2017 Fiesta Head Gasket Failure

[JohnRV8]

2017 Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost 40,000 miles

 

Which came first the chicken or the egg??

Topped the oil up before going on holiday, on the motorway engine low pressure, pulled onto hard shoulder and had to be transported home.

Garage were able to start the engine. Stripdown revealed head gasket blown and two big end bearing showing blue from overheating, still some oil left in sump, oil had done less than 10,000 miles since I last changed it. The water cooling still maintained a pressure therefor no loss of coolant

So did the head gasket blow which caused the oil pressure to drop starving the bearings of lubrication

OR did the bearings fail , overheating the oil causing an increase in oil pressure to blow the head gasket

FORD UK says its owing to a lack of service 

Should a gasket fail after 40,000 miles or big end bearings for that matter

[BlueMike2021]

You would absolutely think not!

You said you had to top the oil up, had it been using much before the failure? As the oil had to be going somewhere if so...

People seem uncertain about the service intervals on these...maybe Ford are trying to get out of any blame by blaming your lack of service?

 

[unofix]

I know its not what you want to hear but I'm with Ford on this one. How often has the car had full oil and filter changes over its 40,000 miles ? Was the correct grade of oil used ? Has the engine oil level been over filled at any time in the past ? It takes time for the big end bearings to go Blue from overheating, how quickly did you pull over and switch off after the Oil Pressure failure warning ? These are only a fraction of the questions I would be asking if doing a full investigation in engine failure.

I assume you are not going to waste money trying to have the engine rebuilt. It will be cheaper in the long run to replace the engine as the unseen damage will be potentially huge.

 

[JohnRV8]

Just to edit the original thread its a Focus and only done 30,000 miles

Pulled over immediately and stopped engine, I'll check on the detail of when I changed the oil and filter

[Eric Bloodaxe]

On 4/19/2021 at 7:08 PM, JohnRV8 said:

We have a 2017 1.0 Eco boost Focus which has just had engine failure. There was no loss of coolant or oil. This thread talks about doing a 3.5 Mod which eliminates the need to replace the hoses every three years. Is my 2017 focus fitted with this mod as standard  when originally built

So this is the same car?

[unofix]

12 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

So this is the same car?

Well spotted Eric, I guess the OP is not in a hurry to get the car back on the road since his post 19th April

[focusfailure]

This is my Dad talking about my car. Yes, this is the same car. I'd love to get it fixed soon as the original engine failure was on April 12th. I was only able to get the vehicle to a garage on April 27th (they were busy). Since then I've been trying to get Ford CRC to give me an answer as to whether they'd be able to contribute to the repair. That process has taken five weeks. 

It's had a service (by me) every year and only does low mileage (actually only done 30K). Correct oil. Never been overfilled. Pulled over as soon as safely possible. Never noticed any oil on the drive and wasn't empty before the journey, just low, which is why I topped up. 

[unofix]

Hi Alex, well thats cleared up that issue. The fact that you have serviced yourself will in the eyes of Ford - Not Count.

I would be more than amazed if Ford CRC would give you anything towards the cost, I wish you luck but don't hold your breath!

The fact that the big end bearings have gone blue would worry me to list of other items damaged. Has the oil pump been tested ?

[iantt]

If the big end bearings have run dry on oil I'm surprised the top end didn't size up first Inc the turbo. 

[focusfailure]

Wasn't completely dry. Will be an entire new engine. My argument with Ford is that the head gasket went prematurely causing the oil leak that led to the rest of the issues. I'm not particularly optimistic but will be circa £5k to fix and car is probably only worth £8k.

I think the idea was to see if any of you knew more than we did and would agree that the head gasket probably went first and therefore I had an argument or else that I've completely misunderstood and I might actually be responsible. 

[Kevmondo]

Sorry to hear about your car!

you’ve gotta ask yourself why it was low on oil in the first place, especially given the low mileage!

it’s possible the Turbo is the culprit for the consumption of oil, they’re not the best turbo in the world. Another thought is oil dilution (fuel in oil due to not being fully warmed up)

As others have remarked, it’d be best to get an entirely new engine.

1.0 was nigh on indestructible in the end of development, I saw one that had done 1600hrs+ of (hard) mapping work.

From the issues I’ve heard about it’s more the hardware that’s bolted to them that’s the problem (degas return hose anyone!?)

 

[Kevmondo]

Speaking of which, did it have coolant in after it broke down?

Did water pump fail?

perhaps it lost coolant or water pump, over heated and then the oil pressure dropped as the oil is cooled by the engine.

I suspect shells near cyl 2&3 are knackered as they’re furthest from the oil pump.

 

just a thought...

[focusfailure]

No coolant where it shouldn't be. First thing the garage tested for. 

[unofix]

I would be buying an engine from a vehicle recycling centre (scrap yard) you can get a good one from an accident damaged vehicle for less than £1800, then about £800 to fit at a local garage. You should be able to get it back up and running for £2600 or less

For Example:-

https://www.enginesod.com/ford/10-focus-engine-ford-fiesta-ecoboost-m2da-2011-15-engine/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwweyFBhDvARIsAA67M71MojYc_5ULcZlpWZvIOFEUPWK_tRrHTffw2L5hZnGqPMaHvZtPAtQaAtqyEALw_wcB

[Eng_Ahmad1986]

either your engine suffered from overheating that resulted in head gasket failure, or the head gasket failed first and resulted in engine overheating , the bearing scorching is a consequence of overheating and not the main culprit, was it remapped in anyway ? coolant changed recently ? any work done lately on coolant thermostats or the coolant pump ?