On 1/12/2025 at 12:05 PM, Phil3747 said:

I've just googled it for you and found these guys in Stevenage quoting £1100 ??

 

Ford 1.0 EcoBoost Wet Belt Replacement in Stevenage

Used this garage (thanks) and they charged half the price of the Ford dealership. So far so good. The belt was in good condition despite being 10 years old. Apparently the oil was clean which clearly makes a difference.

Check to see if yours in on the recall list before you even think about paying anything 

Looks like I could potentially be in for the same issue here. 

2017 1.0 Ecoboost just had its first engine light come on. It's going fine and only a solid yellow at the moment, but it's about to tick over 60,000. This sounds like a fairly common problem for the age/model.

I have little to now mechanical knowledge, but are there any basic things I should look out for or check myself given the situation? Oil level is fine, and I've topped up the coolant as it was just below min.

MOT is due in November and I have booked in the garage for diagnostic/code read for next Wednesday to get on top of it.

Any help or advice would be very welcome!

 

P.s. purchased November 2024 and service history doesn't suggest it's had a wet belt (or any other belt!) changed yet

6 minutes ago, yd0987 said:

first engine light come on. It's going fine and only a solid yellow at the moment,

What light ?

The engine management light or something else ?

 

1 hour ago, unofix said:

What light ?

The engine management light or something else ?

 

Ah yes, sorry, the engine management light!

You probably need a diagnostic read to find the cause of Engine light.

Are there any other warnings ?

13 hours ago, Theshed said:

You probably need a diagnostic read to find the cause of Engine light.

Are there any other warnings ?

Nothing at all, and it's driving fine. It's all booked in for the diagnostic next week. Will report back with findings in case anyone can shed light (alongside the garage opinion).

Ok, so at the risk of now derailing the topic (I can make a new thread if that would be more useful), I've been to the garage and had the code read;

"Catalytic converter efficiency below threshold"

They've removed the warning light and advised on a few things;

• Stop getting fuel from Tesco, instead go to BP/Esso/Shell
• Maybe start using E5 petrol...
• Buy some Cataclean
• Keep my eye on the fuel efficiency in case it starts going down a lot quicker

Does this all sound reasonable given what I've described?

Suggestion from the mechanic is that the wet belt shouldn't need looking at for another 2 years. It's a 2017 plate with 60k on the clock, for context.

6 minutes ago, yd0987 said:

Ok, so at the risk of now derailing the topic (I can make a new thread if that would be more useful), I've been to the garage and had the code read;

"Catalytic converter efficiency below threshold"

They've removed the warning light and advised on a few things;

• Stop getting fuel from Tesco, instead go to BP/Esso/Shell
• Maybe start using E5 petrol...
• Buy some Cataclean
• Keep my eye on the fuel efficiency in case it starts going down a lot quicker

Does this all sound reasonable given what I've described?

Suggestion from the mechanic is that the wet belt shouldn't need looking at for another 2 years. It's a 2017 plate with 60k on the clock, for context.

If your local Tesco offers Momentum99 you could use that maybe?

The cats on these do wear out though, common issue.  Cataclean should get a few more months out of it, but I would be preparing to replace it in future.  I wouldn't expect a noticeable change in fuel efficiency personally.

Ford say the wetbelts are good for 10 years but on here we'd recommend 8 years, having seen many failures before the 10 year mark.  60k in 8 years is on the cusp of the low mileage per year as well, which is worse for wetbelts.

18 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

If your local Tesco offers Momentum99 you could use that maybe?

The cats on these do wear out though, common issue.  Cataclean should get a few more months out of it, but I would be preparing to replace it in future.  I wouldn't expect a noticeable change in fuel efficiency personally.

Ford say the wetbelts are good for 10 years but on here we'd recommend 8 years, having seen many failures before the 10 year mark.  60k in 8 years is on the cusp of the low mileage per year as well, which is worse for wetbelts.

Ok thank you for this, that's really helpful. 

MOT is due in November but I'll likely book it in early and report back if any issues, or if i need any further advice. Sorry to have hijacked the thread - I shall start a new one next time perhaps.

8 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

If your local Tesco offers Momentum99 you could use that maybe?

I've used that for over 7 years in a 1.0 Ecoboost and now the ST. It's higher octane than the "brands".

Only issue I've had is my local  have been sold out a couple of times!😀

Some decent advice, I alternate between supermarket fuel and Shell Premium.

As for the belt, if you planning to keep the car, I would start shopping around for replacement.

If it has been serviced regularly you should be ok for a while longer but it makes sense to change sooner rather than later.

Hi all,

I thought I would post on this wet belt issue, my daughter has a Ford Focus 2019 1.0 EcoBoost, it is at 72K miles.

Luckily, this is the revised engine with timing chain driven camshafts, but knowing that the oil pump is still driven by a rubber wet belt which is just total stupidity.

Knowing the issues that these engines have I decided that we had to get the Oill Pump Wet Belt replaced along with new timing chain, timing chain tensioner, auxilary drive belts etc.

This work has now been completeted,and luckily just in time, the timing chin had stretched badly and the timing chain tensioner was at maximum ajustment, the oil pump wet belt has also deteriorated badly, it had become very hard and inflexable, the teeth of the belt had started to break up, this is a huge job but I would advise that it is worth doing if the car is still good.

Attached are some photos which I hope will help others to see what work is required.

10 hours ago, Steve666 said:

I decided that we had to get the Oil Pump Wet Belt replaced along with new timing chain, timing chain tensioner, auxiliary drive belts etc.

How much did that cost out of interest?

Sister-in-Law just paid over £2 Grand for belt and Service for her Fiesta at Main Stealer.

It was well overdue by both age and mileage, which was strange as she always has it serviced by Ford, but no one mentioned it previously.

My dry belt needs doing, any1 know a good mobile mechanic in london?

8 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

How much did that cost out of interest?

We are lucky, my friend had his own garage, he is semi retired but he was willing to do my daughter’s car.

The job took just shy of a day and a half, cost of genuine Ford service kit was £450 trade i believe, total cost of the job including the parts was £1150.00.