I just got the spark plugs changed as part of the full service.

Ok this won't be as expensive as I thought!  Thanks again for the help.

44 minutes ago, Newbie229 said:

Thank you for the reply.

I'll buy everything you mentioned there.  Is it worth replacing the ignition coils also, or is this not needed?

Don’t also forget to ‘replace’ the car!

If anyone's interested in whats inside an Ecoboost 1lt:

 

https://youtu.be/0yx1-50iqnA

 

A 1.0L, turbocharged, direct injected 3 cylinder Ecoboost

This 1000cc powerhouse puts down 123hp .

This particular core engine is thought to have around 70-80k miles on it which is very premature for an engine failure on a modern car. I tear this engine all the way down to try to figure out what happened, and why it failed.

22 minutes ago, Tiexen said:

If anyone's interested in what inside an Ecoboost 1lt

You beat me to it...saw this video a few days ago.

Its interesting that the oil pump belt was damaged to the extent of losing teeth which could mean that all us with ecoboost engines using the timing chain could still be sitting on a potential time-bomb.

Stick to at least yearly oil and filter changes with the correct spec oil...and hope for the best...

22 minutes ago, martinf64 said:

Its interesting that the oil pump belt was damaged to the extent of losing teeth which could mean that all us with ecoboost engines using the timing chain could still be sitting on a potential time-bomb.

Not the first oil-pump belt I've heard of degrading unfortunately.  However, there is physically less belt to degrade on the chain engine, meaning less chance of pump blockage.  There should be warning signs of this happening, slow to clear or flickering oil pressure light.  And if the oil pump belt does break on a chain engine, the engine itself may still be serviceable, as long as the engine is shut down immediately.

12 hours ago, Tiexen said:

If anyone's interested in whats inside an Ecoboost 1lt:

 

https://youtu.be/0yx1-50iqnA

 

A 1.0L, turbocharged, direct injected 3 cylinder Ecoboost

This 1000cc powerhouse puts down 123hp .

This particular core engine is thought to have around 70-80k miles on it which is very premature for an engine failure on a modern car. I tear this engine all the way down to try to figure out what happened, and why it failed.

They really are a badly engineered engine.

12 hours ago, Tiexen said:

If anyone's interested in whats inside an Ecoboost 1lt:

 

https://youtu.be/0yx1-50iqnA

 

A 1.0L, turbocharged, direct injected 3 cylinder Ecoboost

This 1000cc powerhouse puts down 123hp .

This particular core engine is thought to have around 70-80k miles on it which is very premature for an engine failure on a modern car. I tear this engine all the way down to try to figure out what happened, and why it failed.

Want some sound advice? Get rid of it, & go and purchase a Toyota, Honda or anything Japanese! Problem solved!

1 minute ago, Hackney said:

Want some sound advice? Get rid of it, & go and purchase a Toyota, Honda or anything Japanese! Problem solved!

Couldn't agree more. My Hyundai isn't going have a timing belt shred, or any belt. 🤣🤣

I'm not sure, but the oil pump losing its belt teeth could be a secondary effect of the loss of lubrication. That engine he stripped was unusual in that it had a balance shaft, which according to the workshop manual that I have was only fitted to cars with a 6-speed automatic transmission. On these the oil belt has its own tensioner, which is not present on normal engines. When he took the front cover off the bits that fell out, and the subsequent large bits of metal he found elsewhere appear to be from this tensioner that seemed to have failed and broken up. In failing it might have jammed or partially jammed the oil pump belt causing the teeth to shear off.

On 6/15/2023 at 8:28 PM, Tony Roman said:

You should consider also replacing the water pump, oil pump wet belt, several gaskets. I think your mechanic should inform you. However you can buy OEM Ford parts from other sellers at much better prices. Here is an example TIMING BELT WITH WATER PUMP 1.0 EB ECOSPORT FOCUS _ 2210970 _ E3BJ-8B596-AA | MOTORCRAFT WATER PUMP TIMING KITS | Ford Original Parts .

