Good morning.  New member here and apologies if this has been asked before.

 

My parents 2019 Ford Fiesta with 42,881 miles on the clock has been running with no issues. Passed MOT and full service less than 3 months ago.

 

Hit a pothole on Sunday then on Monday afternoon got the Engine Oil Pressure Low message.  No oil leak and dipstick checked and definitely sufficient oil.  Also getting a message saying low on full at 90 miles now, used to get this at 50 miles before.

 

Car has been towed 25 miles to Ford dealership who are looking at it tomorrow, 16th Feb.  But over the phone they’re saying that it’s probably the timing belt.  Find it strange that they can suggest this before seeing the car or doing any checks.

 

Is this a known fault.  Are we wrong to be suspicious? They originally quoted £2050 for works but then went back on it and said it could be more.

Hi Julia,

I am assuming this is some variety of the 1.0 ecoboost petrol engine? There are indeed known issues with the timing belt and there are literally hundreds of posts on this site, Facebook and the web generally about the issue.

It sounds as if the engine was still running, in which case the belt has not actually snapped. The usual issue however is that degredation of the belt can clog the oil pump with debris, leading to low/no oil pressure and subsequent engine damage.

A figure of around £2,000 is at the upper end of what a main dealership would charge for a belt replacement alone on these engines, which is a very big job anyway. It sounds,though,  as if they are holding off for a full examination and, if further engine damage has occurred, it will probably mean a replacement engine, unfortunately.

 

 

If you're automatic you may be able to convince Ford to repair based on the recently released recall for the 1.0 Ecoboost with 6F15 Auto in the USA as your Engine & Gearbox is exactly the same spec.

If you're manual then it's probably down to poor maintenance

Poor maintenance as in?  Car was purchased 2nd hand with less than 700 miles on clock and has had regular services.

3 minutes ago, Shortarsethatsme said:

Poor maintenance as in?  Car was purchased 2nd hand with less than 700 miles on clock and has had regular services.

Engine flushes, wrong oil, long intervals and short journeys can all accelerate belt degradation 

41 minutes ago, Shortarsethatsme said:

Poor maintenance as in?  Car was purchased 2nd hand with less than 700 miles on clock and has had regular services.

Wrong oil, used flush etc

Hi Julia and welcome to the forum. 

Looks like everyone is missing something. 

Pothole.

Since your parents car has been cared for property with regular servicing then the Ford dealer are looking to rip you off.

You say it's been towed. Why? Did the car still run fine after hitting the pothole? I'd suspect the jolt loosened a connection somewhere. That in itself could cause all kinds of error messages. 

Can't speak for the other guys, but I suspect we mainly responded to the cambelt issue as that was the specific question asked at the end of the OP.

But yes, I've known a big jolt cause all sorts of issues so let's hope it is something like that and the towing was just prudence to avoid running an engine with the oil light on until they can investigate fully.

We can't really usefully comment much further without knowing what they come up with today, though.

 

Son’s oil light came on last week (fiesta black edition-15 plate-72,000 miles) along with stop/start light. Stopped the car immediately as it happened at his house. Oil level normal. Booked it into Ford where it went on Wednesday to have the belt replaced alongside a ream of other internal parts (it’s a kit they supply) and got it back today. The cost …. £1570. The garage said they’re now seeing loads coming in 🥴