Plastic (cracked) Valve Covers…Really Ford?

[BlakeMAX2019]

Took our 2019 MAX in for a couple recalls. Upon inspection, They notified me that we had cracked valve covers and another seal was bad. I’m beside myself that a car with 57kmi has cracked valve covers!? Really Ford…Really? I know many cars have plastic valve covers but this ridiculous….planned obsolescence…doesn’t matter if the 3.5 Ecoboost is strong engine that’ll last 200kmi…the cheap cooling lines, plastic parts everywhere, it’ll bankrupt you to keep it running to 200k. They want $2300 to do it. What is interesting is we had the oil/filter change in January and they never mentioned it?

 

[Bmac1955]

Yes, poor decision on Ford cutting costs. If you have had since new and have not had the cam phasers done you will likely run into having that done at some point. I would seriously look into an extended warranty through Ford. It may be a costly item to purchase but Phasers and Trans repair might be the next item for you which are big ticket items. Fords design for parts are just set to failure at some point of vehicle lifetime. They save money with parts and yet fail after warranty period always leave owners with remorse.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Took our 2019 MAX in for a couple recalls. Upon inspection, They notified me that we had cracked valve covers and another seal was bad. I’m beside myself that a car with 57kmi has cracked valve covers!? Really Ford…Really? I know many cars have plastic valve covers but this ridiculous….planned obsolescence…doesn’t matter if the 3.5 Ecoboost is strong engine that’ll last 200kmi…the cheap cooling lines, plastic parts everywhere, it’ll bankrupt you to keep it running to 200k. They want $2300 to do it. What is interesting is we had the oil/filter change in January and they never mentioned it?

The valve covers estimate and a seal estimate was $2,300? That seems like a very high estimate. What was the breakdown of parts and labor?

Being a cynic - I’d bet the valve covers were cracked before the power train warranty expired, and now the dealer can hose you on the repairs.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

Took our 2019 MAX in for a couple recalls. Upon inspection, They notified me that we had cracked valve covers and another seal was bad. I’m beside myself that a car with 57kmi has cracked valve covers!? Really Ford…Really? I know many cars have plastic valve covers but this ridiculous….planned obsolescence…doesn’t matter if the 3.5 Ecoboost is strong engine that’ll last 200kmi…the cheap cooling lines, plastic parts everywhere, it’ll bankrupt you to keep it running to 200k. They want $2300 to do it. What is interesting is we had the oil/filter change in January and they never mentioned it?

Dealers everywhere, regardless of make, will puff up out of warranty repairs needed when doing recalls. Are you leaking any significant oil? Any oil smoking on the exhaust manifolds? Does the recall require them to open the valve covers?

 

[SyndicateZ]

My passenger side valve cover was cracked too. Its actually common issue . I only had 77,000 miles

 

[Calidad]

I wonder if dealers over torque them to crack them and fleece owners?

 

[SyndicateZ]

I wonder if dealers over torque them to crack them and fleece owners?

Seems to be the case. Of all the covers I have heard of being cracked they all had previous cam phaser replacements including mine

 

[BlakeMAX2019]

Yes, poor decision on Ford cutting costs. If you have had since new and have not had the cam phasers done you will likely run into having that done at some point. I would seriously look into an extended warranty through Ford. It may be a costly item to purchase but Phasers and Trans repair might be the next item for you which are big ticket items. Fords design for parts are just set to failure at some point of vehicle lifetime. They save money with parts and yet fail after warranty period always leave owners with remorse.

Thanks for the comment, yes had since new, cam phasers and tranny were done at 30k or so. Looking back, should’ve got the extended warranty!

 

[BlakeMAX2019]

Seems to be the case. Of all the covers I have heard of being cracked they all had previous cam phaser replacements including mine

Yep we had cam phasers done at 30k or so.

 

[BlakeMAX2019]

My passenger side valve cover was cracked too. Its actually common issue . I only had 77,000 miles

Seems to be the case, I wonder if all car companies these days use plastic valve covers? I’m sure a bunch do