2025 Heritage 2.7 Issue List Growing..

[N0madK1ng]

OOOORRRRR welcome to the land of Bronco enthusiasts that have the ability to see past many easily fixable minor issues to appreciate the excellent, purpose built vehicle that is as a whole. Now am I a little biased having grown up in a Ford town in the Midwest? Well, I have four of them between '02 and '24 model years at the moment and I've very much wanted a Bronco for the last 52 or 53 years. So, apply salt where needed.

@N0madK1ng, give the dealership (or dealerships if you have a bad one) a chance to fix them and make them right. If they do it to your satisfaction and she's steady Eddie beyond those issues, chances are you will love your Bronco. That is provided you understand you have a body on frame truck with removable doors and roof, fairly aggressive OEM AT tires, high clearance suspension, and is built rugged/capable for off roading. Rugged/capable will almost always lead to "less refined". It is not a jelly bean unibody luxury sports car/SUV thing.

If the same or new quality issues keep recurring, dump it. By then you'll know if it's a good fit for you and if the romance deepened with time. Another one will not likely have those issues, or move on to something else better suited to your needs. I hear Toyotas are absolutely flawless. I'll admit that my '06 Tacoma was, but it was also largely unremarkable and a little boring/soulless. Got rid of it for a '10 FORD F-150 Supercab Raptor. Very remarkable, definitely not boring, but also 100% reliable in the time I owned it.

Thanks for your input! I actually had a 21' 4door 2.7 base when they first came out. Waited 18 months from the reservation. Had it for a year and loved it! I sold it because I saw an opportunity to profit which I then used to buy a home. Kept telling myself "I will get another Bronco one day!" and here I am with this beautiful HE. I still love driving it, still makes me happy, I just fucking hate the thought of "when is the next dealer trip". Right now I'm having minor issues compared to some unfortunate others which I'm content with but these little annoyances poke at my enjoyment/fun meter for the car. Eventually I'll reach a point where I feel like it's tainted and I won't have any attachment to it which sucks because I feel like the competition (jeep, 4runner, tacoma) just doesn't appeal to me at all. 4Runner would be my next best choice but man the new gens look like shit unless you dump thousands on them.

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[ThunderFlash]

I just fucking hate the thought of "when is the next dealer trip"

I feel for you. There has to be limits to the joy/grief ratio. I have 5 open recalls and got bit by the fuel pump recall. Left me stranded, but it could have been far worse if it had failed a few minutes earlier or later. It gave me pause about my Bronco love affair. But the original pump lasted 20K+ miles which will be probably 3 years for me if this one fails in a similar time span, the recall will remain until they finally do resolve it, and Ford actually did a good job of towing and fixing it quickly at zero cost to me. It might be rationalization by a Ford fanboy, but we joyfully continue on together. It just warms my heart like no other vehicle I've owned. If this turns into one of those psychotic, but very hot girlfriend situations....hopefully friends will intervene.

 

[ActionZ]

What year? Sounds like you’re talking present tense and I thought that wasn’t a problem anymore.

Yes very much present tense as in confirmed at the dealership yesterday. Now waiting for parts and will be called back to get the repair done when they get it. It's a 2024 black diamond 2.7 that was on the due to the recalls. Bought it in July of this year and drove it off the lot Sep 9th with 300km on the odo.

I know they've redesigned the phasers twice already but it still seems to be an issue. Looks like it's more of the oil delivery system as well rather just the phaser design. They need to make some sort of electric oil pump to fix this it looks like..

 

[ThunderFlash]

They need to make some sort of electric oil pump to fix this it looks like.

I thought I had read somewhere that the oil pumps on the 2.7 are some sort of variable speed gig. Some bit of efficiency gain from it. If that's so and oil delivery is a complicating factor to the phaser issue, it might just be a software revision to increase flow, unless it's a purely mechanical system.

 

[64jmb]

There’s definitely another thread about the cricket noise. Haven’t had it myself yet but others have.

Do you know where?

