Lash adjuster problem????

[Sachiko Ward]

Had the 'Trac brought to the dealer for rough idling. Tech installs computer for a readout...and the feedback I got was low pressure reading for cylinders 1 and 6. I was agitated...the car had ~ 35,000 km only and this???? By the way...except for the rough idle, there were no telltale problem (no knocking sound, no smoke, no whatever)!



They asked permission to open the valve cover to check the valve tappets and cam...and since I had nowhere to go...allowed them to do so. They found one of the rocker arm knocked out of the socket and one valve stuck in the up position. Technician told me that there was a problem with the hydraulic lash adjuster!!!@@!!!???!



I knew Ford had problems but I didn't realize they made weak engines!!!!! The car has not had a lot of mileage and it is not pushed to limits (excessive load carrying or over revving or racing for that matter). In fact I can say that it is actually a grocery getter....



What a frustrating day today!



Anyone had the same problem? I asked the dealer to write a report 'coz I want to write Ford about this...very disappointing reliability!!!

 

[Tom Schindler]

First we heard about this. I do not know of anyone who has had that problem before.





Tom

 

[Gypsy me]

Never heard of anyones trac having that issue as well.... the bright side is they found the problem and can fix it.

 

[mookie]

Since it is a man-made machine there are bound to be problems with it and it is disappointing to the person who owns it, but don't judge hundreds of thousands of engines based on your experience. There are plenty of people that based on their experience would call this engine very reliable, rock solid or the like.



A certain percentage will have hydraulic lash adjuster problems or transmission problems or drivetrain problems, but that is why there are repair shops and mechanics that make a living fixing cars and trucks.



Certain brands may be more reliable than others, that is true, but never think that you will never have a problem with a vehicle (although you may have no problems for a very long time!).



Like GM said, at least now it is identified and it will be fixed.

 

[Richard L]

That is NOT a common problem with the Sport Trac engine. Probably just something that broke since it ran well for 35K km. That is not a lot of mileage/km's for a 2001 model. Do you only drive it on Sunday??



...Rich

 

[Sachiko Ward]

I too was surprised on hearing about the problem and have not seen any similar post here.....so I guess this is an isolated case. I am waiting for a detailed report from the dealer....sadly I can't remove this negative feeling in my head about things....



Thanks for the responses...to RichardL...really you may want to think of it that way as the Trac is used roughly twice a week...covering ~ 100km each run...to the office and back.

 

[Todd Z]

Could be any thing to cause it, Could be bad parts that were installed in Germany where the engine is actually built.....



Who knows, The guy building the engine could have a stomach sickness and forgot those two.....



Sorry to hear about this but believe it or not this is a common problem I have seen on rebuilt engines.



Could also be a low oil issue since you don't use it that much or a poor warm up.....



Todd Z