One more thing, it is a good idea to ask your mechanic first to inspect the both belts condition by removing the sump. This is a fairly simple procedure witch will take few hours and then to decide when to get the belts replaced. Sorry for my English! Obviously not native.

I understand the water pump on the Ecoboost is driven by the auxiliary belt, not the timing belt so that does not need to be changed. The belt will need to be changed, but not the pump. In most cars (including Fieasta diesels) the pump is driven by the timing belt and is good practice to change it, some cars (especially VAG) were prone to water pump failures.

I am not sure about the oil pump. The belt will certainly need changing, and pump may need to be removed to clean the oil strainer.

42 minutes ago, Jim H said:

I understand the water pump on the Ecoboost is driven by the auxiliary belt, not the timing belt so that does not need to be changed. The belt will need to be changed, but not the pump. In most cars (including Fieasta diesels) the pump is driven by the timing belt and is good practice to change it, some cars (especially VAG) were prone to water pump failures.

I am not sure about the oil pump. The belt will certainly need changing, and pump may need to be removed to clean the oil strainer.

Yes, this is correct. Water pump is not driven by the timing belt and replacement is optional depending on the age of the car and mileage. However considering that most cars that really need timing belt replacement most probably will also need a new water pump. Another aspect is the pricing. Usually Ford water pump is much more expensive than if you buy a genuine Ford timing kit with the water pump included.

On 6/4/2023 at 11:28 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Yes, I'm sure that was the case when the 1.0 ecoboost was first launched (it's a good while ago now).

It's very hard to find any proof now though, as if someone had gone back and destroyed the evidence of what was said then. Reminds me of Winston Smith in "1984" whose job at the Ministry of Truth was to go back and alter things to make sure the records tallied with what was being said now!😃

To be fair, information does get lost in the depths of time, I'm not sure there is any deliberate attempt to obfuscate the original information, just that the appearance of newer information means that's what will appear in searches.

The fact that there is now a service interval for the belts means they realised they made a mistake, implemented a service schedule, and developed tools and training for their techs to replace a previously unreplaceable belt.

I don't expect them to issue a press release saying "actually, it's a 10 year interval now", in the same way that I wouldn't expect you to claim you're the worlds best driver, get 3 points, and issue a public statement to let everyone know things have changed.

Just thought I'd update everyone.  I just got my Fiesta back today from the mechanic.  He changed the wet belt, oil pump belt, oil pump and water pump.  The coolant and engine oil were also replaced.  The car has approx 72.000 miles and is a 2018 Ecoboost.

So the mechanic said it was an absolute pig of a job and mentioned both the wet belt and the oil pump belt had a series of cracks and were on their way out.  He also showed me the oil pump and it had a lot of debris accumulated in the gauze area and was starting to get blocked.  He said it was good I had provided all the parts to be replaced as all of them were needed.

Overall I'm glad I got this done.  It wasn't cheap, but the belt wouldn't have lasted much longer.  I change my oil every 6 months or 6,000 miles, whichever is sooner.  However my wet belt still wasn't in good shape.  The previous owners had used Ford's extended service schedule (oil change every 2 years :O), so maybe this contributed to the wet belt degredation.

On 4/17/2023 at 12:59 PM, TomsFocus said:

Beat me to it!  

Interesting that they include the oil pump belt for later models.  Odd that after all that work they suggest checking valve clearances 6k later.  

 

On 6/4/2023 at 8:42 AM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Yes, from what I've seen, the causes of belt degradation in the PSA Puretech are the same as the ecoboost. Changing the belt looks to be just as much fun too!

 

What did I get myself into 🤣🤣🤣I love my fiesta but this belt thing is something else. 

You guys got very useful information here, RESPECT! 

 

Roughly how much would it cost to get the belt checked, can the main dealer do it and tell you how much life is on the belt? 

5 hours ago, Dean st line x said:

Roughly how much would it cost to get the belt checked, can the main dealer do it and tell you how much life is on the belt? 