 

[nc-hiker]

If it makes you feel better, we have both banks of cam phasers go bad on our 2.7 at 1500kms. Now they have to rip apart the engine on a new car. MIC hardtop is already starting to crack, rear defroster fell off, and some cricket sound on the rear somewhere.

All in all still love the car as it's not boring at all and fun to drive. Hopefully the major cam phaser issue won't happen again for a while after it's fixed.

That being said, all new cars are pretty bad compared to cars from a decade ago. Even Toyota has been lacking.

They all made the transition to turbo four's and brand new "infotainment" systems with a bunch of features that most people don't use or want. It's been a rocky road.

 

[ActionZ]

I thought I had read somewhere that the oil pumps on the 2.7 are some sort of variable speed gig. Some bit of efficiency gain from it. If that's so and oil delivery is a complicating factor to the phaser issue, it might just be a software revision to increase flow, unless it's a purely mechanical system.

I'm not a phaser or mechanical engineer but I have been wrenching on my cars for the past 25+ years and can do most repairs with the right equipment and manual. I took what I knew and went at it with AI about this issue. Pretty much it came down to this according to AI after feeding it data and correcting false info:

Yes you could program the ECU to energize the solenoids but since the oil feed is belt driven, it only pumps when the engine starts, so even with a software reflash, there is still so much oil that can go through those small feed ports after the engine starts. The design of the tiny phaser feeder ports are necessary for perhaps performance, efficiency, etc. who knows? They probably can't just enlarge them to allow for more oil flow without affecting other factors.

To combat this, they designed phasers with locking pins to hold the internals in place before the tiny feeders can get enough oil into the phaser galleries. Bad QC on mass production on phaser locking pins maybe cause them to be sometimes defective. Who knows?

Poor maintenance habits can cause sludge or debris to clog the VCT solenoid that controls the oil drain back and/or phaser feeder causing oil to drain too quickly after shutting down or not quick enough after cold start.

Different oils can also attribute to the rattling due to different additives and different HTHS values. Maybe this is why Ford still uses dino oil blend, it has higher HTHS value than a lot of synthetics. This could also be why some ppl are experiencing rattle after change to synthetic like Pennzoil Platinum.

In remedy this issue, ai has suggested redesign phasers to be less mechanically sensitive, and add a one way check valve and accumulator to prevent overnight drain back.

Not sure how much of this is actually plausible or ai is just pulling. Random facts. But it makes sense somewhat. But until a Ford engineer can chime in, we'll never know the truth...

 

[TX-Dennis]

21,000 miles in just under two years so far, and mine has never been back to the dealership for anything. I've had similar experiences with other Fords and Lincolns. Perhaps I'm especially lucky or something.

Mine does have the rear camera recall. No others so far. I have not taken it in for the recall yet. It's never given me any problems, so there's no rush as far as I'm concerned. I will get it done eventually, probably.

 

[VirginiaHeritage]

Do you know where?

This is one of them…

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/chirp-sound-from-under-driver-dash-engine-area-2025.118513/

 

[Trail_Runner]

My 2022 2.7 with 33,000 miles has always had a slight coolant smell. Dealer pressure checked and scoped the engine for leaks. Nothing found.

I have been watching the coolant level, no change

 

[N0madK1ng]

My 2022 2.7 with 33,000 miles has always had a slight coolant smell. Dealer pressure checked and scoped the engine for leaks. Nothing found.

I have been watching the coolant level, no change

Dealer just did all this with mine yesterday and are saying the same thing. They added dye to the system so I'm going to see if I can spot anything when I get it back but still frustrating because there is clearly a damn coolant smell when the engine gets hot. The fact that they are saying they don't smell it is annoying.

 

[ThunderFlash]

The fact that they are saying they don't smell it is annoying.

FWIW, my WT typically runs in the 185 to 195°F range WITH the A/C button active. If I turn that A/C button off, my temps can climb to 230°F or higher under the right conditions. Maybe see your yours is behaving similarly and if there is any correlation to that smell, oooo, that smell!

Edit: The A/C button changes the behavior of my lower radiator shutters....and I'm not a complete nut case, that last part is a Skynyrd song reference if you didn't know.

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