Engine Replacement at 50k Miles - rod bearing

[Cmar]

Sorry to hear about the spun bearing.... I had a Ford 3.0L V6 in a Tarus replace at 26K once. Nice to see Ford taking care of you.

On a not really related example, per sa but speaking of "blown engine", here's a John Deer large corn combine with 340 hours on it...

Ouch!! $100K to replace. (warranty covered it)

PS: This happened during harvest season Oct. 2024. Happened on a Thursday; engine was out Saturday morning; new engine arrived on Monday; running Tuesday evening; back in the field harvesting Wednesday.... all work done in the field where it broke!

Well it's obvious what happened there, that big hole in the sump let all the oil run out, causing it to run dry and throw a leg out of bed. It should have never left the factory like that.

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[JohnnyO]

Quality dropped across the board with all automakers after the pandemic.
There were A LOT of defects, engine and otherwise, when the Bronco was introduced.
My cousin owns a repair shop and used car lot and he advises not to buy a 2021 or 2022 anything from anyone, they all suck. He bought a new Silverado and had to get a whole new engine at 13,000 miles.

 

[RedDakooter05]

I was gonna post my condolences but then I came across this ad...

So is ad block disabled for the phone in this forum now?

 

[Cmar]

Quality dropped across the board with all automakers after the pandemic.
There were A LOT of defects, engine and otherwise, when the Bronco was introduced.
My cousin owns a repair shop and used car lot and he advises not to buy a 2021 or 2022 anything from anyone, they all suck. He bought a new Silverado and had to get a whole new engine at 13,000 miles.

Quality dropped across the board with everything after the pandemic.
There were A LOT of defects,

Fixed it for you.

Problem is a lot of manufacturers seem to think that because we put up with it during the pandemic, (like we had a choice) that is the new acceptable norm and we can pay more for the privilege.

 

[lariat]

Tell me more.

You bet...It's a tongue and cheek comment, poking fun at all the oil debates that have been ongoing since the history of mammals, hence the smily face.

 

[GhostStrykre]

"He also mentioned that at their dealer they have not had any Rangers come in for the CDF drum either. He said the Rangers are very reliable overall."

Wait, what? I'm calling BS on this one.

I’ve been at with my Ranger or had my Ranger serviced by 3 different local dealers and every single one has said the Ranger has been rock solid for them. I mention the transmission issues and they shrug and insist they’ve had none.

I told my main Ford dealer my transmission fluid needed changed and they thought I was nuts changing at 70k miles. They asked if it was having a problem. I said my transmission is quirky sometimes. They said I should schedule a drive with a transmission tech because they haven’t heard of any issues on the Ranger.

either they’re lying to me, or the internet makes things look worse than they are. I genuinely am not sure what to think about it now.

like the OP, I really like my truck. Just gonna keep on truckin and pray I don’t end up posting popcorn gifs on transmission threads like our pal @Msfitoy lol (seriously, no shade intended here!).

I was gonna post my condolences but then I came across this ad...

So is ad block disabled for the phone in this forum now?

Guess I’ll keep hitting refresh to I win the ad lottery with something like this!

 

[yamahaSHO]

That bearing doesn't look spun... Do you have a picture of the spun bearing?

 

[Stevedbvik1]

That bearing doesn't look spun... Do you have a picture of the spun bearing?

Agree with you. The journal on the crank looks way too good for a spun bearing. The 2021-2022 2.5L hybrid Escape engines had an issue with mis machined rod journals that were leading to rod bearing failures. This kind of looks like that situation

 

[carnut122]

You bet...It's a tongue and cheek comment, poking fun at all the oil debates that have been ongoing since the history of mammals, hence the smily face.

Ahhhh... I thought maybe I was missing something (and I did-the smiley face).

 

[awd.nv]

Sorry, been MIA because we are enjoying out trailer, thanks to the dealer for the F150. My wife was going to be bummed if we needed to cancel, booked 6mo ago. Renting a tow capable truck was at least going to be +$400 and who knew the condition so I offered her a stay at a hotel on PCH but she didnt want to do that either. She wanted our trailer near the sand.

