1996 Ford Escort

I WAS DRIVING UP A HILL ON MY WAY TO WORK. I HEARD A BANG AND THEN A CLATTERING SOUND. I WAS ABLE TO GET THE CAR TO WORK AND THEN TO MCLEAN FORD A TOTAL OF ABOUT 35 MILES. THEY LOOKED AT THE CAR THAT FRIDAY AND SAID THEY'D HAVE TO LOOK FUTHER ON MONDAY. THEY ALSO TOLD ME IT DIDN'T LOOK GOOD. THEY SAID SOMETHING ABOUT A PISTON. ON MONDAY AFTERNOON THEY CALLED ME AND SAID THAT THE ENGINE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. HOWEVER, THEY SAID THEY HAD GOOD NEWS - FORD WOULD PAY FOR $2,000 OF THE REPAIR. MY QUESTION IS WHY WOULD FORD PAY $2,000. WAS IT BECAUSE OF A "HIDDEN" WARRENTY. IF SO THEN WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO PAY THE REMAINDER $698.39. S THERE SUCH A THING A "HIDDEN WARRENTIES". IF IT WAS A DEFECT IN THE ENGINE WHY SHOULD THE CONSUMER HAVE TO PAY?*AK

# 4 PISTON DISENTIGRATED RUINING ENGINE BLOCK. STOPED FOR RED LIGHT AND CAR ACTED AS IF IT WAS GOING TO STALL. DROVE TO BANK PARKING LOT 1 BLOCK AWAY AND TURNED CAR OF. TRIED TO RESTART CAR AND MADE ENGINE NOISE. TURNED CAR OFF CALLED WESTERN SLOPE FORD TO SPEAK WITH SERVICE DEPARTMENT TO SEE IF I COULD GET IT TOWED INTO GARAGE. NO RETURN CALL FROM THEM. HAD ANOTHER SHOP TOW AND INSPECT. *AK

CONSUMER HAS MULTIPLE PROBLEMS WITH VEHICLE. ENGINE LIGHT STAYS ON & THE VEHICLE WON'T PASS INSPECTION IF THE DEALER CAN'T FIND OUT WHAT WAS WRONG WITH IT. THERE WERE GAS SMELLS COMING FROM HATCHBACK. HOWEVER, DEALER COULDN'T DETERMINE WERE IT WAS COMING FROM. *AK AS OF THIS DATE 9-13-00 ENGINE LIGHT STILL ON, CONSUMER REPLACED OXYGEN SENSOR, TIMING BELT AND WATER PUMP. KINK WAS FOUND IN GAS LINE CAUSED SMELL COMING FROM FRONT OF THE CAR. BRACKET OFF OF MOTOR MOUNT. *YH

SEAT BELT BECAME STUCK MIDWAY ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS, FINALLY IT CAME OFF THE TRACK. I DO NOT HAVE A SEAT BELT TO WEAR NOW. ENGINE CHECK LIGHT PROBLEM BEGAN AT UNDER 10,OOO MI VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT INTO DEALER WAS REPAIRED (MAYBE? OR WAS IT ONLY RESET?) OXYGEN SENSOR' S (2 )HAD TO BE REPLACED TO PASS EMISSION TEST. NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. PASSENGER DOOR HAD PROBLEM TOOK TO DEALER WHO SORT OF FIXED IT. AT LEAST ONE COULD OPEN IT FROM THE INSIDE. BUT IT WAS DIFFICULT. EVENTUALLY PROBLEM RESURFACED. I HAVE NOTICED THAT MANY OF THE PROBLEMS I HAVE HAD WITH THE SEAT BELTS AND WITH THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ARE NOT AN UNCOMMON OCCURENCE. I AM A CHICAGO POLICE OFFICER AND I NOTICE THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ALWAYS ON IN THE FORD SQUAD CARS. THERE ARE PROBLEMS WHICH NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED. THE SEAT BELT ISSUE NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY. UNTIL I SAW YOUR WEB INFO IN A MAGAZINE, I WAS NOT AWARE THERE WAS ANY RECOURSE OTHER THAN TO COMPLAIN TO THE MANUFACTURER WHICH IS FRUITLESS. PERHAPS YOUR NUMBER AND INFORMATION NEED TO BE LISTED ON THE VEHICLE INFORMATION BOOKS THAT ARE SUPPLIED TO NEW CAR BUYERS. I ONLY WONDER HOW MANY OTHER CONSUMERS HAVE HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN REPORTED OTHER THAN TO FORD'S CUSTOMER SERVICE. *AK .

FIRST HEARD A EXPLOSION IN THE ENGINE, AFTER THET THE ENGINE RAN ROUGH 5-10 SEC AND SHUTDOWN. PERFORMED THE COMPRESSION TEST AND FOUND CYLENDER 4 COMPRESSION AT 0(ZERO) AND 30% LEAKED. REPLACED THE ENGINE WITH A NEW ONE. PROBLEMS REPETED WITH THE NEW ENGINE TWO TIMES( ONE TIME IN THE TOWN ROAD AND ANATHER TIME ON THE HIGHWAY). BOTH TIMES THE ENGINE WAS SHUTDOWN. *AK