Started hearing a squeal like a slipping fan belt, checked it out and found the crankshaft pulley separated from the damper, the belt came off the pulley and was riding on the damper. It is now costing me $500 to have the pulley replaced, I have noticed others having this same issue, it seams that this is a defective part and Ford should be required to fix this at their cost. If I had continued to drive without getting it fixed it would have broken the crankshaft timing sensor causing engine shut down and maybe loss of vehicle control.

- Ladson, SC, USA

My truck began making loud whinning noises June 2007, the steering was very tight when using the A/C and check engine light came on, A/C did not cool or get a tight seal for air flow, front tire wear has accelerated causing shaky steering, power steering got worse, although all fluids were new and belts look worn out and with all this I only had 52,120 miles. I had wreck in 07 because of the steering and reported it to my insurance for payment. When all the problems continued to pile up and regular maintenance didn't solve anything, I took it to 3 mechanics and all said ac compressor or power steering needed replacing and other components looked prematurely worn. Finally had ac compressor repaired on 7/26/08 only to find out that the harmonic balancer was the cause of all my problems and had to be replaced as well. The mechanic gave me the parts and said it looked like a weak lego block. I have all the old parts in my trunk and even though my vehicle was repaired, it still runs bad, but the mechanic stated that the harmonic balancer is the initiator, due to poor manufacturing.

- Houston, TX, USA

: the contact stated when the vehicle was started, the check engine light illuminated constantly. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer where the speed control switch, turn signal switch, and oxygen sensor were all replaced.

- Council Bluffs, IA, USA