Which year was wet belt discontinued on 1.0 EcoBoost ?

[Matt Alsop]

Hi,

I have a Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost (as per my profile picture) which I've had since new in 2017. I'm looking to replace it but don't want another wet belt engine (that's my choice). I'm searching on Autotrader etc but don't know which Fiestas have the wet belt engine and which don't. I'll be able to tell by looking under the bonnet but I can't do that until I arrive to view the car. Is there an easy way to tell such as knowing the date of registration ? I was hoping to get a low milage example from about 2019 or a bit newer than that. With the current prices it's unlikely I'll be able to get anything less than two years old. Thanks.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Some recent posts have shown this is not straightforward.

If you have a 140 now presumably you will be looking at a 125 or 155 so we can discount the 100ps which it seems continued with the wet belt for longer.

Anything with a "Ecoboost hybrid" badge will be mhev and thus chain cam. The mhev came in mid-2020 but don't know a firm date unfortunately.

It does seem from a couple of members recent posts that some early cars with the chain cam engine were non-mhev so the underbonnet check will be required.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

9 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

It does seem from a couple of members recent posts that some early cars with the chain cam engine were non-mhev so the underbonnet check will be required.

Thread mentioned above if you haven't seen it:

 

 

[Matt Alsop]

Thanks for your help. I'll ask the dealer before travelling but I'll also certainly look under the bonnet too 😉

[TomsFocus]

You might be able to tell using ETIS.  The later ones are listed as 'New Fox'.  Whereas the older ones are listed as 120/125/140.  Would need someone with a late wetbelt Fiesta to confirm whether theirs still shows as 'new' though.

[RL123]

We had a 22 plate Ecosport 140 with a wet belt. ( cat at front between engine and rad)

[Eric Bloodaxe]

11 hours ago, RL123 said:

We had a 22 plate Ecosport 140 with a wet belt. ( cat at front between engine and rad)

I think Matt was just concerned with the Fiesta here. But yes, afaik the Ecosport never got (and was not intended to get) the revised engine in view of its fairly imminent demise. Ironic in the light of the  decision to axe the Fiesta this June!

[Paul_A]

Was the wet belt actually discontinued? I don't know the answer, but posts on here indicate some newer ecoboost engines got a cam chain rather than a cam belt, but the oil pump is still driven by a separate wet belt on both.

[agraham]

On 3/12/2023 at 5:32 PM, Paul_A said:

some newer ecoboost engines got a cam chain rather than a cam belt, but the oil pump is still driven by a separate wet belt on both.

The Ecoboost was redesigned about 2018/2019 with the flow across the head reversed, cylinder deactivation and a cam chani instead of the wet belt as well as a host of other minor differences - it is effectively a new engine. The difference is obvious,  the old ones have the turbo at the front, revised ones have the turbo at the rear. All mHEVs are the new design as the longer motor generator would foul the turbo on the old ones. Of the few recent Fiestas I have seen I have never seen a non-mHEV with the new engine but apparently from posts on this forum there are some around.

The oil pump is still a wet belt but I don't think there have been many problems reported with it as it is lot less stressed that a wet cam belt. The wet belts were originally intended to last the life of the car but as we now know this does not happen in the real world.

 

[unofix]

38 minutes ago, agraham said:

The wet belts were originally intended to last the life of the car

and indeed they still do. Once the wet belt snaps the life of the engine has ended.

[Nismex]

It depends on the engine also. My dad picked up a Trend non mHev mk8 2023 facelift last month and it has the cam belt/old style engine, not the revised one.

Whereas I have a non mHev 2020 (2019 engine build date) Fiesta active 125 with the revised engine, chain cam.

I think Ford just use whatever they have in the supply chain at different stages of roll out. If I had ordered my car a few months earlier, I might have gotten an old style engine, and if I had ordered a few months later it might have been the mHev version.

the silver lining is it is easy to see in a photo the difference as Agraham says above.

[Jim H]

5 hours ago, unofix said:

and indeed they still do. Once the wet belt snaps the life of the engine has ended.

lol, but I think that's right. When the Ecoboost first came out Ford did claim they were fitted for life. However they have subsequently change it to every 10 years or 100k miles (might be 150k miles). 

[Chris866687]

 Hi, please could someone tell if the engine in the attached photo has a wet belt? I'm under the impression that the aluminium casing to the left of the engine has a timing chan in it and therfore does not have a wet belt.  Thanks for time 👍🤙

[iantt]

That is indeed a chain type engine. But the oil pump belt will be a wet belt. 

[Chris866687]

2 hours ago, iantt said:

That is indeed a chain type engine. But the oil pump belt will be a wet belt. 

Thanks for your reply,  is the oil pump belt as much of an issue do you no? Thanks 

[unofix]

25 minutes ago, Chris866687 said:

is the oil pump belt as much of an issue do you no? Thanks 

Basically it's the exact same job. The timing chain has to be removed in order to get the wet oil pump belt off, so real advantage.

It will take same length of time and about the same cost.

[Chris866687]

So with there new mild hybrid st line x fiesta, have they learnt there lesson be removing all wet belts? Would this be a better option.  Tia 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 minutes ago, Chris866687 said:

So with there new mild hybrid st line x fiesta, have they learnt there lesson be removing all wet belts?

No. The revised 1.0 engine is basically the same (with the wet oil pump belt) irrespective of whether it's MHEV or not.

[Chris866687]

So if I'm looking at buying a 2020 fiesta or focus st line / x which is the best engine to go for ? 🤷‍♂️

[Zacarhay]

On 3/14/2023 at 9:56 AM, unofix said:

and indeed they still do. Once the wet belt snaps the life of the engine has ended.

And replacing before it snaps pretty much ends the life of the car too because no one seems to know how to do it correctly 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

1 hour ago, Chris866687 said:

So if I'm looking at buying a 2020 fiesta or focus st line / x which is the best engine to go for ? 🤷‍♂️

As my Gran used to say " you're as bad burned as scalded" 😀

But seriously, I assume you're meaning the 1.0 so I'd say still go for the later (chain cam) engine as you've only got the one belt to worry about, and if it did fail prematurely there's at least a chance of switching off before the engine is a write off.

All Mk 4 Focus 1.0s are chain cam anyway. 2020 was a changeover year for the Fiesta, so you could come across either and need to check as per your pic earlier.

The 1.5 which was available in the pre-facelift Focus Mk 4 and the Fiesta ST is of a similar format (chain cam,  belt oil pump drive) if you want more power than the 1.0 155 MHEV.