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Kuga engine failure


KaraG
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Looking for some advice...

I bought a 2018 Kuga ST Line 1.5L (ecoboost) in April 2021. 

I had it for 11months with no issues present at all. In March of this year, as I was driving to work and an engine warning light flashes, tells me my engine is over heating and to pull over immediately. 

Fast forward to now, after getting a diagnostic check done at an independent garage, before putting it to Ford who came to the same conclusion- that the cylinder head is warped beyond Ford's manufacturer standard and that there's a crack in the cylinder block. 

Today, Ford have offered to pay 40% of the bill as a "goodwill" gesture. Which leaves me to pay an outstanding bill of £5,500...!! 

Where do I stand with this? Bearing in mind, the car is an 18 plate car with only 60,000 on the clock. Am I naive in thinking that Ford are more liable than they'd like to admit here... Do I fight this? 

Thanks,

A very stressed out Ford owner. 

 

 

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I feel v sorry for you ... what b****y bad luck.

The only thing I would say is that in making a goodwill offer to you Ford clearly want to be seen to be doing the right thing.  I can think of some manufacturers who would have offered you nought.

So it seems you have gone from facing an outstanding bill of just short £9,200 to one of £5,500 - I call that good progress!

Rather than "fight", why not attempt to negotiate an improvement?

If I was you I'd definitely invest in some initial advice from a lawyer who is an expert at consumer law in the hope he'd come up with some ideas to support a negotiation.

Good luck ... I'd love to know how things turn out.

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On 6/22/2022 at 6:23 PM, KaraG said:

Today, Ford have offered to pay 40% of the bill as a "goodwill" gesture. Which leaves me to pay an outstanding bill of £5,500...!! 

Is that 40% at retail rate or at warranty rate ??? Read the following thread about Sarah and the 1.0 Ecoboost.

 

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Not clear if the car had a full service history? - presuming it does or Ford probably wouldn't have made a goodwill offer.

Not seen the sort of overheating issues with the 1.5 that affected the earlier 1.6 - I understood the revisions to create the 1.5 had overcome these. However, I did spot this on a US site which suggests that issues remain and mentions a "design flaw" in the first paragraph:

What Are The Most Common Ford 1.5L Ecoboost Engine Issues?

1. Coolant Leakage

 

A coolant leak in the Ecoboost engine is caused by a design flaw that causes coolant or antifreeze to be used up very quickly. This leak allows coolant to enter into combustion cylinders of the engine. In many cases, it could lead to total engine failure.

The coolant is responsible for transferring heat from one engine compartment to the other. When the engine consumes it quickly, heat cannot be released by the engine so the cylinder head overheats. It also causes the bursting of the engine head and causes the engine to leak oil.

Users of the engine complain that sometimes the overheating will cause you to park your car, in other to avoid damage to your engine. Also, it causes you to continuously fill up the coolant which is not usual for vehicles in good condition.

There have been reports that this overheating has led to engine fires in the cars of some individuals.

What Causes Coolant Leak?

Coolant leak doesn’t just happen; rather, it’s triggered by a number of things. Unless you learn what these causes are, you won’t know how to prevent the problem. The result is that you may end up spending more than normal.

Let’s look at the most common causes of a coolant leak below:

  • Faulty Expansion Tank: A problematic expansion tank is one of the most common reasons your coolant will leak. Typically, the expansion tank helps to transfer coolant to your car’s radiator.
    As a cylinder made of plastic material and connected to the radiator by a neoprene tube, the expansion tank supplies coolant to and receives coolant from the radiator to enable the engine to maintain its rise-and-fall temperature while idling.
    However, age, wear and tear resulting from exposure to high heat causes the plastic tube to crack or weaken over time. This will lead to coolant escaping through the slack can cap. If the pipe through which the coolant passes also damages, fluid will be let out uncontrollably.
  • Failing Water Pump: Failing the water pump is another cause of coolant leaks. The water pump is responsible for dispersing fluid to all parts of the cooling system.
    The water pump can get damaged due to a loose, corroded, or weak condition of the radiator-bound lower tube. Once this happens, fluid will start to escape from its base, preventing coolant from getting to all the cooling sections.
  • Blown Gasket Head: The gasket head is designed to withstand high temperatures. However, when the temperature becomes extreme, the gasket head may become loose and not able to store the coolant needed by other parts of the engine.
    The more coolant that leaks away, the lower is the performance level of your car. Besides, a blown gasket head is a recipe for a dangerous coolant-engine oil mixture.
  • Leaky Radiator Seal: Another reason coolant may leak from your engine is when the radiator seal is damaged or leaky. The radiator cap helps to keep in check the extreme pressure exerted on the radiator.
    This is to ensure the entire cooling system works under normal pressure. Once, the cap is damaged due to age or wear, coolant can start to escape.

What To Look For

Since this coolant leak poses a risk of serious overheating and possible engine fire, it will be wise to detect it early. While some users of the ford 1.5 Ecoboost engine claim to have been alerted to these problems by the check engine lights, others were not.

 

Here are some signs that will alert you of possible coolant leakage in the Ford 1.5 Ecoboost engine:

  • Always Refilling Coolant: If you are in a habit of always having to refill coolant in your car engine, it is an obvious sign that you are dealing with coolant leakage. A perfectly working vehicle does not require coolant refills every time.
  • Engine Misfires: When coolant leaks into combustion cylinders, it damages it and this among others causes the engine to misfire. Misfiring may cause the engine to jerk, vibrate or stall. The engine loses power or it might be difficult to start.
  • Emission Of Thick White Smoke From Exhaust: When thick white smoke is emitted from the exhaust, it is a major sign of coolant leakage. This indicates that the engine is burning up coolant in the combustion cylinders.

