Timing Belt snapped on Ford Puma

giveth · 11-03-2006 4:19pm #1

Hi,
Last night the Timing Belt snapped on my car - Ford Puma 1999, 72k miles.:(

The thing is Ford recommend you replace the Timing Belt at 100k miles or 10 years, whichever is first. So my car hasnt reached this threshold yet..

So my local mechanic seems to think that the Ford Dealer will replace the Timing Belt (and whatever damage it caused) free of charge because of this, even though the car is obviously well out of warranty. I was surprised at this to say the least. Does anyone know about this? Is the mechanic correct? (Please God I hope he is!!!)

I wont be able to ask the dealer until Monday...

Thanks...

BrianD3 · 11-03-2006 4:56pm

I very much doubt whether Ford will pay for the damage. As a goodwill gesture they *might* give a contribution towards it but even that is unlikely.

It might help if the car has been serviced at Ford dealers since new. An inspection of the timing belt might be part of the service. If the belt was deemed to be OK at each service and then broke you might have a case.

But really, all of the above is clutching at straws. These timing belt change intervals are only a recommendation. You will probably find in small print in the service book a statement along the lines of "in severe operating conditions the belt should be changed more often". Lots of things can damage a belt and cause it to break. For instance a small oil leak from the crank pulley seal can degrade the rubber and weaken it.

Lex Luthor · 11-03-2006 5:07pm

giveth wrote:

Hi,
Last night the Timing Belt snapped on my car - Ford Puma 1999, 72k miles.:(

The thing is Ford recommend you replace the Timing Belt at 100k miles or 10 years, whichever is first. So my car hasnt reached this threshold yet..

So my local mechanic seems to think that the Ford Dealer will replace the Timing Belt (and whatever damage it caused) free of charge because of this, even though the car is obviously well out of warranty. I was surprised at this to say the least. Does anyone know about this? Is the mechanic correct? (Please God I hope he is!!!)

I wont be able to ask the dealer until Monday...

Thanks...

Sorry to hear that....
Does your local mechanic know first hand that Ford are covering all the work through experience? If so, seeing as your car is out of warranty, you might be out of luck. First of all, if I were you I'd look up the Ford Europe web forum site and post a specific thread to your problem and get others views on what they have done. You might find soemthing there that Ford has in the past covered this work. Do a search also and you might find it has been discussed already. Their website is http://www.fordeurope.net/forum/index.php

I have an Alfa 156 and the original manual with the car stated timing belt change every 72k miles. I had done approx 40k miles when I read on an Alfa site that a Tech Bulletin had been released by Alfa that the belts, variator & tensioner gets done every 36k miles due to high amount of premature failures. My car was outside the warranty period so I booked it in immediately and got the work done, much to my disgust at a cost of over €500. Not a penny from Alfa was going to be contributed to this cost, so needless to say I ditched them in favour of an independent Alfa specialist to do the work. Alfa wanted €850 for the job. I did read however of a case in the UK where somebodies belt snapped outside the warranty period and the owner eventually did a deal with Alfa that he would pay for any replacement parts if they covered the labour. Cases like this are few & far between, especially with Alfa dealers.

I hate to say it but Ford dealerships don't rank up there in customer service also, so lets hope you have a good relationship with yours.

Like Brian says, if you have a Ford service history you might have some shot of them stumping up some way towards the repair, but when they say they inspect the belt, its really a cop out. To inspect a belt properly you should really take it off, and then you might as well change it.

Also, expecting a timing belt to last 100k miles is stretching it a little even if the owners manual states that. 50-60k for a belt would be as far as I'd expect any car of mine to go without replacing it.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

maidhc · 11-03-2006 5:22pm

I asked two main dealers (Abernethys, Midleton; Cavanaghs, Fermoy) about the timing belt in my focus they both said:

a) It should be done at 80k (even though Ford recommend 100k)
b) Ford will cover any damage caused if it snaps before then.

The local mechanic who services my car said Ford paid for the damage done to an escort recently.

giveth · 11-03-2006 6:31pm

Thanks for the replys.

I'll have a look at that ford europe website now.

Maidhc, funny you mention Abernethys because my mechanic said that they had fixed Timing Belt damage on out of warranty cars before.

Problem is I have no relationship with any Ford dealer as I bought the car second hand from a non-Ford dealer. Also, I have not serviced the car since I bought it 18 months ago (but I have maintained quite well myself) so I have no service history.

But anyway I'll ring around some dealers on Monday and hopefully I'll come to some arrangement with one of them.

I'll let you know how it goes....

Lex Luthor · 11-03-2006 6:37pm

maidhc wrote:

I asked two main dealers (Abernethys, Midleton; Cavanaghs, Fermoy) about the timing belt in my focus they both said:

a) It should be done at 80k (even though Ford recommend 100k)
b) Ford will cover any damage caused if it snaps before then.

The local mechanic who services my car said Ford paid for the damage done to an escort recently.

