Let’s see if my ecoboost goes boom.

[GreyStoneBuilding]

I have a mk8 Fiesta 1.0 eco-boost 100hp Titanium.

I posted an earlier thread about being declined a remap for my car by a local tuning place. The chap at the garage had laid it on thick about how fragile the eco-boost engines are, how often they “just go pop” and denounced them as “the worst engine in any modern car”. 

Accounts and opinions on the explosive properties of the ecoboost engine vary wildly from garage to garage and from sordid website to sordid website. A large number of the people I talked to said they are great and can easily manage 100000+miles. However again and again I heard the name “ecoboom” and encounter a core of people who hate the ecoboost.

 

My Fiesta is 4 years old and has 40062 miles on the clock. I just had it remapped from 100hp to 140hp. I’ve uprated the turbo hard pipe the dump valve and part of air intake system. I plan a few other mods. 
 

I will post back here when either:

The Car goes Boom (I will be honest and post pics)

The Car reaches 50000 miles and then each 10000 miles after that.

Place your bets!

 

 

[iantt]

My focus 1.0 ecoboom 100 hp managed 75k miles with a bluefin Remap to 140hp without any issues. Then I sold it on. 

Wish I'd kept it now after buying a Mondeo. 

[Bobr]

I've had four Fiestas with ecoboost engines.   All properly serviced and never had a problem with any of them.

[iantt]

10 minutes ago, Bobr said:

I've had four Fiestas with ecoboost engines.   All properly serviced and never had a problem with any of them.

That's the key though. Proper servicing, no engine flush and driven. And don't leave an ecoboost to stand for weeks on end without being driven unless the engine gets proper hot drive to get condensation from oil evaporated. Otherwise the engine oil sludges up and blocks strainer. Buying a car that's been stood on a forecourt for weeks is a recipe for disaster later on. 

[unofix]

4 hours ago, GreyStoneBuilding said:

Place your bets

66666 give or take a 6

[willowbob]

10 hours ago, iantt said:

That's the key though. Proper servicing, no engine flush and driven. And don't leave an ecoboost to stand for weeks on end without being driven unless the engine gets proper hot drive to get condensation from oil evaporated. Otherwise the engine oil sludges up and blocks strainer. Buying a car that's been stood on a forecourt for weeks is a recipe for disaster later on. 

Plus one with that regarding meticulous servicing; I think any issues with this unit can be traced back to a lack of proper servicing. I have heard a LOT of reference to 'EcoBoom', with lubrication issues, coolant issues, Ford replacing engines without any warranty etc. After the Zetec which was such a good engine (by good I mean a bit basic but as long as the cambelt etc., was changed and the oil/filters, it was pretty robust) it is strange that Ford would hit such problems with a mainstream engine. I bought a 2008 1.25 Fiesta for my son's girlfriend, 90k cambelt just been done, serviced, 2 years later still going strong, cracking little car. In answer to your challenge, keep it serviced, should be fine.

[Mavroz]

Should be fine.

Would it not have been a better idea to buy a 140 bhp instead of buying a 100 and remapping it ??

The car will now be classed as modified for insurance purposes, which will increase the premium.

Surely the price difference between a 100 and 140bhp car on the used market is not too significant is it?

[GreyStoneBuilding]

@Mavroz I didn't buy it my wife did and then she lost her license due to epilepsy so use it now.

I enjoy modding cars. It's fun 😃 and that's really it. I don't need any further justification.

I don't intend to sell it. For a man my age with my driving history the insurance premium increase is about 10 quid per year.

[Mavroz]

OK. Enjoy. 😆👍🏻

[GreyStoneBuilding]

In folks experience what is it with the ecoboost that makes it go boom(aside from the historical and now remedied coolant pipe issue)?

Is there something I can change to make it more robust?

[Scottyghia]

It won't. Like everything on the internet the mole hill soons becomes a mountain.

Enjoy. 

[TomsFocus]

2 hours ago, GreyStoneBuilding said:

In folks experience what is it with the ecoboost that makes it go boom(aside from the historical and now remedied coolant pipe issue)?

Is there something I can change to make it more robust?

Ian's already mentioned it above.  oil degradation is the main issue with them now, sludge blocks the oil pump and the lack of lubrication finishes them off.  It also wrecks the wetbelt so that's at ever-greater chance of snapping as well.

Can't make it more robust, all you can do is keep on top of servicing, use the correct oil, no flush, and keep driving it regularly to get it nice and hot.  

[Neb_engineer]

The other thing is replace the wetbelt earlier than ford suggest, they say 150k but by that point the belt may have already started degrading enough that chunks of it fall into the oil pan and block the pickup, there are so many accounts of this from ecoboost owners, id follow the Haines advice on that