So that said, sorry if I am missing any comments or what not. Typed this out on my laptop here n there.

I know we've been talking about this Anthony but it sounds like they're really taking good care of you. Still a weird thing to happen seeing you take such good care of it and do all the preventive maintenance on it. At least it didn't happen on your trip and you were close to home and have a stand up local dealer. It's also nice to hear their response about the time which is what it should've been. Good luck and hope you get back into your Ranger soon.

Oh...Stay away from the Raptor cuz you know it'll end up following you home! ?

haha that or an FX4 2.7L would be a consideration. I really just hope I feel good about my Ranger because I really miss the truck. Daily driving the F150 confirms to me that I would still want another mid size. It is like the Mustang of trucks in a way. The dealer has been awesome though. Got the advisor a nice bottle of Tequilla and when meeting with the foreman I brought Krispy Kreme donuts for staff.

Wow - sorry that happened! I wonder if ford will look to find the root cause as there is no way it’s maintenance related. Sounds like you got a great dealer as well. That just cemented me buying the Extended warranty if I’m not in a new truck in the next two years.

Sucks that it happened, glad they are taking care of you though.

One of my big worries with this vehicle, is something happening and the dealer I go to giving me a hard time. So far though, the 2 times I have been there for issues, I have been treated well. Working for a dealer I see how service can be sometimes lol.

Thanks, yeah I have to say the dealer has been great. I feel they got off to slow start but later found out the foreman was on vacation which explained things there. Probably needed foreman sign offs for certain work to get started.

Things will break but the service experience is what makes or breaks it for me. I had a good experience when they fixed my remote start issue a year ago or so and the last issue was an exhaust pressure sensor, I didnt get a loaner because I dropped it off before going out of town but he was ok letting the truck sit there a week.

They DIDNT need to switch me out of the Escape they gave me for an F150 but they did, thanks to them we are enjoying our trailer in Huntington Beach, sand on the other side of the boardwalk. Shoot, they were out of loaners the day of too. I met the rental lady and she was nice. Told me they even have Mustangs, I told her after this trip maybe she can switch the F150 for a Mustang lol followed with a JK (because we camp at the end of Nov should they not finish in time). I suspect the truck will be done in a week or two tops if all goes well.

"He also mentioned that at their dealer they have not had any Rangers come in for the CDF drum either. He said the Rangers are very reliable overall."

Wait, what? I'm calling BS on this one.

Conversation was me saying something like "I brought up I only hear about head gaskets and trans issues with these trucks. Any word on the CDF drum with the Ranger?" to which the foreman said he hasn't seen CDF issues on the Ranger, the F150 yes. I took it as maybe the Ranger is more valve body related. Sure some Rangers are getting them but this is just one dealer. The foreman said the Ranger is probably their most reliable truck. To his credit, walking to the shop I saw plenty of Bronco and F150 but can't say I saw another Ranger on my way. Surely there is another in the shop. The dealer is in Henderson, NV outside Vegas. Clark county where Vegas and Henderson fall under have maybe 2mil people?

Must have been the full synthetic oil. Ford calls for Semi-synthetic Motorcraft.

Tell me more.

You bet...It's a tongue and cheek comment, poking fun at all the oil debates that have been ongoing since the history of mammals, hence the smily face.

While he said the oil and interval was for sure not the issue, he did mention he uses the blend personally and does 3-4k mile oil changes on his Ranger. He just picked up a Ranger Raptor too. I personally think either oil is fine as long as it is changed at the right interval. I went full synthetic for it to be more forgiving in the summer, I do the changes at the dealer so I honestly don't know what they are using. Think Valvoline did an oil shootout WITH the Ford 2.3L and 10k full synthetic vs their blend and honestly, the blend looked good. Full Synth. looked a little cleaner but that was it.

I am not totally sure if I will stick to the full synthetic or not but will treat my oil changes more like how I would treat oil changes on my Mustang during drag racing weeks. Fresh oil before and after drag racing.

