Hi all,

Got the wet belt changed a couple of weeks back on my 2012 1.0 Ecoboost Focus and thought I'd share some photos of the belt (and other pieces) that came out. Being a 2012, the belt was a year or so overdue given the 100k miles/10 year service interval but it took me a while to make the decision about whether the sell and move on or front the cost for replacement, and in the end, the replacement won. My car is in fantastic condition and has "only" done about 54,000 miles - so there was some economic sense as the sale value (sans belt change) wouldn't come close to getting me something of equivalent spec and condition.

The belt that came out looks mostly perfect to be honest, still absolutely worth getting done as there are some signs of wear, but nowhere near as bad as some you see. From what I was told, they dropped the sump and cleared everything out and there was no sign of anything in the oil pick-up gauze. The car has been regularly serviced with either Ford or a local mechanic that is extremely familiar with Fords, so it's always had the appropriate Ecoboost oil etc.

The water pump also got replace and again, looks perfect. Although this is not the original pump as I had it replaced under warranty about 6 or 7 years ago, so it's only around 25-30k miles old.

Although it's just a single example, it shows that it IS possible to run the 1st gen 1.0 EB and not have the cambelt dissolve into a mushy mess!

Well I'm perplexed to say the least, assuming the full history of this engine is known to rule out any possible previous replacement/oil pump maintenance.

Having personally fitted and later exposed a 1.0 wet belt, this one looks better than mine after 10x more running. Even the crankshaft bolt looks as though it's not seen action.

Most believe it's either a fundamental wet belt design problem or lack of/improper servicing that causes degradation of the belt and pump blockage but perhaps not.

Are there possibly other confounding factors going on in examples like mine? I used a new Dayco belt and tensioner, oil to the correct grade and spec.,  no abuse, so why the difference? 

 

As above, I'd be surprised if that belt is genuinely 11 years old, especially with that low mileage.  Have you owned the car from new?

12 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

As above, I'd be surprised if that belt is genuinely 11 years old, especially with that low mileage.  Have you owned the car from new?

I’m surprised too but it is! Haven’t owned it since new but it was only a couple of years old with about 20k on the clock, so I’ve had it most of its life. Previous owner hadn’t had anything done outside of the initial/yearly services (all done at Ford).

On 9/1/2023 at 9:04 PM, AaronF said:

Hi all,

Got the wet belt changed a couple of weeks back on my 2012 1.0 Ecoboost Focus and thought I'd share some photos of the belt (and other pieces) that came out. Being a 2012, the belt was a year or so overdue given the 100k miles/10 year service interval but it took me a while to make the decision about whether the sell and move on or front the cost for replacement, and in the end, the replacement won. My car is in fantastic condition and has "only" done about 54,000 miles - so there was some economic sense as the sale value (sans belt change) wouldn't come close to getting me something of equivalent spec and condition.

The belt that came out looks mostly perfect to be honest, still absolutely worth getting done as there are some signs of wear, but nowhere near as bad as some you see. From what I was told, they dropped the sump and cleared everything out and there was no sign of anything in the oil pick-up gauze. The car has been regularly serviced with either Ford or a local mechanic that is extremely familiar with Fords, so it's always had the appropriate Ecoboost oil etc.

The water pump also got replace and again, looks perfect. Although this is not the original pump as I had it replaced under warranty about 6 or 7 years ago, so it's only around 25-30k miles old.

Great result that! I'm wondering if you could share with us how much it cost to do the work done and all the bits that were replaced? It looks like there's a tensioner in there and something else too (the large part below the belt).

I'm very concerned to have just discovered this servicing requirement and it sounds as if it costs £1000-1500 to get the work done. We've owned quite a few Fords over the years and they've been great, this has come as a real shock.

Deleted

Edited September 3, 20232 yr by YOG
Wrong info.

On 9/3/2023 at 4:19 PM, bob68 said:

Great result that! I'm wondering if you could share with us how much it cost to do the work done and all the bits that were replaced? It looks like there's a tensioner in there and something else too (the large part below the belt).

I'm very concerned to have just discovered this servicing requirement and it sounds as if it costs £1000-1500 to get the work done. We've owned quite a few Fords over the years and they've been great, this has come as a real shock.

I think it depends on what year your Ecoboost is, I believe the issue only applies to the earlier MK3's, but I could be wrong.

Ended up costing me about £1300 for my local garage that this car has been going to for years to do it and included the following;

Work (no line item cost given on the invoice for these)

• Cambelt kit including water pump replaced
• Aux belt replaced
• Coolant replaced
• All associated seals, bolts and gaskets replaced
• Oil and filter replaced

Parts

• Ecoboost oil
• Aux belt
• Crankshaft oil seal
• Red coolant
• Hex head bolt
• Timing belt and water pump kit
• Oil filter
• Sump plug
• Ford gasket
• Gasket (x2)
• Stud
• Nut
• Washer

I believe the main labour was £745 and then the parts make up the rest. The timing belt and water pump kit from Ford was £225 by itself so that makes up a fair chunk of the parts cost.

