NHTSA Complaint #11551113 — 2016 FORD FIESTA

At 90,000 miles the Engine Timing Crankshaft Sprocket (i.e Crankshaft Gear,Part #: BE8Z6306AD) holding the timing belt on the vehicle has failed. This resulted in the timing belt backing off the cam gears and coming in contact with and melting through the plastic timing belt cover. Luckily, there was an audible grinding noise coming from the engine that alerted us the problem before the timing belt became dislodged. On further review there are numerous cases on the internet of this situation occurring. Please see examples at: [XXX] , [XXX] , and [XXX] . The service interval for this component established by Ford is 150,000 miles. Therefore, these situations represent an early failure of this engine component and poses a safety risk to drivers if the belt comes off track or breaks during operation because the vehicle could immediately lose power. The attached image shows the timing belt melting through the plastic timing cover. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)