Hi,

I've just bought a Ford Focus 2019 ecoboost with full dealer service history and 83000 miles on clock.

Been concerned about horror stories with engine due to oil belt failing. 

The last service for the car was at 80000 miles in October 2023. I was considering getting a service and oil change in coming weeks for piece of mind or is that unnecessary at this stage? 

Also are there problems with coolant on these engines? After buying car I noticed coolant was below min and I topped it up and hasn't dropped in last 3 to 4 weeks. Other than regularly checking is there anything I can do to monitor or check? On colder mornings I noticed excessive exhaust smoke but was not sure if that was purely to do with outside temp.

Is there a way for a Ford mechanic to check state of gasket and oil belt? Appreciate any suggestions you can offer. Just want to take as much preemptive action as possible to hopefully prevent any issues and protect what was a big investment for me. 

Thanks! 

 

If the car was dealer serviced in Oct then it should have the correct oil in it.  Personally I would change it every 12 months.  6 months seems excessive, unless you do a lot of very short drives. 

(If the car had been serviced by a non-Ford trader before sale then I would be concerned about incorrect oil now.)

The oil pump gauze and wetbelt can be checked by removing the oil sump, although it's not a perfect check and there is still done ambiguity with that.

Haven't heard of any coolant issues on this engine - certainly no common faults in that area that I'm aware of.  Headgasket can be checked using CO2 sniff test and/or a coolant pressure test, same as any other engine.

Thanks for that Tom, I'll leave it for now then. I will be using the car infrequently and mostly for small trips which I know isn't ideal for this motor. I will try and make effort to get a bigger journey on days off. What kind of distance and journey length is better for cars' health? Is there such a measure or finger in air job? 

57 minutes ago, dazza1985_49 said:

I will be using the car infrequently and mostly for small trips which I know isn't ideal for this motor.

I rather suspect, assuming you follow servicing advice, that issues with low battery charge, rather than the engine, are more likely with that usage pattern. You've probably seen the various threads on that subject and related battery charger recommendations!😀

 

7 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I rather suspect, assuming you follow servicing advice, that issues with low battery charge, rather than the engine, are more likely with that usage pattern. You've probably seen the various threads on that subject and related battery charger recommendations!😀

 

Ah right I did wonder what those battery charger threads were all about! Wasn't too sure how that could affect me, I'll look in to that a little more, thanks! Fingers crossed this motor will serve me well!