Belt Tensioner SNAPPED OFF

[navychuck72]

That's true of most industries sadly. A friend in software engineering, said of software bugs, firstly deny, then try and blame the customer, then when that gets old, quietly fix the issue, release the fix in a routine update, and claim it never happened. At least he was honest.

I agree, but I know for sure I will not be purchasing anymore Fords in the future. I already paid off the Ranger, so I will just hang onto it for now and hope no more big failures happen again.

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[Cmar]

I agree, but I know for sure I will not be purchasing anymore Fords in the future. I already paid off the Ranger, so I will just hang onto it for now and hope no more big failures happen again.

Oh yes and I forgot one, a manufacturer which I have dealt with claimed that they wouldn't fix bugs unless they considered them important. We needed to remind them, hey you the supplier, - we the customer, - there ARE other suppliers, and we talk to other customers!

 

[Cmar]

I’m not refuting anything you’re saying specifically, but I think this extends to basically every major OEM. Even Toyota is hush hush about the tundra stuff.

Yes their change from V8 diesel to "hot V" V6 diesel in Land Cruisers over here hasn't been exactly without issue either. Their 4 litre straight 6 direct injection diesels were some of the strongest and most reliable engines ever made, the 4.5 V8 wasn't bad, had a few issues, but was still a relatively under stressed engine, but now, well, the Nissan Patrol V8 petrol engine is looking good.

 

[airline tech]

The BIG QUESTION remains - Is this a chain reaction event? Bad Tensioner / Bad Idler Pulley producing undo stress on the mount or is it strictly a total design / manufacturing flaw- either way this should not happen and needs to have a separate mounting bracket that is a simple replacement vs complete cover which is not a simple task, requiring special tooling to do it.
Or is it a combination of BOTH flaws that cause it to shear off.
If I recall we were only seeing these on the 2020 now it’s showing up on the 2021.
Frustrating Indeed.

 

[navychuck72]

The BIG QUESTION remains - Is this a chain reaction event? Bad Tensioner / Bad Idler Pulley producing undo stress on the mount or is it strictly a total design / manufacturing flaw- either way this should not happen and needs to have a separate mounting bracket that is a simple replacement vs complete cover which is not a simple task, requiring special tooling to do it.
Or is it a combination of BOTH flaws that cause it to shear off.
If I recall we were only seeing these on the 2020 now it’s showing up on the 2021.
Frustrating Indeed.

What peaked my interest was seeing other Ranger postings of their bracket snapped and they were literally identical breaks, which supports the fact that there must be a batch of bad castings. Only Ford will know how many castings came from this manufacturer and you know they are never going to admit how many and that it is something that they should be responsible for.

 

[TJC]

I honestly do not think it is bad castings. I think it is much more likely to be a weak casting design.

And I think either the pulley bearing is seizing or the tensioner spring is binding / breaking, resulting in sudden intense load being placed on the the casting.

Has anyone checked the bearing for roughness / wear, or spring tensioner to see if it still flexes?

The casting wouldn't be breaking unless there is undo catastrophic stress being applied somewhere.

I had the belt tensioner spring seize on my 2005 Ranger at 135K miles and it shredded / threw the belt. Replaced it and the belt and was on my way.

I had forgotten about this issue, but it is back on my list of things to check when changing the oil. We honestly should not have to perform preventative maintenance on these type of parts.

One last question... Are the failures limited to trucks in northern snow areas of the country where salt is used on the roads?

 

[21rangerCactus]

I have 115k on mine. The belts look good but im thinking I should change them and the tensioner here soon.

But wait.. What if I do change the tensioner and the new one is actually bad and then it cracks the mount?

 

[Stevedbvik1]

I have a 2021 Ford Ranger Lariat Tremor with 120k miles and just had the exact/identical belt tensioner bracket snap off as well. If you look at my pictures you can definitely tell it broke in the exact same place. This has to be a timing chain plate cover defect in the casting. I also put in a ticket to the Ford Customer Experience Specialist for Ford to take a closer look at these issues. FYI... The cost to fix this Ford manufacturer casting defect is $4k.

What is your build date?

 

[navychuck72]

My truck is still at Ford Service, so I do not have access to the door to see the actual build date. It is going to take them a few weeks to fix it. At least 4 days for the parts to get in and of course it happens in the primary week of Christmas. This is a present I did Not want.

 

[Frenchy]

My truck is still at Ford Service, so I do not have access to the door to see the actual build date. It is going to take them a few weeks to fix it. At least 4 days for the parts to get in and of course it happens in the primary week of Christmas. This is a present I did Not want.

Got Ford Pass? It should have the VIN number and I'm sure someone here might have access to forward systems to give you the exact build date

 

[navychuck72]

I have my VIN but it does not show the build date. I know I bought the truck on June 2021 and they just brought it in from the dealer that day.

 

[Frenchy]

I have my VIN but it does not show the build date. I know I bought the truck on June 2021 and they just brought it in from the dealer that day.

You can ask the dealer to look up the build date. I'd look at it for you but I'm no longer a Ford technician. I unfortunately don't have all the login information to get that anymore. Did dealership can make it easy and get it down to the exact day it was built versus the placard only giving you the month and year

 

[Cmar]

I honestly do not think it is bad castings. I think it is much more likely to be a weak casting design.

And I think either the pulley bearing is seizing or the tensioner spring is binding / breaking, resulting in sudden intense load being placed on the the casting.

Has anyone checked the bearing for roughness / wear, or spring tensioner to see if it still flexes?

The casting wouldn't be breaking unless there is undo catastrophic stress being applied somewhere.

I had the belt tensioner spring seize on my 2005 Ranger at 135K miles and it shredded / threw the belt. Replaced it and the belt and was on my way.

I had forgotten about this issue, but it is back on my list of things to check when changing the oil. We honestly should not have to perform preventative maintenance on these type of parts.

One last question... Are the failures limited to trucks in northern snow areas of the country where salt is used on the roads?

A good point, but the one in the photo didn't look particularly corroded. Nor have the others shown in this forum.

 

[navychuck72]

It could be due to bad design and still be a bad casting. If you look at the photos I took and photos of other's in this thread that had the same issue, you would see the break is identical. you could literally take the belt tensioner bracket that broke off and put in against where it broke on the other Ranger and it would fix perfectly. Both belts on my Ranger had zero shredding or tears. The serpentine belt was twisted from where it wrapped around the fan, but other than that it was fine. I got lucky that the broken off tensioner did not sling off and destroy more within the engine compartment. If it was not for the front skid plate it would have probably fell onto the highway.

 

[airline tech]

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