Hello fellow Ford owners,

A few months ago I purchased a used 2013 Fiesta Zetec S with the 1.0 EcoBoost engine. As the car was approaching 10 years of age, I gave it for the timing belt replacement and a full service at a "Ford Specialist" near Birmingham.

After getting the car back, I felt that it was not driving normally and took it back to the garage to get it fixed. They refused to investigate the issues citing that they are very busy due to the Easter weekend. Since it appeared like they were not interested in resolving the issues, I gave the car to a renowned local Ford dealer for diagnosis.

In a nutshell, they have recommended an engine replacement due to issues such as - slight bottom end bearning knock, timing being out and DTC codes P000A, P053F, P0251, P0300, P0301, P0303 and P0420. 

Can someone advice what I can do next, please?

I’d take it back to the ‘Specialist’ with Ford’s diags and demand they rectify the problem and any subsequent damage.

Don’t accept it back until it’s fixed to your satisfaction. Hopefully they’ll play ball and it’ll all be fine. If not, speak to Citizen’s Advice and you’ll probably have to get a solicitor involved etc..

Prepare any evidence you have that it was in good serviceable condition prior to their work (service history etc).

Good luck!

I feel a claim in the small claims court is a coming 🙁

I know Ford dealers are taking the P155 with the prices they charge. However, I would always recommend shopping around the Ford main dealers and just getting it done by whichever one of them had the least expensive price.

Do I think that a Ford main dealer always does a better job than an independent ? No.

What I do believe is that the job is not simple, requires special tools and unfortunately it does sometimes go wrong. If the screw up is caused at a Ford dealer your chances of getting full recompense is greater. You can involve the likes of Ford Customer Care to push things along, and it's easier to present a legal case against them. The defense of it must have been like that before we did the work, won't stand up.

All of this is too late for you now. As i said in my opening line I can see this going to court.

12 hours ago, revvingengines said:

Hello fellow Ford owners,

A few months ago I purchased a used 2013 Fiesta Zetec S with the 1.0 EcoBoost engine. As the car was approaching 10 years of age, I gave it for the timing belt replacement and a full service at a "Ford Specialist" near Birmingham.

After getting the car back, I felt that it was not driving normally and took it back to the garage to get it fixed. They refused to investigate the issues citing that they are very busy due to the Easter weekend. Since it appeared like they were not interested in resolving the issues, I gave the car to a renowned local Ford dealer for diagnosis.

In a nutshell, they have recommended an engine replacement due to issues such as - slight bottom end bearning knock, timing being out and DTC codes P000A, P053F, P0251, P0300, P0301, P0303 and P0420. 

Can someone advice what I can do next, please?

How did you pay for the 1st job? You may have some recourse there.

Thank you @Smartd00d, @unofix, @Arathornfor the inputs 👍

The car has a full service history with bills and stamps. I also have a few videos of the engine startup before and after the repair work.

Another point I missed mentioning in my opening post is that I had taken the car for a paid general health check at the said Ford Specialist (they claim it to be of MOT standards) and the only advice they had was to consider changing the timing belt as a preventive measure.

56 minutes ago, Arathorn said:

How did you pay for the 1st job? You may have some recourse there.

I paid via card and have the Invoice and receipt. Would that help somehow?

5 minutes ago, revvingengines said:

I paid via card and have the Invoice and receipt. Would that help somehow?

You won't get the credit card to pay for a new engine but you should be covered by Section 75 of the credit card act. this will enable you to get a refund either from the original vendor of from the credit card company. You need to keep records (in writing) of all the events, Past, Present and Future to give all the details to the credit card company. See this link:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/

Hopefully Deepak you will get this problem sorted out amicably with the Birmingham 'Ford Specialist' after showing them the Ford dealer report.

It struck me that the codes reported primarily related to fuelling.  Noting that a timing belt replacement has little to do with that side of things, I would suspect misfiring and downstream cat issues are related to the reported 'timing being out' although there is no actual figure given.

I personally would be more concerned with the 'bottom end bearing knock' which AFAIK wouldn't have had anything to do with belt replacement. You may know that the oil pump strainer is prone to gradual blockage, the car is ten years old, and there may be low oil pressure reaching the crankshaft/bearings.

For information it would relatively easy for a mechanic to drop the sump, check the pump strainer for debris, feel for wear in the big-end bearings and replace them in-situ if necessary. Good luck!

SITREP - Based on feedback received from this thread, my friends and relatives, I took the car back to the Ford specialist earlier this week, who agreed to look into the issues observed by myself and Ford.

So far they have cleaned the bits of the original timing belt that was caught up in the oil strainer, which apparently has fixed issues such as the Oil Pressure Warning light staying on for 2-3 seconds during cold starts and the rattling/tappety noise until the engine reaches its normal operating temperature. They also said thay they've inspected the bottom end bearing knock diagnosed by Ford and that the crank is fine.

As for the misfires, they are going to change the spark plugs (which haven't been changed since the past 2 years/30K miles) and rescan the car for any fault codes. They were adamant that Ford's diagnosis is probably overstated, that the car is running spot-on and there's no issue with the timing, when I politely reminded them to check that while they're working on the car.

SITREP - After a series of constant follow-ups with the garage (as they don't keep me updated periodically on the progress of the work), they informed me that the spark plugs were changed and error codes were not detected after the subsequent test drive. They also said that the timing needs to be rechecked since car still has a vibration (I reported that it is prominent while gradually revving till 2000 rpm in neutral and in lower speeds after the car has run for a while at its normal operating temperature).

Hoping to have the car back in order without further delays.

Keep at it. Seems to be taking a long time to do some basic checks.