Extra preventative maintenance on 1.0 Ecoboost engines

[morton61]

Just bought a 12 plate 1.0 125 Focus Titanium with 69k miles with FSH. No issues as of yet but interesting info after reading this 4 page thread in the Fiesta section !

The thread got me thinking maybe it would be prudent at the next regular service (December) to drop the sump and check the oil pump and clean out or replace it if it has the crud build up on the pick up strainer? The cambelt and oil pump belt can also be checked for condition, as with the sump off they can be inspected for any deterioration/damage. The car is due its 10 year (so much for lifetime cambelt service life) cambelt change next year anyway ?

[pcaouolte]

3 hours ago, morton61 said:

 The car is due its 10 year (so much for lifetime cambelt service life) cambelt change next year anyway ?

The cambelt change on those is a long (10 hours), expensive job requiring specialist tools. Be prepared for a large (>£1k) bill. 

[morton61]

13 minutes ago, pcaouolte said:

The cambelt change on those is a long (10 hours), expensive job requiring specialist tools. Be prepared for a large (>£1k) bill. 

Yeah im aware of that mate. The other option is to just run the car following the correct oil and service regime. The oil pressure issue due to the pump suction gauze potentially being blocked could be just as big an issue than a cambelt failure ???????? Both end up wrecking the engine

[pcaouolte]

I think that bits of the cambelt come off and get sucked into the oil strainer. This seems to happen earlier if the correct engine oil, to the Ford specification, is not used or if an engine flush is carried out.

The coolant hoses breaking on the Mk3 focus can also wreck the engine very quickly. Some people on here have changed the Mk3 coolant hoses for the Mk3.5 version which is said to be much less likely to break. The cost is not huge (perhaps £50). Have a search of the forum for details. 

[morton61]

3 hours ago, pcaouolte said:

I think that bits of the cambelt come off and get sucked into the oil strainer. This seems to happen earlier if the correct engine oil, to the Ford specification, is not used or if an engine flush is carried out.

The coolant hoses breaking on the Mk3 focus can also wreck the engine very quickly. Some people on here have changed the Mk3 coolant hoses for the Mk3.5 version which is said to be much less likely to break. The cost is not huge (perhaps £50). Have a search of the forum for details. 

I plan to do the hoses buddy 

[jlawes20389]

I cleaned the strainer out on mine a couple of months back and it was quite clogged up, had I have left it any longer I expect the engine would have seized up.

I did it myself on the drive so it took me the best part of a weekend to do it but this was with me taking my time doing so.

[morton61]

13 hours ago, jlawes20389 said:

I cleaned the strainer out on mine a couple of months back and it was quite clogged up, had I have left it any longer I expect the engine would have seized up.

I did it myself on the drive so it took me the best part of a weekend to do it but this was with me taking my time doing so.

Did you do a how to type thread on this buddy? Just wondered what needed to be removed to get the sump off?

[jlawes20389]

Unfortunately I didn't.

From memory, I had to remove the downpipe from the turbo as it sits under the sump and gets in the way. I took the airbox out to get extra access for the sensors on the downpipe. The air con compressor needs to be unbolted and supported to stop it weighing down the pipes. I loosened off the auxiliary belt too in order to move the compressor.

I used a couple of YouTube videos along with a Haynes manual for a bit of guidance.

[RJ414i]

On 8/11/2021 at 12:35 PM, pcaouolte said:

The cambelt change on those is a long (10 hours), expensive job requiring specialist tools. Be prepared for a large (>£1k) bill. 

I asked the cambelt question at the localish Ford dealer two weeks ago. It's a 12.5 hour job and the quote was £1550!!!

There's will probably be a lot of 10 yo 1 litre Fords being sold as they approach 10 yo.

I know of one that already's been px for a Corolla with a chain. 😀

[unofix]

9 minutes ago, RJ414i said:

It's a 12.5 hour job and the quote was £1550!!!

Well the answer is don't bother and just chance you will get a few more years out of your engine before you "recycle it" after it becomes scrap.

You can then pick up a decent used engine for £1500 which could well be a long term cheaper option. Which ever way the owner of one of these 'save the planet' 1.0 litre engines go they are going to be faced with some crazzy bills 🤨

[jlawes20389]

On 8/12/2021 at 6:45 AM, morton61 said:

Did you do a how to type thread on this buddy? Just wondered what needed to be removed to get the sump off?

I just grabbed my hanyes out of the other halfs focus just to have a double check on the process for you.

 

Pretty much as I thought it was, drain the oil, remove the downpipe, remove the drivebelt (I just loosened it off and took it off the aircon compressor, unbolt the aircon compressor then undo the sump bolts in a particular order. The sump took a bit to get it off, be careful not to lever anything between the surfaces as could damage them.

Once sump is off, it's straightforward and just a couple of bolts to get the oil pump out.

The picture shows how my pump looked once I got the sump off.

If you go ahead with it and need the order to remove/fit the sump bolts, I can send a picture over for you.

 

 

[ElCani]

6 hours ago, jlawes20389 said:

I just grabbed my hanyes out of the other halfs focus just to have a double check on the process for you.

 

Pretty much as I thought it was, drain the oil, remove the downpipe, remove the drivebelt (I just loosened it off and took it off the aircon compressor, unbolt the aircon compressor then undo the sump bolts in a particular order. The sump took a bit to get it off, be careful not to lever anything between the surfaces as could damage them.

Once sump is off, it's straightforward and just a couple of bolts to get the oil pump out.

The picture shows how my pump looked once I got the sump off.

If you go ahead with it and need the order to remove/fit the sump bolts, I can send a picture over for you.

 

 

Curious about this as I have 1.0 ecoboost that’s not far off it’s scheduled cambelt change. Are the bits of debris blocking your pump bits of the cambelt, or something else? 

[jlawes20389]

To be honest, not 100% sure. None of it fely rubbery as such, some of it was more just sludge. But it is quite possible to be some bits from the belt.

The car was on around 78k miles when I cleaned the pump, late 2013 car.