Hi,

This may be a stupid question - but if you don't know and don't ask ...

Looking to buy a 20-plate Focus Zetec 124 bhp that's done 10k miles.

Is this engine an Ecoboost with a wet timing belt (I'm guessing yes as it is a 3-pot engine so likely turbocharged).

If the answer to the above is 'yes' what is the expected lifetime of the belt in terms of miles and years?

I'm also guessing that the 'Zetec' is now just a model name and the engine is no longer the Lancia-based and re-named Zeta engine?

My sister-in-law's 17-plate Ecoboost 125 has just experinced the wet belt issue and paid £2k to get it sorted.  Mind you, it had done 111k miles.

Any info gratefully received.

Zaph

It has a timing chain. All mk4 do as has been repeated many times on this forum. 
 

However it does have a wet oil pump belt which is due at the same interval and is the same difficulty to change as the wet belt. 

20 plate should be a Mk 4 so revised (chain cam) engine. Zetec is just a model name and has been for many years now. Afaik the only (very tenuous) connection with Lancia was they had a trademark on the name "Zeta", which Ford had to stop using hence "Zetec".

The 3 pot ecoboosts are a completely different engine family.

....and as a point of pure trivia.

The first Zetec-branded engine was the Zeta family, introduced for the 1992 model year powering the fifth generation of the European Ford Escort, the third generation Orion and the Mk.3 Fiesta. The engine was originally available in 1.6 and 1.8 liter versions with a 2.0 liter version appearing in 1993 in the all-new Mondeo. The "Zeta" name was dropped in favour of "Zetec" when Italian car maker Lancia threatened to sue Ford for trademark infringement.

The advanced Zetec-SE (In the UK badged as Zetec-S) was developed in collaboration with Yamaha and Mazda, under the Sigma codename. It ranges in size from 1.2 to 1.7 L (1,242 to 1,679 cc). It is very different from the Zeta engine – the intake and exhaust are even on opposite sides.