Hope this helps!

1 minute ago, AaronF said:

I think it depends on what year your Ecoboost is, I believe the issue only applies to the earlier MK3's, but I could be wrong.

Ended up costing me about £1300 for my local garage that this car has been going to for years to do it and included the following;

Work (no line item cost given on the invoice for these)

• Cambelt kit including water pump replaced
• Aux belt replaced
• Coolant replaced
• All associated seals, bolts and gaskets replaced
• Oil and filter replaced

Parts

• Ecoboost oil
• Aux belt
• Crankshaft oil seal
• Red coolant
• Hex head bolt
• Timing belt and water pump kit
• Oil filter
• Sump plug
• Ford gasket
• Gasket (x2)
• Stud
• Nut
• Washer

I believe the main labour was £745 and then the parts make up the rest. The timing belt and water pump kit from Ford was £225 by itself so that makes up a fair chunk of the parts cost.

Hope this helps!

It affects ALL MK3/MK3.5s with the 1.0 EB engine.

1 minute ago, FatHead1979 said:

It affects ALL MK3/MK3.5s with the 1.0 EB engine.

Oh right! I thought I read they changed it to be a chain at some point, or was that a different Ecoboost? (or am I making this up entirely haha). If it's still the wet belt, what the hell are Ford thinking?!

1 hour ago, AaronF said:

Oh right! I thought I read they changed it to be a chain at some point, or was that a different Ecoboost? (or am I making this up entirely haha). If it's still the wet belt, what the hell are Ford thinking?!

On the Focus, they changed the main wet belt to a chain for the MK4 although it still has a small lower wet belt (I think it might drive the oil pump if I remember correctly).

2 minutes ago, FatHead1979 said:

On the Focus, they changed the main wet belt to a chain for the MK4

There are exceptions !!

Like the Focus Mk4 diesel 2.0 still has the wet cambelt. Ask me how I know 🤣

1 minute ago, unofix said:

There are exceptions !!

Like the Focus Mk4 diesel 2.0 still has the wet cambelt. Ask me how I know 🤣

Indeed, the already infamous EcoBlue *****.

 

Ford really are determined to lose the rest of their market share of vehicles with an internal combustion engine.

12 hours ago, FatHead1979 said:

Ford really are determined to lose the rest of their market share of vehicles with an internal combustion engine.

Who needs to use heavy taxation and ULEZ zones when you can just make ICE engines so bad that EV looks like a sweet release!   

On 9/1/2023 at 9:04 PM, AaronF said:

Hi all,

Got the wet belt changed a couple of weeks back on my 2012 1.0 Ecoboost Focus and thought I'd share some photos of the belt (and other pieces) that came out. Being a 2012, the belt was a year or so overdue given the 100k miles/10 year service interval but it took me a while to make the decision about whether the sell and move on or front the cost for replacement, and in the end, the replacement won. My car is in fantastic condition and has "only" done about 54,000 miles - so there was some economic sense as the sale value (sans belt change) wouldn't come close to getting me something of equivalent spec and condition.

The belt that came out looks mostly perfect to be honest, still absolutely worth getting done as there are some signs of wear, but nowhere near as bad as some you see. From what I was told, they dropped the sump and cleared everything out and there was no sign of anything in the oil pick-up gauze. The car has been regularly serviced with either Ford or a local mechanic that is extremely familiar with Fords, so it's always had the appropriate Ecoboost oil etc.

The water pump also got replace and again, looks perfect. Although this is not the original pump as I had it replaced under warranty about 6 or 7 years ago, so it's only around 25-30k miles old.

 

Hi, would please let me know what that cost, my Ford dealer tells me that I need the same job done, thanks.

£1600 give or take £100

On 9/2/2023 at 2:06 AM, RayC333 said:

Well I'm perplexed to say the least, assuming the full history of this engine is known to rule out any possible previous replacement/oil pump maintenance.

 

 

all the things I've read say you must have engine oil to the exact ford spec and change to time - either one off track and the belt gets almost instantly destroyed (which would make perfect sense) - service to ford spec no issues - bodge about on the cheap and get caught out with buying a new engine / car...

Lad at work has a 2013 fiesta ecoboost and never services it, just tops up the oil when it gets low. I'm amazed it's never gone bang. Also it's been making  all sorts of strange noises. He belted down motorway from the midlands to Gatwick last Saturday to go on holiday .  We never found out if he made it there un assisted by the AA/rac. 😂