2018 Navigator getting 6th set of Cam Phasers.

[Artie]

One of the the camshafts was scored, so thats what dictated the engine swap. An oil passage was plugged with sealant and the cam and phasers possibly ran dry at times. That came that way from the factory when this was brand new.

8 weeks and counting........

How can they tell it came from the factory like that instead of sealant plugging a passage from one of the 5 times they went in to replace the phasers? I’d be shocked if a factory fresh cam had scouring and made it into an engine for assembly, that would require a QC failure of near unimaginable proportions.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

How can they tell it came from the factory like that instead of sealant plugging a passage from one of the 5 times they went in to replace the phasers? I’d be shocked if a factory fresh cam had scouring and made it into an engine for assembly, that would require a QC failure of near unimaginable proportions.

I’d bet he meant that the cam was damaged due to the lack of oil flow at times, caused by sealant in an oil passage?

 

[lv2drive]

i also agree he meant the “culprit”was sealant blocking a passage (that was from the factory initially) that then caused the scoring & continuous repetitive phaser failures

 

[Artie]

I’d bet he meant that the cam was damaged due to the lack of oil flow at times, caused by sealant in an oil passage?

Yeah that’s what I’m thinking as well but from one of the repairs. It’s been taken apart so many times I’d be shocked if there wasn’t some issues from that. The cam phaser issue is so common it’s too crazy to think it would all come from sealant from the factory, if that was the case it would result in a recall or class action lawsuit by now. I think it’s poor cam phaser design and then subsequent issues from the multiple repairs.

 

[lv2drive]

i think thats giving too much credit to ford here -

i can’t say whether the phaser repair even uses the sealant in question, or if it’s only the factory build - im sure someone else more informed may know the answer to this...

& i would imagine that the phaser quality / design is an issue here -

however i also wouldn’t be surprised if a portion /series of these engines had legit quality control issues during a certain build period where “factory sealant” excess would unintentionally block a poorly designed flow portal leading to repeating the same repairs without fixing the root problem. i mean, let’s be honest, they can’t even line up the doors & trim on a good percentage of these - what does that say about precision internals? doesn’t make me feel very confident. i know so many people that dumped their various 3.5 EB vehicles due to recurring phaser issues. combine that with a lesser quality phaser design & there’s your group of customers with serious beef.

it also may not be a class action YET because of Ford evading the actual underlying flow design issue / that seems to be more prevalent for a certain percentage of engines before QC caught on to the real problem which IMO is why some vehicles don’t follow the “official”bad parts build timeline ford offers us.

honestly we as customers are pretty much in the dark on the real main cause for this, which Ford no doubt keeps intentionally fuzzy
/ blames on parts, to help avoid any such class action or mass owner lawsuits. if i were them i would avoid at all costs any true pinpointing of the root problem is as to avoid such a situation - hence the constant deluge of “sure we can fix it, new parts design” warranty repairs in the millions, likely much cheaper than potential buybacks or reparations VW style.

i think for some of us it’s a perfect storm, & deadman leads the pack.

 

[Artie]

Up until now my Navigator has been great, I believe the Lincoln’s get a little more attention in the fit and finish arena and the service from the dealer is killer. If not for those two items, the fact that it’s been paid off for a while now, and the extended warranty and maintenance plan we have it’s likely I’d fix the phasers and dump it. I have a Land Cruiser inbound now so I’m curious to see what real build quality and reliability look like.

 

[Deadman]

I’d bet he meant that the cam was damaged due to the lack of oil flow at times, caused by sealant in an oil passage?

EXACTLY.

 

[Deadman]

How can they tell it came from the factory like that instead of sealant plugging a passage from one of the 5 times they went in to replace the phasers? I’d be shocked if a factory fresh cam had scouring and made it into an engine for assembly, that would require a QC failure of near unimaginable proportions.

Th factory engine build had the sealant in it and that plugged an oil passage early in its life. Thats why it scored the camshaft..... Dealer says so because it was never taken this far down before and somehow this was from new according to the disassembly procedures etc...

 

[Artie]

Th factory engine build had the sealant in it and that plugged an oil passage early in its life. Thats why it scored the camshaft..... Dealer says so because it was never taken this far down before and somehow this was from new according to the disassembly procedures etc...

Wow, I’m kinda shocked they admitted to that. I would imagine Ford corporate would want to have that engine torn down and keep hush hush about the findings.

 

[Deadman]

I refuse to dump this thing, I'm going to see too it that Ford gets it RIGHT! lol. They provided the warranty, so they can pony up until they get it fixed. I don't need it, I have other vehicles, but its getting annoying. I wrote them a check for it when I bought it, so I'm not paying any interest on it, but its been a long time in the shop!
Its got a 8 year 125K warranty on it, so Ford's got a lot of years to keep on this one! lol.