Another 2.7 bites the dust...

Folks,

I wanted to document the saga of my Bronco Badlands suffering a catastrophic engine failure while out 4-wheeling.

My Bronco is a 2022 Badlands Sasquatch, built in January 2022, with just over 20,000 miles. Ironically, I had just picked it up from the dealer after completing the 20K service 4 days earlier.

In some ways, I was lucky with the timing. I had already driven about 2.5 hours on the highway to reach the trailhead without any issues. The trail itself was nothing extreme — essentially a dirt fire road, no obstacles, nothing technical. About 15 minutes into the run, I heard a loud BANG. The dash immediately lit up like a Christmas tree and the engine shut off.

I got out, walked around the front, and quickly saw oil pouring from the underside of the Bronco. After a quick assessment, it was clear there was nothing that could be repaired in the field. We ended up dragging it back to the trailhead, and I had AAA tow it to my dealership’s service department.

It took a few days to get the Bronco looked at, but it’s now confirmed that this was a catastrophic internal engine failure. Further inspection showed that a connecting rod exited through the oil pan, so there was significant internal damage.

Discussions with my dealer and @Ford Motor Company are now underway regarding a warranty engine replacement.

After nearly two weeks, I’ve finally been provided a loaner, so at least I’m mobile again. The loaner is currently approved for 10 days, which I don’t expect will be sufficient. Realistically, I’m anticipating at least a month, possibly longer if engines are backordered — but we’ll see. Hopefully I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

I’ll continue to update this thread as things progress, in case it helps anyone else down the road.