Glad to hear Ford Country taking good care of you as I bought mine from them in August 2021.
Knock wood, fingers crossed no problems in 40,000+ miles.

I personally sum this up to bad luck like the foreman said and some of it being a Covid motor. My ranger was built/sold early 2021, think March? So maybe some 2020 parts.

Quality dropped across the board with all automakers after the pandemic.
There were A LOT of defects, engine and otherwise, when the Bronco was introduced.
My cousin owns a repair shop and used car lot and he advises not to buy a 2021 or 2022 anything from anyone, they all suck. He bought a new Silverado and had to get a whole new engine at 13,000 miles.

Quality dropped across the board with everything after the pandemic.
There were A LOT of defects,

Fixed it for you.

Problem is a lot of manufacturers seem to think that because we put up with it during the pandemic, (like we had a choice) that is the new acceptable norm and we can pay more for the privilege.

Yes!! I am in computers and 2020-2021 I had A LOT of bad RAM that would fail stress testing. By far RAM had the most failures those years than any other part.

That bearing doesn't look spun... Do you have a picture of the spun bearing?

Agree with you. The journal on the crank looks way too good for a spun bearing. The 2021-2022 2.5L hybrid Escape engines had an issue with mis machined rod journals that were leading to rod bearing failures. This kind of looks like that situation

So while I have built some Ford V8 engines and one Chevy 350 (yuck jk) in my younger years, it has been a good 20 years since I have built an engine. I have not literally seen a spun bearing before, there were lines on the other side of the bearing though like it might have moved. I didnt see the tabs that usually lock the bearing in place so TBH I dont think the bearings are from the same rod and he didnt specifically say they were because he said "this one isnt great but not bad like this one."

I did not put much thought into it since I really was just out to see the bad bearing so confirm the cylinder 4 issue they claimed since it seems so rare and I took care of it. They said there was play in it before they took the rod cap off.

Spun or not, I was surprised the journal was so good. I think because it LITERALLY barely was driven since the issue first started. It only happened under decent load, couldn't duplicate it EVERY time but often. For sure less than 10 miles including the road test with the advisor.

My main concern was if their was oil pressure issues or a bad design where that side gets starved but considering the cam bearings looked good, I would guess the crank gets oil before the top end. I was worried about metal in the turbo but they said lines were ok and there are filters in place too.

I think you may be right and it was a tolerance issue. Either on the rod or QC issue on the bearing manufacturer. Since it is getting a replacement long block, didn't really dig too much into it. I am basically chalking this up to a covid engine.

My buddy had two 6.2L fail on his 2020/21 Yukon XL under 80k miles. There are a few stories online with that though, not just lifters for the 6.2L. Another forum member here with a 2021 ironically working at the same dealer mentioned his had a piston skirt issue. Other than his engine, I have not heard of another 2.3L fail in a ranger. I had a lot of QC issues in the 2020-2021 years for computer hardware too. Think people loosened QC to meet needs because of staffing issues maybe.

 

[yamahaSHO]

I've spun bearings before...

 

[awd.nv]

I've spun bearings before...

Would that be the center bearing on the crank? I dunno, I didn't take it apart and didn't ask to see the whole set of rod bearings. The pistons were still in the block.

I figure in the end the long block would solve the problem. I just hope they aren't reusing the oil pump. I would be tempted to pay for a new one if they aren't covering it. Gonna see how much they cost now actually ?

 

[yamahaSHO]

Would that be the center bearing on the crank? I dunno, I didn't take it apart and didn't ask to see the whole set of rod bearings. The pistons were still in the block.

I figure in the end the long block would solve the problem. I just hope they aren't reusing the oil pump. I would be tempted to pay for a new one if they aren't covering it. Gonna see how much they cost now actually ?

It's a rod bearing.

 

[awd.nv]

It's a rod bearing.

? Almost looked like the crank thrust bearing at that point.

 

[Conman50]

Sorry this happened to you. But you're right. Very few engine issues reported on these forums for the 2.3L.

I pretty much do the same OCD maintenance as you. Im at 36K on my 2019.

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