Wet belt fraying and debris cause the turbo to be starved of oil.  £1000 repair for the turbo oil sump etc..  Have been researching online and this seems to be a common  problem.  mine's a 15 plate any recourse with Ford, I know my car is old but thought I'd ask anyway.  I've never had a turbo go at 55k miles on the clock.  Mechanic said it's a design flaw having the wet belt.  £1000 pounds for the new turbo and related didn't cover a new wet belt.  Any body know how much that should cost from and independent garage (including labour)?  Mechanic told me in talking with their part suppliers they said they ship 3 new turbos for the fiesta each week and 1 new engine a week.  Thanks in advance for any advice, shame because I was thinking about getting rid of the car now that me and my wife both work remotely now but I don't want to unload the car on someone else knowing that the belt needs to be changed.    

Unless you have had a Ford main dealer service every year you have no chance.

Having a wet belt isn't a design flaw in itself.  But it requires very specific maintenance to keep it in good condition.

55k on a 2015 model suggests either a lot of short journeys or long periods without being driven, both of which contribute to the wetbelt breakdown.  Low mileage also suggests servicing may not have been done frequently enough with regards to time, rather than mileage.

As above, I'm afraid Ford won't be interested at that age of car, even if you do have full history.  There's no harm in asking them for a goodwill gesture...but then that locks you in to a bigger bill as they will only pay if it's done at the main dealer.

Realistically, you're looking at another grand to have the wetbelts changed...it would be utter madness to spend a grand changing the turbo and cleaning the system, but leaving the belt to continue breaking down in there!!  

I suspect the car isn't worth a £2k+ spend, even if you have those sort of funds available?  You may be able to source a full used engine & turbo for less, but then you run the same risk and fitting won't be cheap unless you can do it yourself.

It's a crap situation to be in in all honesty, I don't envy your decision.  

@TomsFocus yea we didn't drive it a lot during the pandemic.  I've already changed the turbo but haven't done the wet belt yet.  Wondering if I should bother probably should have taken the quote from we buy any car before doing the turbo.  I see similar models (Titanium) on auto trader for ~£7,500 - £8,000.  Had to do the erg value on my Golf diesel and they said that was because of lots of short journeys.  I'm wonder if it is worth it go electric at this point, they say they require less maintenance and we do lots of short journeys.  Just getting sick of having to replace values, turbos etc..  I got the petrol fiesta to avoid these short journey issues with the Golf/diesel.  Still don't understand the logic of the wet belt?  Why is it necessary what does it do better than a dry cam belt?

48 minutes ago, 91terriers said:

@TomsFocus yea we didn't drive it a lot during the pandemic.  I've already changed the turbo but haven't done the wet belt yet.  Wondering if I should bother probably should have taken the quote from we buy any car before doing the turbo.  I see similar models (Titanium) on auto trader for ~£7,500 - £8,000.  Had to do the erg value on my Golf diesel and they said that was because of lots of short journeys.  I'm wonder if it is worth it go electric at this point, they say they require less maintenance and we do lots of short journeys.  Just getting sick of having to replace values, turbos etc..  I got the petrol fiesta to avoid these short journey issues with the Golf/diesel.  Still don't understand the logic of the wet belt?  Why is it necessary what does it do better than a dry cam belt?

The wet belt reduces frictional losses, which reduces emissions.  Doesn't make much difference on one car, but they sold millions of these.

If you've got access to plug in easily at home, full EV might be a better option for you.

If you wanted to go back to VW, they used a conventional dry belt on the 1.0/1.5 TSI petrols.  But they specify very short replacement intervals (4/5 years) which really pushes up the pence per mile on a short-drive vehicle.

Autotrader prices aren't necessarily accurate in terms of selling.  Better off getting a quote from Cazoo or Motorway.co.uk for a more realistic trade price.  I was expecting more like £5.5k for that spec & mileage.

The best option you have financially is to trade it in now while it's still running fine.  But I fully appreciate the moral issue there.

@TomsFocus thank you very much for the info/advice.  The mechanic who fixed the turbo also suggested I consider  trading it in.  

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

  But I fully appreciate the moral issue there.

