would expect then the battery light came on followed by engine malfunction and the engine stopping.

On the hard shoulder i had a mooch around the timing belt cover and found bits of belt (not good!). The timing belt is intact but after trying to turn the engine over it wont fire and appears to have lost compression (guessing so far). My theory is the aux belt (which is shredded but still on) has gone round the timing belt and it has jumped a tooth maybe? I have read this has happened on Focus ST's with the same 5 cylinder Volvo engine.

My real question is what do think the chances are of Ford repairing this seeing as they changed the belt last week at over £400?

Cheers - Chris.

[Justin S]

I think the first port of call will be the dealers and explain that the belts have gone, a job they did 150 miles ago. Be polite and let them inspect it.

[revhed]

Yes, I'll be calling them this morning. I'll keep this updated with any progress.

[C. Grimsley]

How did you get on?

Carl

[revhed]

The car is at Ford now. They have had a brief look yesterdey afternoon and have said the auxillary belts are intact. This seems to point at the timing belt having jumped. How far and how much damage is not yet known. I'm really hoping they will be fixing this free of charge because a few enquiries I have made at a trusted indepnedent have estimated £2500 to £3500 to fix depending on damage!

[revhed]

Another update: Ford have replaced timing belt and reset timing and there is no compression. Head coming off soon.......

[neiljohnson]

So have they accepted liability for the belt jumping??
They charged a lot of money to replace it as its a straight forward job the kit is @ £75 & @ 1.5 hrs labour did they replace anything else in that bill???

[Justin S]

Not good news in a way. Dont know what the implications of writing a car off, as if the valves have gone and damaged pistons, would mean a replacement engine and a car with that mileage may mean they accept liability on this. Hope it comes to a sensible outcome.

[C. Grimsley]

Justin S said:

Not good news in a way. Dont know what the implications of writing a car off, as if the valves have gone and damaged pistons, would mean a replacement engine and a car with that mileage may mean they accept liability on this. Hope it comes to a sensible outcome.

Surely a head gasket and a few valves won't write a 5 year old car off, plus the insurance for a dealer will have about a £5k excess.

Carl

[revhed]

Thanks for the replies guys.

The news is that after stripping the top end down all 20 valves are "like bananas" to quote the dealership. Fortunately for myself they have accepted liablity and are repairing the car at no charge to me (Phew!). I'm not sure what is being repaired i.e full engine or just top end. I am going to insist they take it for a lengthy test drive before they hand it back to me in about a weeks time.

They have also supplied a courtesy car so to be fair they have been good so far. Fingers crossed the repair is a good'un!!!!!

Cheers - Chris.

[Justin S]

Good stuff. Its not just the valves, because its the valves, reseating them, new stem seals, rebuild and most important the labour for the job, that will affect the write off , if that was the case.Hope its all fine when you get it back.