Hi All,

I've just recently purchased a used ford fiesta 2014 ecoboost titanium x. I just recently had the car in the garage due to a service light saying "engine malfunction, service now" in which the garage I brought it into said it was because the oil was diluted and needed changing as well as the vac pump was blocked and needed replacing. I've just had a listen to the engine and noticed a ticking noise and am not sure if this ticking noise is normal for Ford Fiesta's or if it could be due to the timing belt is going? The car has 61k miles on it if that is of any use! I've uploaded a video of the sound.

 

Thanks!

I thought I'd just give an initial response to this question but suspect the solution will take a lot longer.

Firstly I would recommend you don't drive the car until the underlying cause(s) are known. Doing so could cause significant mechanical damage if there is an issue with oil pressure and/or debris in the oil system.

The term diluted oil on the face of seems a little odd. Diluted with what? Has the car been serviced recently and the correct engine oil used (grade and spec.)?

The vacuum pump can be blocked (there is a small gauze filter) and if it is it would suggest debris is circulating in the oil. If the vac pump bearing has not excessively worn this can be cleared out if removed from the engine.

You may have heard about the common issue of wet timing belt degradation?. This can lead to serious consequences if not caught very early, as it will cause a blockage in the oil pump strainer and gradually starve your engine of oil. Does your oil warning light stay on/flicker? A reduction in oil pressure may have some connection with your perceived increase in engine noise although the general noise in the video seems pretty standard to my ear.

I would suggest engaging a mechanic more familiar with the 1.0 ecoboost and it's issues.  

Thanks for the fast reply. I purchased the car last month and I think the car was last serviced at 40000 miles from the previous owners. They did say that the oil was contaminated with petrol so the mechanics gave it an oil change with 5/20 oil alongside the oil filter. I haven't unfortunately, this is all pretty new to me, I'm not the most car literate person, sorry for my ignorance! I've not had any oil warning lights at all, only just the one orange wrench service light that popped up a few weeks ago but hasn't appeared since then. I appreciate the help, I'll probably take it to a mechanic again to be super safe given what you have said just to make sure that everything is alright.