I think I'd move it on and wrestle with the moral issues later, personally!😀

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I think I'd move it on and wrestle with the moral issues later, personally!😀

Personal preference really...just don't read Macbeth or Telltale Heart before making the decision!

 

3 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Telltale Heart 

Been a long time since I read that one. Why not add Crime and Punishment for the full helping of guilt?😀

On 7/18/2022 at 12:30 PM, TomsFocus said:

The wet belt reduces frictional losses, which reduces emissions.  Doesn't make much difference on one car, but they sold millions of these.

 

I understand reducing emissions which is great, however, how much emissions are being saved when you have to replace turbos and engines?  The turbo specialist told me that in speaking with one of their part suppliers, they said they are selling 3 fiesta turbos per week and one engine per week and that is just one parts supplier.  I understand the concept of the wet belt now but it appears that lots of people are having problems with it.  Realise I'm venting but I'm pretty disappointed, I was a big Ford fan, now... not so much.  It is a 2015 plate though.  

1 minute ago, 91terriers said:

I understand reducing emissions which is great, however, how much emissions are being saved when you have to replace turbos and engines?  The turbo specialist told me that in speaking with one of their part suppliers, they said they are selling 3 fiesta turbos per week and one engine per week and that is just one parts supplier.  I understand the concept of the wet belt now but it appears that lots of people are having problems with it.  Realise I'm venting but I'm pretty disappointed, I was a big Ford fan, now... not so much.  It is a 2015 plate though.  

The sad reality is that those particular emissions tests are based purely on when the car is leaving the factory.  Ford (and most other manufacturers) couldn't care less what happens after that.  Just as long as their cars pass the emissions requirements of the day so they get their money.

Of course we all know that wetbelts killing engines and reduced alternator charging killing batteries is not good for long term emissions.  But as far as I'm aware, that isn't actually taken into consideration anywhere at the moment.  

We see many 1.0 EcoBoost's failing on here every month, mainly through coolant loss or wetbelt degradation.  The engine itself was a fantastic piece or technology when it first came out.  It's just a shame that it's so 'fragile' compared to many other engines.

As @TomsFocus has put it so correctly, it's all about playing the numbers game. The same is true of virtually all the things that go on under the 'save the dolphins' Most full size wind turbines break down at least once every six weeks. Most require substantial repairs every year, and will suffer major failure of power inverters at least every seven years. So when they quote the lifetime of a wind turbine being 50 years or more, then Triggers Broom comes to mind.

1 hour ago, unofix said:

So when they quote the lifetime of a wind turbine being 50 years or more, then Triggers Broom comes to mind.

I was involved in several wind farm projects back in my days of working for a living, and we were working then on a life of 20-25 years, as with most other major assets. 

Not sure who's quoting 50 years, most things I've seen recently still refer to 20-25, as did a recent (unsuccessful)  proposal to build a windfarm right in front of where I live.

Another major issue is that the recycling of life-expired fibreglass/composite blades has been problematic (I've seen an estimate that over 40 million tons of the things will need recycling by 2050) though I believe an efficient and cost effective methodology has now been developed. 

7 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

We see many 1.0 EcoBoost's failing on here every month, mainly through coolant loss or wetbelt degradation.  The engine itself was a fantastic piece or technology when it first came out.  It's just a shame that it's so 'fragile' compared to many other engines.

It is a shame. My current car is my first experience of owning a 1.0 ecoboost and (fears of looming disaster apart) it's been a very enjoyable little thing to drive.

I'm not sure the basic engine is that fragile when you see some of the power outputs that have been extracted from it. Unfortunately they seem to have built in two Achilles heels - the early cooling issue on the Focus 3 which was relatively easily solved, and the wet belt which isn't.

The real problem I think though is Ford's reaction to the issues - instead of nipping the issues in the bud they've had to be dragged kicking and screaming to compensate owners (and then only to an extent).

From the involved and expensive procedure to replace a wet belt it did seem to me that it was never intended to be replaced as a service item, and a miscalculation has been made in material or oil specification.

They could have mitigated the issue by tightening up the servicing advice to stress the need for frequent changes of correct oil (which might have also benefited Ford service centres) but instead they actually compounded the problem by increasing  the service interval on the wet belt engines.