Main dealer probably won't check the belt, they'll only replace it at a cost of £1500 or so.  It is possible to check condition by removing the sump, if the oil pump pickup is full of bits of rubber then you know the belt is deteriorating.  Probably cost a couple of hours labour at an indy garage.

There's no way to determine how much life is left in the belt though.  A member on here has a very deteriorated belt that I didn't think would last more than a month after cleaning out the oil pump but I've been proved wrong there...as far as I know it's still holding 3 months later.  (I really hope I haven't jynxed them with this post lol!)

5 hours ago, Dean st line x said:

Roughly how much would it cost to get the belt checked, can the main dealer do it and tell you how much life is on the belt? 

I can't recall anyone getting a dealer to check it - the few people brave enough have tackled it themselves. Not sure how they could estimate remaining life anyway. Video on the subject here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BiJ-nuutUN4

@RayC333 has dismantled an ecoboost several times and may be able to give some more informed comment.

At 4 years old you should be ok for some years yet, provided you are confident of service history so far and ensure correct oil changes at least annually going forward. 

Visually checking the belt is just about possible but not very practical.

The reason for this is there are only two access points, both of which require significant work (and cost) to expose it for viewing. Namely the sump and/or camshaft cover.

Even then, one could only make a rough assessment as I've noticed that deterioration is not always consistent around the whole belt.

As for estimating remaining life (visually) I would say that was totally impractical, based on my own experience and reading the woes of many others. 

The clear sign of belt degradation is debris in the oil pump strainer. This can be checked by dropping the sump but will take a couple of hours or more (and cost). There are one or two reports of people saying they can check this with an endoscope through the oil drain location but personally I wouldn't recommend that.

My advice would be to consider how long the car is going to be kept. If it's to be a few years then I would be planning in a belt change, say approx. around the 5 year+ mark.

Note: If I were to go out and buy a 5- 6yr old, 50k+ approx 1.0 Ecoboost today-being a hands on sort of person, I would routinely drop the sump and check/clean the strainer. Any sign of debris, it would be a belt etc. replacement.

Sorry to go on, but it's a subject dear to my heart 🥴

19 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Main dealer probably won't check the belt, they'll only replace it at a cost of £1500 or so.  It is possible to check condition by removing the sump, if the oil pump pickup is full of bits of rubber then you know the belt is deteriorating.  Probably cost a couple of hours labour at an indy garage.

There's no way to determine how much life is left in the belt though.  A member on here has a very deteriorated belt that I didn't think would last more than a month after cleaning out the oil pump but I've been proved wrong there...as far as I know it's still holding 3 months later.  (I really hope I haven't jynxed them with this post lol!)

Woooooow thank you very much for the information. Really appreciate 

34 minutes ago, Dean st line x said:

Woooooow thank you very much for the information. Really appreciate 

The guy heard you though 🤣 🤣

20 hours ago, RayC333 said:

Visually checking the belt is just about possible but not very practical.

The reason for this is there are only two access points, both of which require significant work (and cost) to expose it for viewing. Namely the sump and/or camshaft cover.

Even then, one could only make a rough assessment as I've noticed that deterioration is not always consistent around the whole belt.

As for estimating remaining life (visually) I would say that was totally impractical, based on my own experience and reading the woes of many others. 

The clear sign of belt degradation is debris in the oil pump strainer. This can be checked by dropping the sump but will take a couple of hours or more (and cost). There are one or two reports of people saying they can check this with an endoscope through the oil drain location but personally I wouldn't recommend that.

My advice would be to consider how long the car is going to be kept. If it's to be a few years then I would be planning in a belt change, say approx. around the 5 year+ mark.

Note: If I were to go out and buy a 5- 6yr old, 50k+ approx 1.0 Ecoboost today-being a hands on sort of person, I would routinely drop the sump and check/clean the strainer. Any sign of debris, it would be a belt etc. replacement.

