2015 ecoboost engine advice

[Pebbleheed]

I’ve gone from a 2012 ecoboost to a 2015 ecoboost (both 1.0 and 125bhp). 

The engines look different. 

Did they change the design of the engine for the 2015 model?

Does it have the same issues as the previous engine with coolant loss?

I was checking to see if the degas hose had been done on the recall but I can’t tell worryingly as it’s a different looking engine. 

Anyone know?

[Russ]

There have been design changes/upgrades between the years. Ford will never admit it but you can draw your own conclusions as to the reason. From 15 plate onwards there ‘appears’ to be less of a problem with the de-gas hose but then again time will tell !

keep your eyes on the coolant reservoir as they’re prone to cracking and loss of coolant due to the heat involved from the engine/turbo.

My son has a 1litre black edition 140ps 15plate and so far it’s been good to him. 🤞🏼

assuming you have put your registration/vin into FordEtis to check for any recall?

[JW1982]

On the 1.0 ECOboost in the Focus MK3.5 Ford introduced some minor changes. For example the design of some of the coolant hoses (including the degas hose). However the biggest change was the addition of a cilinder head temperature sensor. In case of a big coolant leak overheating of the engine (which is not detected by the coolant temperature sensor) will be detected by the cilinder head temperature sensor.

On the other hand Ford stopped installing the intercooler fan as standard from production date 16-11-2015 onwards. From this production date the intercooler fan is only installed on cars that have a factory fitted towbar. When installing an aftermarket towbar the intercooler fan must also be installed (TSB 18-2144) . 

In my opinion it was a very bad idea of Ford to stop installing the intercooler fan as standard. the intercooler fan seriously reduces the intake air temperature and also the engine temperature at low speeds (for example in heavy traffic). To prevent problems it is a good idea to install the intercooler fan as a precaution. 

 

TSB 18-2144 contains the following text.

Quote

NOTE: C-MAX 2015.5 vehicles built between 08.11.2016 and 31.01.2018: Due to missing wiring connector it is not possible to retrofit a charge air cooler (CAC) fan, so aftermarket tow bar installation is NOT possible.

NOTE: For C-MAX 2015.5 vehicles built from 01.03.2018 onwards with 1.0L EcoBoost engine upgrade it is currently NOT possible to install the aftermarket towbar. A final technical solution is under development.

The aftermarket towbar requires the installation of a charge air cooler (CAC) fan. All Focus 2015 built from 16.11.2015 (build code FM) and all C-MAX 2015.5 build from 01.03.2015 (build code FD) onwards with 1.0L EcoBoost engine (except vehicles with factory installed towbar) are NOT equipped with the charge air cooler (CAC) fan.

At high engine loads and low driving speeds, it may be the case that the normal head wind is not sufficient to ensure optimal charge air cooling, resulting in engine overheating and intermittent reduction of engine power. Under these conditions, the cooling fan installed on the charge air cooler is activated by the Powertrain Control Module (PCM).

Should a customer express a desire to have an aftermarket towbar installed on the vehicle, the required charge air cooler (CAC) fan should be installed as well. This bulletin describes the procedure necessary to install the corresponding components.

 

[Pebbleheed]

Mine was made 03.03.15 so I should still have the intercooler fitted?

Ettis shows no outstanding service recalls. Would that suggest my hose etc has been modified? 

Also, is the older EcoBoost engine slightly quicker?

We have the facelift Ecoboost cars at work and I found them not to have the same poke as my older pre facelift ecoboost engine. Now I also own a facelift I’ve found it also feels the same. The older ecoboost, while not massively noticeable, felt slightly quicker than the facelift models. It’s also £10 cheaper to tax the facelift so I assumed there was a change that could slightly affect performance. 

[TomsFocus]

Euro 6 emissions came in September 2014 ('64 reg) so the later cars will have tighter emission maps on the PCM.  There won't be any less max power at the top end, but minor differences to acceleration ect.

[JW1982]

17 minutes ago, Pebbleheed said:

Mine was made 03.03.15 so I should still have the intercooler fitted?

Ettis shows no outstanding service recalls. Would that suggest my hose etc has been modified? 

 

Based on the production date your car should have the intercooler fan. However it is always worth to take a look at the intercooler and check whether the intercooler fan is present or not.

There were never any recalls for the 1.0 ECOboost in the Focus MK3.5.

The degas hose recall of the Focus MK3 was only applicable to a limitid number of vehicles that had the affected type of degas hose. 

[Pebbleheed]

33 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Euro 6 emissions came in September 2014 ('64 reg) so the later cars will have tighter emission maps on the PCM.  There won't be any less max power at the top end, but minor differences to acceleration ect.

It’s noticeable. The non-facelift takes off quicker than the facelift if pushed. 

But as I don’t tend to have a heavy foot I don’t really notice it that often. 

Still prefer my facelift to the non-facelift model. 

[Pebbleheed]

25 minutes ago, JW1982 said:

 

Based on the production date your car should have the intercooler fan. However it is always worth to take a look at the intercooler and check whether the intercooler fan is present or not.

There were never any recalls for the 1.0 ECOboost in the Focus MK3.5.

The degas hose recall of the Focus MK3 was only applicable to a limitid number of vehicles that had the affected type of degas hose. 

I can hear something spinning away when I turn the engine off and if I check, I can’t see the main fan spinning, so I presume this would be it?

Failing that, I’ll google what it looks like and check under the bonnet. 

The facelift engine seems to have more stuff covered up than the non-facelift. 

[TomsFocus]

Just now, Pebbleheed said:

It’s noticeable. The non-facelift takes off quicker than the facelift if pushed. 

But as I don’t tend to have a heavy foot I don’t really notice it that often. 

Still prefer my facelift to the non-facelift model. 

It's the same with all cars unfortunately.  As emissions regs get tighter, compromises have to made to the driveability to keep it within tolerance.  It's just something we have to learn to live with.

[Pebbleheed]

2 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

It's the same with all cars unfortunately.  As emissions regs get tighter, compromises have to made to the driveability to keep it within tolerance.  It's just something we have to learn to live with.

It nearly tempted me to bluefin it, but I changed my mind. When I bought the car I got a years extra genuine ford warranty. That’s worth more to me that a boost I’ll occasionally use and apparently putting bluefin on the focus gets rid of the warranty.