New owner here, advice for keeping car in best condition?

[Tribal]

Morning guys and girls,

Recently found myself to be a new owner of a Ford Focus Estate, have so far been impressed with size of car, it's practicality and the responsive engine.

After researching how to best maintain it's engine as a new owner, I've fallen down somewhat of a rabbit hole regarding the Ecoboost shortcomings of previous generations of the focus, and have been somewhat concerned due to the sheer volume of engines which have failed due to the previous wetbelt driven engines, and oil belt tensioners/ balance shaft failures which have left the oil belt to also deterioate and clog up the oil pump, seen in the automatic transmissions.

It seems like these failures can come about through perfectly reasonable usage, and regular servicing, which is concerning.

So if anyone can put me slightly at ease that would be great. I've got a 9/20 registered Focus, with the 1.0l, 3 Cylinder MHEV 155 chain driven engine, with manual transmission. The car was serviced at 8000 miles/2yrs and again prior to my purchase of the vehicle in March, 13,000miles/3yrs6mths. It had the service from Ford dealers, with oil changes carried out on both services. The car still has less than 15,000 miles on the clock.

I'm just curious if any owners here have had premature wear or failings with the newer MHEV engines from later in 2020? Is there anything as a new owner I should be aware of, or to do to safeguard myself from any potential unforseeen issues? I'm considering taking out an extended warranty on a yearly basis for the car from Ford, and have been quoted £230 a year, is that a reasonable amount for coverage, does anyone else take out the cover, and does it cover engine related issues?

Is it prudent to get the car serviced at least every year/8-10,000 miles for the oil changes in particular?

Finally, given my engine is chain driven, and has no tensioner/balance shaft to cause extra stress on the oil pump belt, leading to belt failure, have I got the 'least likely' engine to cause premature issues with the vehicle.

As mentioned, I'm really enjoying it so far, and had fully intended to keep the car for the next 10-15yrs as my main family run-about so really looking forward to everyone's advice/input here.

Hope you all have a great day!

Luke

[DaveT70]

26 minutes ago, Tribal said:

I'm just curious if any owners here have had premature wear or failings with the newer MHEV engines from later in 2020?

We've not heard of any stories of the chain driven, or even 1.5 Ecoboosts going bang, yet

 

26 minutes ago, Tribal said:

Is it prudent to get the car serviced at least every year/8-10,000 miles for the oil changes in particular?

You will never do any harm changing the oil more often than recommended

Just make sure you use the correct oil, every time, and NEVER use flush

[RaduF86]

Hi Luke,

I have a 2020 mhev manual gearbox with 61.000 km (not miles) on the ODO.

I had one issue with some oil stains next to the BiSG  which I noticed arount 55000 km, and the Ford dealer said they need to re-apply the RTV gasket on the timing cover. This was covered by the extended warranty. So far so good.

However, just yersterday I found the youtube channel "Bath Lane Garage" where one of these revised 1.0 ecoboost with timing chaing is being open. It is the automatic with oil pump belt tensioner and the oil pump belt is completely toothless and cracked. So there is for sure some issue with the automatics.

The manuals have no ballancing shaft and no belt tensioner so there is less stress on that belt. I am hoping it doesn't go boom!

 

So, use the specified oil, change it often, and maybe around 70.000 km drop the sump for a check. There is nothing blocking it anymore so it should be easier to remove. I plan to remove it in the autumn.

I also really enjoy the car. Drives great, feels great, it is really roomy too.

Cheers!

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, Tribal said:

fully intended to keep the car for the next 10-15yrs

Bear in mind that the oil pump belt still requires replacement at 10 years and it's a long job (approx 6 hours labour). As the cam chain needs to be removed to access the belt, it will probably be prudent to change that also so the job will probably be of similar cost to wet cambelt replacement on the earlier engine.

[RaduF86]

2 hours ago, Tribal said:

 I'm considering taking out an extended warranty on a yearly basis for the car from Ford, and have been quoted £230 a year, is that a reasonable amount for coverage, does anyone else take out the cover, and does it cover engine related issues?

You have to read the terms of the extended warranty contract to know exactly what it covers. Also, you should ask Ford to clarify any of the conditions which seem to be easy to interpret. I believe that this extended warranty means you will have to have a full service history with Ford. After you find out all details, you will mostly likely be able to tell if it is worth having it or not.

