Hi all,
Last February I bought a 1999 V 2.0 Ghia X Mondeo. As a matter of course I put it into my local Ford dealer for a cambelt change and a service. I rang them up, told them what I had and said I needed a cambelt change. They quoted me a price, I asked if that included everything I needed, I booked it in and they did the work.
Couple of months later I was doing some reading and found numerous postings etc to the effect that on a Zetec engine, it's very important that the tensioners are changed at the same time as the cambelt. Wary of this, I dug out my invoice and found I'd been billed only for a belt - no tensioners. A quick call to them revealed they did not change the tensioners becuase on the later Blacktop 2.0 Zetec, tensioner change was not required.
Sceptically, I rang the other Ford dealer in town and 'enquired' about a cambelt change. I was informed that they WOULD change the tensioners as 'its very important sir'.
Somewhat confused, I called the Ford technical centre and asked their opinion. After a bit of time on hold, they'd spoken to a 'Master Technician' whose opinion was apparently that on Blacktop Zetec engines, the tensioners are merely inspected and replaced if required, not as a matter of course as is the case on the Silvertop Zetec engines.
I was reasonably happy, and forgot about it. But since then I keep reading the same thing all over the web 'Make sure you get the tensioners changed!'.
I'm really interested in how I can get the definitive answer here. SHOULD my cambelt change have involved tensioners? When I booked the car in I had no idea what tensioners were even - thought that for the first service and belt change that doing it at Ford would be the safest way to do it. Had I been called and told it needed doing I'd obviously have said yes.
So what do I do now? Stop being so paranoid and stop worrying about it, or change the belt again less than 10,000 miles later, this time including a tensioner change?
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Can't give a tech answer but given my recent experience (which you will have read about here) I would always change the adjusters...
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Ford should know better than this the main dealer service is inconsistent to say the least. When the belt was changed on my Zetec-E unit (BLACK-TOP- Zetec revision no3) the tension rollers were changed as well. Apparently it is available as one complete kit the belt and pulley items required for the change.
If a pulley is to fail on the Zetec-E unit and damage was to result the cost to repair would be astronomical I have always considered it not to be worthwhile to just change the belt.
If truth were told your dealer has let you down and it goes to show that there is no customer support backup from Ford when the consumer needs help. Changing the belt on the Zetec-E is not an easy job and while the car is stripped down it is a sensible choice to replace the pulleys for peace of mind at least.
On the silver cam covered version it is mission critical to ensure than these items are changed.
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So what should I do? The expense of having to have it changed AGAIN when I thought I'd minimised the chances for mistake by getting Ford to do it is not something I welcome.
I doubt I've got any comeback here, have I?
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You could say to the dealer, perhaps in writing .....
" I asked for my Mondeo's cambelt and it's ancilliaries to be changed recently however I have determined that you did not replace the tentioners when you replaced the cambelt as is recomended by Ford, accordingly I trust that you will cover the cost of any damage that might be caused if the tentioners should fail before the next cambelt change is due:
........ and see what response you get.
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Cheddar is right, the responsibility and accountability needs to be fired back at the dealer. I would hand this written document to the dealer principal and ensure that the date and time this is carried out is noted. You could always post this recorded delivery and keep the notification receipt.
I would also complain to Ford about these unacceptable differing standards in quality and service. Good luck with this.
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