doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (11/11/85)
A few months ago the Ford Motor Company mailed out a bulletin to
known owners of Ford Escorts and EXPs and Mercury Lynx and LN7s
advising that engine damage could result if the timing belt failed.
They not only recommended that the belt be replaced at 60,000 miles,
but also washed their hands of responsibility for engine damage if
an unchanged belt failed after 60,000 miles.
I bring this up because my wife's LN7 had its timing belt fail at
43,000 miles (don't know yet if the valves got mangled or not).
I certainly would recommend that owners of these cars take FoMoCo's
advice and have the timing belt changed before the 60,000 mile mark.
P.S. anyone have problems with needing the carb rebuilt? Ours had to
be rebuilt at 39,000 miles -- the gas mileage had already gone to heck,
and the Arizona emission inspection system finally forced us to have
it fixed. A salesman at the local Ford dealer confided that this was
a common problem, and that if he was King he would have FoMoCo bear the
costs of the repair (actually, at $28 it was surprisingly inexpensive).
--
Doug Pardee -- CalComp -- {calcom1,savax,seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!terak!dougdoug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (11/12/85)
Following up on my note about timing belt failure on my wife's LN7:
The engine was indeed lunched... the folks at the Lincoln/Mercury
Division are picking up the tab for both the timing belt and for new
valves. (AAA picked up the tab for towing, so all we're stuck with
is the cost of renting a substitute car).
But... the hoses and belts on the car are original and needed to be
replaced anyway, but I could not *believe* the price. $175 just for
routine belts and hoses???? So I called another Mercury dealer and
asked for an estimate; he quoted $240. Ouch!
--
Doug Pardee -- CalComp -- {hardy,savax,seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!terak!dougrp321@uiucuxa.CSO.UIUC.EDU (11/17/85)
/* Written 12:15 pm Nov 11, 1985 by doug@terak.UUCP in uiucuxa:net.consumers */
/* ---------- "Escort/Lynx/EXP/LN7 Owners: Note" ---------- */
A few months ago the Ford Motor Company mailed out a bulletin to
known owners of Ford Escorts and EXPs and Mercury Lynx and LN7s
advising that engine damage could result if the timing belt failed.
They not only recommended that the belt be replaced at 60,000 miles,
but also washed their hands of responsibility for engine damage if
an unchanged belt failed after 60,000 miles.
[...]
--
Doug Pardee -- CalComp -- {calcom1,savax,seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!terak!doug
/* End of text from uiucuxa:net.consumers */
Looks like another one of Ford's Better Ideas! :-)
Russell J. Price
University of Illinois
{ ihnp4, pur-ee, convex }!uiucdcs!uiucuxa!rp321
rp321@uiucuxa.CSO.UIUC.EDUcwd@cuae2.UUCP (Chris Donahue) (11/20/85)
The owners manual for my 1982 LN7 states that the timing belt MUST BE replaced at 60,000 miles. The handy dandy service chart they sent me also notes the same. I talked to my local L-M mechanic and he said they have had cylinder head problems with some 1982 and 1983 models and that has lead to the early timing belt failures. Also, they have used four different spark plugs in the last 3 years for other assorted problems. Ford will pay for a good chunk of the cost of repair if the timing belt fails. He would not tell me how much, though. I have only 7,000 miles to go before 60,000. Does anyone know how much they charge to replace the timing belt? I can just feel the pain in my wallet already. Chris Donahue AT&T Info. Sys. Application Engineering
dday@gymble.UUCP (Dennis Doubleday) (11/21/85)
In article <1665@cuae2.UUCP> cwd@cuae2.UUCP (-Chris Donahue) writes: >The owners manual for my 1982 LN7 states that the timing belt MUST BE >replaced at 60,000 miles. The handy dandy service chart they sent me also >notes the same. I talked to my local L-M mechanic and he said they have >had cylinder head problems with some 1982 and 1983 models and that has >lead to the early timing belt failures. Also, they have used four different >spark plugs in the last 3 years for other assorted problems. Ford will >pay for a good chunk of the cost of repair if the timing belt fails. >He would not tell me how much, though. I have only 7,000 miles to go before >60,000. Does anyone know how much they charge to replace the timing belt? >I can just feel the pain in my wallet already. I just had that work done on my 1981 Escort last week. The charge for the timing belt replacement at an authorized dealer was ~$150.00. **BUT**, the mechanic also told me that my water pump was very close to failing and that if I didn't replace it, I would soon have to bring it back and they would have to go into the same general area and I would end up paying for the labor twice. He indicated that they recommended replacing the water pump along with the timing belt in most cases. I probably got screwed, but I don't know from cars so I told them to do it; the total charge therefore ran to ~$280.00. ADDITIONAL NOTE TO ESCORT OWNERS: You have 5/50 protection on your exhaust system (including catastrophic converter :-)). If your car is approaching these limits and you have any doubts about your C.C. being in good condition, *GET IT CHECKED* before the limits. It is *VERY* expensive to replace after warranty expires. Believe me , I know (sigh). -- UUCP: seismo!umcp-cs!dday Dennis Doubleday CSNet: dday@umcp-cs University of Maryland ARPA: dday@gymble.umd.edu College Park, MD 20742 Fan of: Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, OU Sooners (301) 454-4247
akers@oliven.UUCP (Rob Akers) (11/25/85)
> The owners manual for my 1982 LN7 states that the timing belt MUST BE > replaced at 60,000 miles. The handy dandy service chart they sent me also > notes the same. I talked to my local L-M mechanic and he said they have > had cylinder head problems with some 1982 and 1983 models and that has > lead to the early timing belt failures. Also, they have used four different > spark plugs in the last 3 years for other assorted problems. Ford will > pay for a good chunk of the cost of repair if the timing belt fails. > He would not tell me how much, though. I have only 7,000 miles to go before > 60,000. Does anyone know how much they charge to replace the timing belt? > I can just feel the pain in my wallet already. > > Chris Donahue > AT&T Info. Sys. > Application Engineering *** Timing belt replacement at 60000 miles *** My 1984 Mazda 626 also requires that the timing belt be replaced at 60000 miles as part of the routine maintenance. I would definitely have it replaced. On some cars, when the timing belt breaks the valves will collide with the pistons and severely damage the engine. On the 626 this is not a problem because of thedesign of pistons and cylinder head. I don't know if the LN7 has this problem or not. I think it used to happen on some Fiats. I still have 35000 miles to go before I have the dealer replace the belt. It looks like a pretty easy job on the 626 but I would guess they will probably charge around $100 or so. Your dealer could probably give you a better estimate for your car. Good luck! Rob Akers Olivetti ATC
seshadri@t12tst.UUCP (Raghavan Seshadri) (12/05/85)
> From: dday@gymble.UUCP (Dennis Doubleday) > Date: 21 Nov 85 16:30:31 GMT > > In article <1665@cuae2.UUCP> cwd@cuae2.UUCP (-Chris Donahue) writes: > >The owners manual for my 1982 LN7 states that the timing belt MUST BE > >replaced at 60,000 miles. The handy dandy service chart they sent me also . . My 1981 Escort blew its timing belt at 53000 miles and had to be replaced. The dealer did it for free. And yes,about 6 months back ,the water pump gave out.The dealer told me that it is not a common problem though . -- Raghu Seshadri