The new Ford Bronco is a great entry to the SUV segment, taking the Wrangler to task after that model had the room all to itself for decades. Nevertheless, there have been some teething problems with Ford’s off-roader, ranging from roof issues to the typical supply-chain nuisances that have been plaguing all manufacturers. One other headache has begun to surface: multiple instances of the 2.7L EcoBoost V6 engine giving up the ghost just a few miles into its tenure.
According to multiple sources, roughly four dozen owners of Bronco SUVs powered by the turbocharged six-cylinder have chronicled their woes on the Bronco6G message forum, with multiple people pointing at valves being a potential culprit contributing to the engines going kablooey! long ahead of their best-before date. This outlet covered rumblings of these problems a few months ago; since that time, ranks of disgruntled owners have roughly doubled.
During the span of time in which these failures apparently occurred – for about six months in the middle of the 2021 calendar year – Ford sold roughly 20,000 Broncos, though it’s not immediately evident how many were the 2.7L model. Estimating the take rate for that engine was slightly higher than the four-banger, a total of roughly 50 defective engines places failure rate at one-half of one percent.
Still, anything higher than zero for a major fault such as this is too many, especially in a hotly anticipated model like the Bronco whose fan base tends to be quite rabid. And especially when those fans now reportedly have enough data that they’re tallying up the window when, on average, you can expect your 2.7L to go.
What happens when valves fail in an engine? Generally, the head of a valve could separate from its stem, leading to a loss of compression when the engine can no longer close the intake or exhaust valve correctly during the combustion process. In some instances, a wayward piece of metal from the valve could drop into the cylinder itself, a place in which solid objects are unwanted since it is the piston’s job to compress an air and atomized fuel mixture to make power. Metal, as you may know, doesn’t compress very well at all, so its presence could lead to massive internal damage.
There are also complaints made on the NHTSA website, which irritatingly uses an image of the Bronco Sport when referring to the full-size Bronco. The latest complaint, made on May 3 and referencing an incident from December, alleges “the engine dropped a valve” after just 2,000 miles (3,200 km).
On the plus side, Ford’s official comment, as reported by The Drive, notes that the automaker is bearing full responsibility: “We are aware of a select number of engines with this concern and we are investigating. If any customers are experiencing issues, they will be covered under the vehicle’s 5 year, 60,000-mile powertrain warranty.” That same outlet went on to note that some of the Bronco6G forum users say they’ve been compensated with a longer powertrain warranty, and “others are praising Ford for how they are handling the issue by working closely with affected customers despite the lengthy repair time.”
Keyword: More owners report low-mile Ford Bronco engines grenading