What To Do

Sadly, since this problem originates from the design flaw of the Ford 1.5 Ecoboost engine, there is no permanent fix for the leaking coolant problem. The only thing that you can do is to properly maintain the engine. Most owners end up replacing the Ford 1.5 Ecoboost engine with another engine.

Since this problem is an inherent one, it is necessary to always observe coolant levels so that the problems of overheating do not occur.

 

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Hi Kara,

I know exactly how you feel. I am the "Sarah" that is having the wet belt issue on our Focus 1.0 Ecoboost ST Line Automatic. 

The cost you have been given ( if not explained to you ) is not a true 40% because of how they work it out. Our new engine was quoted at £7,108 by Ford and they have offered £2,247.00 towards the cost leaving us to pay £4,861.00 - as far as they are concerned this is a 52% offer. But what we were not told, is that the cost we pay is a retail cost, and Ford pay the cost at warranty rate, so a lot cheaper. We are still trying to fight this, but i'm not sure what good it will do, we are waiting for another call to go through things. Our car is a 2018, 50,000 miles and  outside of the 3yr warranty - no car that is 4yrs old should need a new engine. I don't know about your issue, but the wet belt problem on our car is a known manufacture engine fault within Ford specifically on the automatic as we have mails from them advising the US dealers about it. But they refuse to admit it in the UK.   

We are totally at our wits end as to how we pay for this, we are now 6/7 weeks without a car, my partner is unable to take his mum for her oncology appointments and we can't afford the £40 a day on public transport ( when the trains are not on strike that is ). I feel caught between a rock and a hard place. The feeling that they just don't care about something that is not our fault and could have caused catastrophic consequences if he had been driving faster/couldn't have pulled over on the motorway/car caught fire can get overwhelming at times.

 

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Hello @KaraG, any update on your engine problem ?

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3 hours ago, unofix said:

Hello @KaraG, any update on your engine problem ?

Hi,

Unfortunately I am no further forward in terms of settling the dispute. 

 

I have submitted a formal complaint to Ford executives and the complaints department who have opened a "case" regarding my vehicle.

I've also opened a case with my finance company who are amidst an investigation on my behalf. 

 

I'm now 9weeks tomorrow with no car. 

 

Not holding my breath regarding a quick resolution. Next stage is the Financial and motor ombudsman but taking Ford to court is looking likely  at this point. 

 

I'll be sure to post an update when I have one.

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On 6/29/2022 at 11:07 AM, Sarah46 said:

Hi Kara,

I know exactly how you feel. I am the "Sarah" that is having the wet belt issue on our Focus 1.0 Ecoboost ST Line Automatic. 

The cost you have been given ( if not explained to you ) is not a true 40% because of how they work it out. Our new engine was quoted at £7,108 by Ford and they have offered £2,247.00 towards the cost leaving us to pay £4,861.00 - as far as they are concerned this is a 52% offer. But what we were not told, is that the cost we pay is a retail cost, and Ford pay the cost at warranty rate, so a lot cheaper. We are still trying to fight this, but i'm not sure what good it will do, we are waiting for another call to go through things. Our car is a 2018, 50,000 miles and  outside of the 3yr warranty - no car that is 4yrs old should need a new engine. I don't know about your issue, but the wet belt problem on our car is a known manufacture engine fault within Ford specifically on the automatic as we have mails from them advising the US dealers about it. But they refuse to admit it in the UK.   

We are totally at our wits end as to how we pay for this, we are now 6/7 weeks without a car, my partner is unable to take his mum for her oncology appointments and we can't afford the £40 a day on public transport ( when the trains are not on strike that is ). I feel caught between a rock and a hard place. The feeling that they just don't care about something that is not our fault and could have caused catastrophic consequences if he had been driving faster/couldn't have pulled over on the motorway/car caught fire can get overwhelming at times.

 

It's astonishing that Ford are getting away with this with so many customers. 

My engine failed due to coolant loss which caused over heating. However Ford cannot/will not tell me what caused the loss of coolant. 

I've just posted an update on where I am with it now. 

The process is not for the faint hearted. Its beginning to really take its toll mentally and emotionally. 

Kara x

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45 minutes ago, KaraG said:

Hi,

Unfortunately I am no further forward in terms of settling the dispute. 

 

I have submitted a formal complaint to Ford executives and the complaints department who have opened a "case" regarding my vehicle.

I've also opened a case with my finance company who are amidst an investigation on my behalf. 

 

I'm now 9weeks tomorrow with no car. 

 

Not holding my breath regarding a quick resolution. Next stage is the Financial and motor ombudsman but taking Ford to court is looking likely  at this point. 

 

I'll be sure to post an update when I have one.

Hi Kara,

We are at the point of defeat now. We have had to borrow the money from my partners mum to get it fixed, although we will continue to fight. 

I'm really pleased your Finance company are investigating - ours didn't want to know as they said they couldn't confirm if the wet belt had gone because of the manner we were driving the car. 

I think the thing that really annoys me most is that i know at some point in a few years we will be getting a refund from Ford for what we are about to pay, as they will have been forced to admit the fault and it will be on some sort of re call like the coolant issue in the 2012/2013 cars. They only admitted that when the BBC got hold of it and they ended up on Watchdog. Took them 6yrs though to get there - told the customers it was all their fault before that, ( not full Ford service, not serviced on time, not the right oil etc ) and only partially contributed to get their cars repaired ( on those that hadn't burst into flames that is ).

I look forward to seeing how you get on.

 

Sarah x

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