In my case, the extended warranty does cover the engine, but only with full service history with Ford and all of it within the correct range (2 years or 30.000 lm or when the Intelligent oil Life Monitor says it is time to change the oi). 

[Tribal]

3 hours ago, Tribal said:

Morning guys and girls,

Recently found myself to be a new owner of a Ford Focus Estate, have so far been impressed with size of car, it's practicality and the responsive engine.

After researching how to best maintain it's engine as a new owner, I've fallen down somewhat of a rabbit hole regarding the Ecoboost shortcomings of previous generations of the focus, and have been somewhat concerned due to the sheer volume of engines which have failed due to the previous wetbelt driven engines, and oil belt tensioners/ balance shaft failures which have left the oil belt to also deterioate and clog up the oil pump, seen in the automatic transmissions.

It seems like these failures can come about through perfectly reasonable usage, and regular servicing, which is concerning.

So if anyone can put me slightly at ease that would be great. I've got a 9/20 registered Focus, with the 1.0l, 3 Cylinder MHEV 155 chain driven engine, with manual transmission. The car was serviced at 8000 miles/2yrs and again prior to my purchase of the vehicle in March, 13,000miles/3yrs6mths. It had the service from Ford dealers, with oil changes carried out on both services. The car still has less than 15,000 miles on the clock.

I'm just curious if any owners here have had premature wear or failings with the newer MHEV engines from later in 2020? Is there anything as a new owner I should be aware of, or to do to safeguard myself from any potential unforseeen issues? I'm considering taking out an extended warranty on a yearly basis for the car from Ford, and have been quoted £230 a year, is that a reasonable amount for coverage, does anyone else take out the cover, and does it cover engine related issues?

Is it prudent to get the car serviced at least every year/8-10,000 miles for the oil changes in particular?

Finally, given my engine is chain driven, and has no tensioner/balance shaft to cause extra stress on the oil pump belt, leading to belt failure, have I got the 'least likely' engine to cause premature issues with the vehicle.

As mentioned, I'm really enjoying it so far, and had fully intended to keep the car for the next 10-15yrs as my main family run-about so really looking forward to everyone's advice/input here.

Hope you all have a great day!

Luke

Thanks for all of your advice, I'll take all of it onboard.

I'll be sure to service the car every 10,000 miles/yearly at a complete minimum and disregard Ford's own optimistic service interval. I'd be prepared to change the oil belt etc for sure at 10yrs, that gives me another 6.5yrs of use at present if all goes well so not too bad.

It's my first Ford but several family members have owned earlier generations of the Fiesta and kept them for decades, I'm hoping I can squeeze out as long, but could prove somewhat of a push, given the increased electronics and complication of the engine block etc of current cars on the market.

I'll make sure to check with Ford that they are satisfied with the two services it has had with them. It seems like an extended warranty is worth having. Thanks for the input regarding the help they gave you for an engine issue RaduF86, I'll read the conditions just incase Ford provide different coverage dependant on your given country etc.

Having checked the services again, I've noticed the one from March this year seems to have duplicated the WIP number over the mileage on the service report, it's dated and identifies my vehicle etc but I'm guessing this could be a sticking point with an extended warranty if they were being particularly attentive to the details.

It was MOT'd the same day by the Ford garage, which indicates the correct mileage, so it obviously just points to a user error inputting the data of the mileage onto the record. From everyone's experience, is this something anyone else have encountered, and would a Ford garage be amenable to correct the error? Unfortunately I wasn't the keeper of the car at the time, so wouldn't have been able to pick up on the error at the time. 

Thanks again guys.

[RaduF86]

You are welcome!

Before getting the warranty, clarify the user error inputting the mileage with Ford. Since you have the official papers showing it was a clear human error they should fix it in their records. When it comes to a possible warranty covered repair they get pretty attentive to the details.

In my case, I went to show them the oil leak and the first thing they did was to check the service history and mileage reading, and servicing plan for the car. Then they checked if I had extended warranty. Then they investigated the leak and at the end they said that it is covered by the warranty (both the repairs and the inspection) and so it was. But mistakes in the records can align and cause the warranty to be voided.

Meanwhile enjoy the car!