Sorry to go on, but it's a subject dear to my heart 🥴

Personally Rayc333, l would of thought an endoscope through the sump plug hole or even the oil filler port would of been a good way to check the condition of the belt, if you can see the belt that way?......

Just interested to know why you wouldn't recommend this to be tried?....

On 10/6/2023 at 10:14 AM, simon401982 said:

Personally Rayc333, l would of thought an endoscope through the sump plug hole or even the oil filler port would of been a good way to check the condition of the belt, if you can see the belt that way?......

Just interested to know why you wouldn't recommend this to be tried?....

Woooooow you must be a pro in these, thanks a lot, guess I'll just get it change at say 60k, that should be fine. Thanks for the info. I was going to visit Ford Dealer for this info, imagine 

On 10/6/2023 at 10:14 AM, simon401982 said:

Just interested to know why you wouldn't recommend this to be tried?....

Most endoscopes sold at a price the public would pay simply aren't good enough. They are not controllable (like expensive medical/aerospace equipment).

I bought and tried a low end endoscope. Personally I found it impossible to get it manoeuvred from either the sump hole or the oil filler location to a position where I could see anything useful.

a) Can't see all around the belt anyway. At best you might spot a missing tooth or some frayed edges.

b) Even in endoscope examples I've seen, where individuals have claimed you can reach the strainer gauze, you can't fully see under the shroud that partially covers it. That's where a lot of the debris collects.

All the above is just my opinion. If someone wants to try it - and believe they succeeded, that's great.

On 10/7/2023 at 10:23 PM, RayC333 said:

Most endoscopes sold at a price the public would pay simply aren't good enough. They are not controllable (like expensive medical/aerospace equipment).

I bought and tried a low end endoscope. Personally I found it impossible to get it manoeuvred from either the sump hole or the oil filler location to a position where I could see anything useful.

a) Can't see all around the belt anyway. At best you might spot a missing tooth or some frayed edges.

b) Even in endoscope examples I've seen, where individuals have claimed you can reach the strainer gauze, you can't fully see under the shroud that partially covers it. That's where a lot of the debris collects.

All the above is just my opinion. If someone wants to try it - and believe they succeeded, that's great.

I'd echo all of this. I tried with my endoscope (cheap thing from China) but it was just slightly too fat to get under the oil pump so as to inspect the gauze. Even if it was smaller there's no way you then be able to snake it up to the belt and see anything meaningful though given the plastic cover over the oil belt and the timing belt being some way up inside the timing belt cover. Furthermore, any drop of oil on the lens and it needs to come back out for a clean thus undoing all the progress made with navigating it to right location.

I ended up removing the sump and manually inspecting. In my case there was some signs of belt degradation with debris beginning to accumulate to one side of the gauze:

Whilst complete blockage wasn't imminent the process had clearly started. For what it's worth, this car is 10 years old, ~75k miles and roughly-annual oil changes with Castrol 5W20.

1 hour ago, MJNewton said:

I'd echo all of this. I tried with my endoscope (cheap thing from China) but it was just slightly too fat to get under the oil pump so as to inspect the gauze. Even if it was smaller there's no way you then be able to snake it up to the belt and see anything meaningful though given the plastic cover over the oil belt and the timing belt being some way up inside the timing belt cover. Furthermore, any drop of oil on the lens and it needs to come back out for a clean thus undoing all the progress made with navigating it to right location.

I ended up removing the sump and manually inspecting. In my case there was some signs of belt degradation with debris beginning to accumulate to one side of the gauze:

Whilst complete blockage wasn't imminent the process had clearly started. For what it's worth, this car is 10 years old, ~75k miles and roughly-annual oil changes with Castrol 5W20.

Thanks for the insight at the end of your piece. My daughter's car coming up 10 years old and about same mileage as yours due in next week for both cam and oil pump belts change and also the oil pump as well. Looks like she has caught it about right. She has also had oil and filter changes every 12 months throughout its life.