My 2016 Ford Fusion has about 29,000 miles. I brought it to Valvoline for an oil change where they informed me I had metal shavings in my oil. Brought it to the dealership where I purchased the car (still under warranty) and they also found metal shavings in the oil. They told me that the crank shaft was rubbing against the aluminum block. In order to be covered under warranty, I needed to submit my oil change receipts, which I did. Then I was informed that they needed to do a full engine tear down for the warranty. Fast forward two months and they still hadn’t done it. Finally they call today and say they changed the oil, took it for a test drive and no longer found metal shavings in the oil so I’m all set. No explanation for how the metal shavings originally appeared or why they no longer believe the crank shaft is rubbing against the aluminum block.
This all seems suspicious to me. So my question is what could have caused the metal shavings to appear in the oil? Does it seem likely that all of a sudden the car is working properly just by doing another oil change? I’m not getting straight answers from the dealership and wanted to see what other people thought.
2 metal parts, at least one moving rubbing and making shavings. What type of metal ARE the shavings? Aluminum? (not magnetic) Cast iron? (magnetic) or Bronze (non magnetic)? And how did they see them? In the oil? The answer lies in the type of metal. NONE of them are exactly good if present. And NO, a simple oil change won’t magically fix it. You need to KEEP ALL your receipts and copies of the complaint. I don’t think this will end well for your Fusion.
You beef with dealer needs to go to the Ford Zone rep and possibly get yourself a lawyer depending on the outcome.
Shiny and almost floating is alumunum. Orangy-bronze is bearing material and cast iron just makes the oil black. My guess is you saw aluminum in the oil.
So, again, that’s not good. You have a record of the complaint. Your oil change receipts (you gave them a copy only, right) and the repair ticket from the dealer. Call the Ford zone rep and explain. You are in the right.
Before calling the “Zone Rep” I would be sure to get the oil change receipts if they are the originals back in my hands first before they are destroyed.
Yes, I only emailed them copies of my oil change receipts. Also, here is the picture they sent when they said the crank shaft was rubbing with the aluminum block
I don’t understand how there can be any reply from Ford other than “you have a new engine, sorry for the delay.” Metal chips will destroy the oil pump and a bad pump will quickly result in the engine becoming a piece of scrap. The details of what is scraping what are not the concern of the owner of a new, properly maintained car.
hmmm … I can see the metal shavings (which appear to be aluminum to me) in the second photo, bu I don’t see where the interference was occurring in the first photo. I do see something unusual just to the left of the top main bearing bolt, is that what they mean?
I think if I had this problem I’d ask them to replace the oil pump, do a performance and compression test, and if that all turned out ok, then keep sieving the used engine oil for metal debris going forward. If nothing appears, and there’s no compression or performance problems I’d say whatever was interfering has ground itself off already, and the issue is resolved. A good argument can be made for just replacing the engine. But doing that introduces a lot of variables you don’t have now, and as an owner I’d want to avoid those if at all possible. imo the best solution is to keep the original engine that was installed at the Ford factory if at all possible.
The issue is not resolved, it will take years if ever for all the shavings to be flushed out. That’s assuming there is no more grinding in this defective engine.
Seeing this car is still under full factory warranty, I’d want the new engine.
Called Ford (company, not the dealership). The only thing they would do is transfer me to the dealership and insisted I work with them despite the dealership refusing to do any work on the car. Is there any other number I should call?
The spot on the crankshaft counterweight as @George_San_Jose1 pointed out is the only thing I saw too.
There may have been a casting flaw that protruded to produce the shavings that got by the inspectors. But I cannot imagine how it got past the person that assembled that engine. I would think that the first time the assembler tried to turn the crankshaft…it would have bound up.
Look in your owners manual. There should be some numbers to call if you’re not receiving satisfactory service from your dealership (like a regional zone representative)
Is that a filter sock hanging down? Forgive my ignorance about this engine but that’s what it looks like. Regardless, I still would not want to live with an engine that had this kind of interference fit rubbing going on. But if that is a filter sock, it should be mostly confined to the pan area. I’d be all over every available ear to bend to get a new engine in the car, at no expense to me. I’m kind of astounded they would dismiss it so readily. The manufacturer owns the warranty. How can they tell you to go work with the dealer on it? Next step, legal threats and begrudging arbitration is my prediction…
I’m going against the grain here. The dealer did more than just an oil change, they at least removed the oil pan or you would not have those pictures.
I doubt that you spoke directly to the mechanic that worked on your engine but to a service advisor instead. Service advisors may or may not, usually not, have some mechanical knowledge.
My guess is that there was some flashing that didn’t get removed from the block that the crankshaft or rod caps hit and created the shavings. Most if not all shavings stayed in the oil pan because they could not go through the pickup screen and they are heavier than the oil so they would settle in the bottom of the pan.
The mechanic would have removed any remaining flashing and cleaned the oil pan removing any more shavings. Then he would have put it back together and put in fresh oil.
Any shavings that would have gotten through the pick up screen would not likely damage the oil pump because they are a soft metal and the oil pump has large clearances in it. They would then go straight to the oil filter where they would definitely get trapped, so the rest of your engine is protected.
You have sufficient documentation that there was a factory defect, keep it just in case. But I don’t think you will ever have a problem.
If the metal chips in the oil pan are a “one in a million” occurrence for Ford replacing the engine would be a trivial expense. On the other hand if Ford recognizes that the OP’s situation is just the beginning of an onslaught of complaints they will avoid rushing into a complete replacement in hopes of downplaying the situation and avoiding the expense of replacing possibly thousands of engines when the vast majority might operate without noticeable problems until out of warranty.
Does anyone know what a computerized “problem avoidance” program would see as the best solution in such a situation?
Are you certain that the oil pump housing and gears are steel? But even if the were and all the chips are aluminum the close tolerances in a pump makes it subject to interference by even soft aluminum.
The gears are, one of them is usually part of the crankshaft if it has a timing belt. It’s separate if it has a timing chain, but the housing is aluminum. Even though, I don’t think it will be an issue.
