Engine Belts And Pulleys Problems of Ford Explorer Sport Trac

Took vehicle in fluid changes, complete check, and to investigate a leak under vehicle. After "complete" check said they found bad serpentine belt, air filter and but nothing valve cover gaskets as cause of leak. Cost to repair gaskets over $1000. While doing repair they called again and said they found that the rear timing cartridge was broken and pieces of it missing. Told me that bolt was wore half way through as timing chaining was rubbing it. Said if it breaks before repair engine will "blow" and need to be replaced. Told me it would costs over $2,500 to replace this cartridge. Total cost was now over $4,000. I asked why part was bad when engine only had 84,000 miles and why this wasn't found with the "complete" check. Mechanic stated only saw it because he had things apart to fix valve cover gaskets. Told me it was a plastic part and even with low mileage the plastic deteriorates with time. Said part only designed to last 100,000 miles. If I am to believe this Ford mechanic, Ford uses a plastic part in a crucial part of the engine (timing) and if that part fails the engine will "blow". And they cannot know the part is bad unless they have the engine apart for other major repairs. So if the valve cover gaskets were not leaking the issue would have been undetected by the Ford maintenance "complete" check up. In addition Ford has not issued a warning that this engine will possibly "blow" after only 100,000 miles if this part not replaced by a $2,500. 00 - $3,000. 00 repair. Ford should pay for this repair. They design a vehicle this way with no warning to the buyers/owners. If I am to believe the Ford mechanic there is no way to really know you may have a problem. How are we to protect ourselves? my friend showed me this site and did some searching on other blogs/sites dealing with vehicle issues. There are numerous cases of this unacceptable issue.

See all problems of the 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac 🔎.

Harmonic balancer went bad may 2009, just under 19,000 miles on my 2004 st! left my family and I stranded on I-95 in philadelphia. Ford has sold a lot of replacements but won't issue recall or TSB. The serpentine jumped off the balancer pulley and landed on the rubber mount of the balancer then ate through the sensor. Jan 21, 2010: started up the st, no problem. Drove one block, stopped at stop sign. Made right turn and accelerated, then the st died; 22,000 miles. Just before it lost all power in the engine, I heard what sounded like a turbine quickly decelerating. Now I turn the key, hear the starter clicking, and nothing happens with the engine. Towed to Ford dealership. There was a rattle just before this happened. Ford service dept. Rep called me late yesterday and said it may be attributed to poor installation of harmonic balancer, possibly not torqued correctly; sounded like passing the buck. He needed permission to pull the front of the engine apart to look inside, I gave him a green light to do so. He just called today and said the "key way and sprocket" are bad. He said they come in a kit with a new timing chain; parts and labor after a friendly discount: $925. The truck is already there and apart, so I gave them the go ahead to fix it. Normal price would have been about $1100. Strange, they have a "repair kit" to fix this particular issue, but Ford says there is no problem with the engine! harmonic balancer goes bad, fix it with new and improved one. Then this happens, fix it with new and improved parts from a "repair kit"! Ford says there are no known problems with this engine!.

See all problems of the 2004 Ford Explorer Sport Trac 🔎.

2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac glue to the harmonic balancer and pulley comes apart and pulley breaks loose causing the motor to become unbalance and possibly damage the crank position sensor.

See all problems of the 2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac 🔎.

Started hearing a squeal like a slipping fan belt, checked it out and found the crankshaft pulley separated from the damper, the belt came off the pulley and was riding on the damper. It is now costing me $500 to have the pulley replaced, I have noticed others having this same issue, it seams that this is a defective part and Ford should be required to fix this at their cost. If I had continued to drive without getting it fixed it would have broken the crankshaft timing sensor causing engine shut down and maybe loss of vehicle control.

My truck began making loud whinning noises June 2007, the steering was very tight when using the a/c and check engine light came on, a/c did not cool or get a tight seal for air flow, front tire wear has accelerated causing shaky steering, power steering got worse, although all fluids were new and belts look worn out and with all this I only had 52,120 miles. I had wreck in 07 because of the steering and reported it to my insurance for payment. When all the problems continued to pile up and regular maintenance didn't solve anything, I took it to 3 mechanics and all said ac compressor or power steering needed replacing and other components looked prematurely worn. Finally had ac compressor repaired on 7/26/08 only to find out that the harmonic balancer was the cause of all my problems and had to be replaced as well. The mechanic gave me the parts and said it looked like a weak lego block. I have all the old parts in my trunk and even though my vehicle was repaired, it still runs bad, but the mechanic stated that the harmonic balancer is the initiator, due to poor manufacturing.

Ford Explorer Sport Trac timing belt tensioner broke at 38,000 broke again at 92,000.

See all problems of the 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac 🔎.

Constant loud squeal coming from serpentine belt, replaced by dealership and I had to purchase, still squeal, warranty and replaced, still squealed dealership called Ford, Ford suggested stronger belt that normally does not go in this truck. Currently no squeal. Total belts: 4.