This sounds promising....

giveth · 11-03-2006 6:39pm

Just came across the following info via Ford Europe website:

http://www.ffoc.co.uk/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13

I'm a bit more hopefull now...

unkel · 12-03-2006 2:15am

Timing belt not in need of replacing until 100k miles seems mad. Hopefully Ford will comply with what was posted in that link, giveth

mike65 · 12-03-2006 12:44pm

Thats facinating, print that off and don't show it until they say "no deal". Then see what happens!

Mike.

Guy:Incognito · 12-03-2006 1:39pm

Is there a reason why all manufacturers don't use timeing chains instead of belts? Surely people wouldnt mind an extra few quid on the price of a new car ,for the peace of mind. I know if I was spending 20 or 30 k on a car it would'nt bother me.

Lex Luthor · 12-03-2006 3:03pm

giveth wrote:

Just came across the following info via Ford Europe website:

http://www.ffoc.co.uk/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13

I'm a bit more hopefull now...

Nice work....now what would be even sweeter is if you could get a copy of the actual source of this information from the manufacturers itself.

Sounds to me though that you are in luck.

samo · 12-03-2006 5:07pm

Just a very quick (and uneducated!) question.

I bought an 01 Mondeo last year from a non Ford dealer and there was no manual, does the 01 + Mondeo have a timing belt or is it chain driven does anyone know??

Car was given 3 year major service before xmas when it was at approx 80k and they never mentioned timing belt needing to be changed but this thread has alarm bells ringing in my head now!!

mondeoman · 12-03-2006 5:10pm

samo wrote:

Just a very quick (and uneducated!) question.

I bought an 01 Mondeo last year from a non Ford dealer and there was no manual, does the 01 + Mondeo have a timing belt or is it chain driven does anyone know??

Car was given 3 year major service before xmas when it was at approx 80k and they never mentioned timing belt needing to be changed but this thread has alarm bells ringing in my head now!!

all petrol mondeos from 2000(new shape) have timing chains,not sure about diesels though.

samo · 12-03-2006 5:15pm

mondeoman wrote:

all petrol mondeos from 2000(new shape) have timing chains,not sure about diesels though.

Its a petrol.....thanks for clearing that one up

Small panic there for a moment!!

maidhc · 12-03-2006 5:49pm

The 2.0 diesels have also.

mike65 · 12-03-2006 6:01pm

Timing chains seem to be comming back into fashion. For while in the 90s it seemed only BMW and Mercedes were serious about using them. The switch to Overhead Camshaft engine design meant belts became more popular (longer chain means more chance of failure). At least with a chain you get plenty of warning before that failure.

Mike.

Henry Ford III · 12-03-2006 6:59pm

They changed to belts to minimise noise. Chains, by their nature, make more noise.

Seth Brundle · 12-03-2006 9:47pm

Henry Ford III wrote:

They changed to belts to minimise noise. Chains, by their nature, make more noise.

So it has nothing to do with cost then?

Henry Ford III · 12-03-2006 10:32pm

I'm not sure tbh!

alias no.9 · 13-03-2006 2:21pm

Belts are used to minimise noise though you'd hardly notice the difference these days with improved chain materials and oil. I'd hazard a guess that the dealer networks like belts too, given that main dealers charge anything between €500 and €1000 to change a piece of rubber that can be sold at a profit by a motor factors for less than €50.

giveth · 14-03-2006 2:51pm

So I contacted my local Ford Garage yesterday and they agreed no problem to do the repairs free of charge due to the Timing Belt breaking. This, despite my car being 6 years out of warranty!

There was a lot of damage done to the engine - I reckon the repair job could have cost me over a grand!

I pushed my luck and asked would they cover my towing and car rental costs, but they didnt agree to this, unsurprisingly!

Henry Ford III · 14-03-2006 3:04pm

Great news. Well done.

mondeoman · 14-03-2006 3:11pm

WOW!! well done FORD.:eek:
not many would do that i reckon.:p

& great news for puma owner.;)

unkel · 14-03-2006 3:30pm

Fair play, that's decent customer service

Maybe Ford should now revise down the official replacement advice to say 50k miles

chicken_food · 14-03-2006 3:40pm

they cant revise it based on one car. If it happened to a few hundred of the same models then they would look into it, but with it being an isolated incidence in their eyes i doubt they change anything.
In my experience ford have been very good-we had a car jack that was 3months old snap on us while we were changing a tyre. The metal sheared in about 3 places. They sent out an investigator who was brilliant and they paid for all the costs of new tyre, jack, garage car, and compensation of free servicing for life on the mondeo. I think they were afraid we were going to sue! We werent looking for anything from them, we just wanted to let them know that it broke out of nowhere the first time it was used-and hopefully it would prevent someone else being injured.

MercMad · 14-03-2006 5:19pm

I reckon it IS a cost issue !

Its not just the chain but the tensioner, sprockets and covers are all more expensive where chains are used !

With a belt they can use flimsy covers and plastic gearwheels !

unkel · 14-03-2006 5:50pm

chicken_food wrote:

they cant revise it based on one car

Fair enough. I was (maybe incorrectly) assuming that 100k is very high for a belt, but maybe it was an isolated case

Timing Belt snapped on Ford Puma

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