Soft Duratec blocks?!

[Jeff210R]

I don't know whether I'm just unlucky or whether Ford use crap alloy for their blocks.  One of the sump bolt holes stripped when I took it off to repair a leak a couple of months ago; unfortunately whilst the weep at the timing cover was cured another one developed at the back!  When I put the sump back after the second resealing today another bloody bolt hole stripped!  I've been able to fix both with the preferred bodge of copper wire in the holes without having to tap new threads and both have torqued up!

But I'm curious as to whether anyone else has experienced this problem?

If it leaks again I think it can stay put as otherwise I'll end up with more copper in the block than aluminium!

Jeff

[7 wonders of the world]

Are you sure your using the correct torque data with a correctly functioning and calibrated torque wrench...?

Are the threads clean with no debris causing the fixings to bottom out..?

Ford metallogy is very good 

Never had a problem on the Duratec

[David_Long]

There is some anecdotal evidence that some of the last engines coming out of Brazil were of pretty poor quality, particularly the castings. But I suspect a casting weak enough to strip threads would have other problems too. I'd check bolt length is correct and using all available thread and that you are using the correct torque of 25 NM (18 ft-lbs) max.

[ScottR400D]

I'd check too that there's no sealant in the bottom of the holes and that whoever put the original bolts in didn't use some sort of HD thread locker. 

[cobar]

I had a similar experience a couple of years ago with a block manufactured in 2002.  One of the long bolts that attaches the sump to the back of the block stripped at about 5 ft-lbs of torque. The torque wrench was set to 16 ft-lbs, this was the last bolt in the sequence, and I had just started to turn it -- it was barely more than finger tight -- when it simply continued to spin with no increased resistance.  At the time, I attributed it to metal fatigue from prior sump installations over the years (I think this was the fourth time), or perhaps the machine shop had used that threaded port to hold down the block during a machining process and over torqued it.  Annoying, yes, but easily repaired with a Heli-Coil.

-John