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5.0 oil pump belt

3DogKnight

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Does anyone have any info on the oil pump belt on the 2021 5.0? Used to be chain driven but Ford switched to a Kevlar belt. Any thoughts on this as far as reliability and longitivtiy?
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Pedaldude

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Sadly, since this is the first year, only time and experience will tell.

One of the things with belts is that on most maintenance schedules, there’s both a mileage recommendation and a time recommendation, with replacement at whichever comes first. Chains are pretty much usually good for the life of the engine.

If you check the Fordtechmakuloco channel on YouTube, he describes pretty well how Ford plays fast and loose with their maintenance schedules. So don’t be surprised if you need to spend several hours if you do it yourself, or over a grand if you trust a shop to do it; when the time comes to change some belt that provides an imperceptible advantage in the short term. Pretty much every EPA mileage improvement in the last decade has been at the expense of owners and if you factor in the shorter lifespan of modern vehicles along with the added maintenance costs, along with the inefficiencies that go along with those factors, I have little doubt that more oil is being burned in the long run chasing all these new problems for the sake of satisfying a test that doesn’t recognize the real world. Kind of like the early low water usage toilets that used half the water but had to be flushed three to four times as much. It’s the law of unintended consequences.

Ford isn’t alone with this trend, other manufacturers are guilty of exaggerating their maintenance costs at the expense of longevity. Things like ‘sealed’ transmissions with ‘lifetime’ fluids, direct injection that cokes up the intake valves, cylinder deactivation that spontaneously deactivates the entire engine under 100K miles, and other concepts that are either a step backward longevity wise or simply not ready for prime time.

About the only real benefit of the newest generation of trucks is improved safety and performance.

Ford F-150 5.0 oil pump belt C3297035-E41B-4C39-968D-85CBBBFF3DEA
 

maxinike

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i would not worry about belt as some other engine use oil pump belt for a while and no problem. 2.7 use similar system
 
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apMechorse

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Belt instead of chain for oil pump in 2021 Ford F-150 5.0. What do you think??

This was posted in a different thread about this. Seems like mixed opinions, but overall cautiously optimistic. Again, time will tell.
 

UNIKRN150

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This is a pretty MAJOR change to the Coyote.
I can't imagine that they made such a major change to such an iconic engine "willy-nilly".

I'm not too concerned.

But then again, there's the "Mustang" MACH-E so.... ?
 

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NH_Leadfoot

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I had similar concerns when I read about the belt driven oil pump too. I read this thread over at F150forum and I think they put the issue to rest. The guy that actually installs the belts chimed in and stated that Ford has tested this belt to 1100hp and it is a lifetime belt with no service interval.
 

RamblinMan

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I have the 5.0 and am not concerned at all about the belt driven oil pump. Many people think this is some sort of new technology. I read somewhere that Ford has been using belt driven oil pumps since 2008 on some of their European model cars. Volkswagen has been using a belt on some European models as well. In North America I think the Chevy Duramax was the first to use a belt followed by the Coyote. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more vehicles using a belt driven pump in the future.
 

diesel97

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I had similar concerns when I read about the belt driven oil pump too. I read this thread over at F150forum and I think they put the issue to rest. The guy that actually installs the belts chimed in and stated that Ford has tested this belt to 1100hp and it is a lifetime belt with no service interval.
1100hp but for how many years? Remember Ford also thinks there is a thing called "lifetime" gear lube. just saying
 

NH_Leadfoot

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1100hp but for how many years? Remember Ford also thinks there is a thing called "lifetime" gear lube. just saying
Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just relaying the info from the guy that provided it. But I agree that nothing is "lifetime". I've had my share of European cars with 'lifetime' timing chains, which always seem to need replacing around 100k. I do think that modern reinforced belts should be able to go quite some time.
 
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imnuts

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Most manufacturers state that the transmission fluid is "lifetime" fill anymore...
 

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I had similar concerns when I read about the belt driven oil pump too. I read this thread over at F150forum and I think they put the issue to rest. The guy that actually installs the belts chimed in and stated that Ford has tested this belt to 1100hp and it is a lifetime belt with no service interval.
THEY ALSO SAID THAT THE BELT IS MADE FROM KEVLAR AND IS STRONGER THAN THE CHAIN AND THE OIL PUMP IS BILLET ALUMINUM, WHICH IS ALSO IMPROVED FOR 21
 

Bird of prey

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Every NHRA pro stock is running a belt drive oil pump, every cup car today at Martinsville runs a belt driven oil pump.
so it’s not like it’s new technology. I ran one for years, along with the belt driven timing Gear. I would have no concerns with the belt making 100,000 miles.
 

mnstang

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They go over it a bit in this video. They also figured out a way to disable auto start stop and cylinder deactivation for free.

 

UNIKRN150

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Every NHRA pro stock is running a belt drive oil pump, every cup car today at Martinsville runs a belt driven oil pump.
so it’s not like it’s new technology. I ran one for years, along with the belt driven timing Gear. I would have no concerns with the belt making 100,000 miles.
I have no doubt that you're absolutely right but you have to admit... they rebuild those engines as often as we refill our fuel tanks.
 

Pedaldude

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Any mention of ‘Lifetime’ by the OEM manufacturers pretty much means the duration of the manufacturer’s warranty. It’s a lie to make a more expensive vehicle appear cheaper to maintain.

I remember decades ago, when the Italian motorcycle manufacturers Ducati and Moto Guzzi changed their valve service intervals, Moto Guzzi had gone to hydraulic lifters and eliminated a major cost of ownership, in response Ducati changed the interval for their shim under bucket engines. Ducati had done absolutely nothing to their engines other than decide they needed to respond to the competition and figured enough people stretched the service interval already, that it would be safe for them to do it officially.

My concerns are with very long term usage, or complications from suppliers, as in the windshield adhesive issue. It’s a lot harder to f-up a chain than a belt. Just like a properly stored steel wheel will last indefinitely, while a tire on a shelf won’t. The quest for better performance and mpg has really hurt longevity of modern vehicles. Even comparing apples to apples, take a look at a timing chain on a forty year old engine and a timing chain on a modern engine. It’s no wonder that the old timing chains would often outlast the engines and they’ve become consumables on modern engines. I’m not asking manufacturers to make trucks that last forever but it would be nice if they made them to last as long as the trucks they replaced.

I’m already hoping that Ford doesn’t screw up cylinder deactivation as badly as they did with variable valve timing. The system looks a lot like a Jake Brake in reverse, the Jacob’s system is pretty robust but even then, it is a weak link on engines that can go over a million miles. Albeit with old-school maintenance that often send modern cars to the crusher. Though I’m not nostalgic for the days when the neighborhood gas station and repair shop had to be outfitted with a machine shop and foundry (for Babbitt bearings) to keep early cars on the road.
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