Transit custom 67 plate problems, advice please

[Hyland7777]

Hi all

Little bit of a long story but here goes. I bought a 67 plate transit custom in April 21. 9000 miles on the clock.

No issues with it at all until 2/3 days prior to a 8 hour drive to Cornwall and oil change was needed, managed to get it done the day before we travelled at a cost of £115 so we were all good for the trip.

We got to Cornwall fine and used the van while we were there. On the way home we broke down around Bristol and had an absolute nightmare on the side of the motorway for 11 hours with 4 kids aged 9, 8, 5 and 3 while the aa made a absolute mess of sorting us out.

Finally got home and the van was diagnosed with a snapped timing belt which required a new engine, the dealer we bought it off is a friend so he helped us out and despite technically being out of warranty with only 11,000 miles on the clock by this stage they agreed to replace. They charged me £160 for a cross member and I had to replace the battery as it took 3 months to replace the engine as in their words ‘it’s been stood a while’.

We had a holiday booked to Disney land which I had to hire a vehicle and we had to buy a car to tide us over so although they repaired we still had to fork out £3500 for the time it was off the road.

I’ve now had the van back 3 weeks and now I have an adblue pump failure, which I’m told is an expensive repair and a long waiting time for parts. So another long stint without the vehicle on the road.

So my questions are, is this in anyway related to the work Ford did or should have done? Do I contact Ford? Should I attempt do some of recourse or take the hit on the chin and move on?

The wife now wants to sell as lost all faith in the van anyway, we paid what was too money at the time but since the recent upturn in value we could probably make a few quid and be rid of it. Not sure if we’ve been unlucky or this is just the way with modern vans?

Thanks to anyone whose got to the end and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[woodbutcherbower]

Sorry to hear your tale of woe - but yes, I got all the way to the end.

A failed timing belt at only 11k ????? Premature failure a known issue - but usually only for owners who blindly follow Ford's looney-tunes recommended service intervals and don't change their oil until 36k. The oil gets progressively diluted by diesel being dumped into the sump during failed DPF regens - the diesel attacks and disintegrates the belt - and well ....you know.

Ford have been replacing many, many engines FOC (including vans well out of warranty) both as a veiled admission of guilt, and a general design f**k-up. But fair play to them for that. Most failures don't seem to happen until the 40k+ mark. Sensible owners like me change their oil every 6k and have no issue whatsoever. FYI = Ford recalled all early Euro 6 2-litre vans to have the belts inspected, mine was predictably fine, many others weren't, so had their belts changed FOC. Fair play to Ford once again.

Maybe other members with more mechanical knowledge will correct me, but I don't think an AdBlue pump failure is connected to this any way. I think you just got very, very, very unlucky. I have a 2017/67-plate van which has now done 76k and has been absolutely, utterly flawless from day one. I know just what it's like to lose all faith in something though - be that a van, a football team, or a girlfriend. Once that's gone, there's no going back.

So my advice? Go with your gut. Fix it, tart it up, sell it for as much as you can. Move on. The world isn't short of alternative vehicles.