FORD MOTOR COMPANY AFTERMARKET TRAILER HITCH User Comment / Complaint

I own a 1999 ford escort se. it has less than 32,000 original miles. i was driving the car when it started making a loud vibrating noise from under the hood. as i had previously had to have the motor mounts replaced, when the car was still under warranty, i thought that was the problem. i took the car to my mechanic, not the dealership. on investigation, he discovered that my 4th piston is cracked. when he called jasper engines for the price on a replacement engine, they told him that they had received service bulletins that this was a problem in the 1999 escort engines. i have contacted ford about helping in the cost of replacing the engine and have been told that because the car is more than 5 yrs old they will not help. if they knew there was a problem, the should have to repair it. i don't know what other steps to take and wish to keep the car.