Three problems related to engine belts and pulleys have been reported for the 2008 Ford Fusion. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2008 Ford Fusion based on all problems reported for the 2008 Fusion.
Idler pulley bolt keeps breaking even with thread locker and it's been an issue with a lot of owners of the same kind of car as I've noticed in forums online.
I have replaced the broken bolt on the idler pulley for the second time in 6 months. This is an annoying issue with this engine. Fortunately it happened on statrt up so we were in the driveway. Had it happened on the highway, the loss of power steering could have easily resulted in a fatal crash. The bolt is poorly designed and needs to be larger and or harder. If this is not fixed someone will eventually be killed. How many deaths does it take to warrant attention by Ford???.
Belt idler pulley attachment bolt broke off while negotiating a corner, detaching the pulley from the front of the motor causing sudden loss of power steering assist, alternator charging, and engine cooling. Ford Fusion equipped with the 2. 3l motor. This issue has now happened multiple times, with multiple parts replaced each time in an attempt to fix the underlying issue. A quick search online reveals this to be a very common problem with the Ford/Mazda 2. 3l 4 cylinder.