Hi there,

 

Ive just bought a second hand fiesta 1.0 ecoboost for my daughters 18th. I’m now reading all these horror stories. 
 

it’s been incredibly well maintained, looks brand new, got all the service history and mot paperwork and has 36660 miles. 
do I even bother giving it to her or should I just re sell before the nightmare begins? 
 

HELP. I’m gutted as I drove it about 24 miles and it’s an amazing car

If it's a 2014 model as in your profile then either sell it or get the belts changed before giving it to her.

Chances are it was probably sold at 10 years old to avoid the previous owner having to change the belts unfortunately.

Thank you x I thought it would be bad news. Absolutely gutted 

My advice? Keep it. If it's a good car, nice condition, been looked after and has service history that can only be good. You could trade it in, get a different car and have bigger problems with that  I have a 2014 Fiesta 1.0 ecoboost with 37,450 on the clock, and, despite what I read about these ecoboost engines, feel quite confident it will go many more miles yet as I have always changed the oil and filter annually. Is it a 2014 Fiesta as your profile says? It will have reached its max 10 year lifespan regarding the wet belt. I am going to bite the bullet and get mine done later this year. This will then probably outlive me 😀. Just make sure when serviced that whoever services it uses 5W 20 oil. This is a must or you risk premature degradation of the wet belt. Just my two pennies worth.

So if I take it to a mechanic is it a cam belt or do I just say wet belt? I’m looking online for quotes and can’t find anything. 
 

I mean apart from this wet belt is it a decent car?

wet belt. It's not going to be cheap as it's a labour intensive job. If you go to a main dealer it's going to cost in the region of £1,700. I have heard there's a company called EcoPro in Saxilby, near Lincoln who specialise in these ecoboost engines and have all the necessary tools to do the job, and much cheaper as well. I have sometimes thought about trading in my Fiesta, but cheap to run, zero road tax and very good fuel economy makes me decide to keep it.

The belts that are being mentioned are the Cambelt and Oil Pump belt. They are often referred to as wet belts simply because they operate in direct contact with engine oil.

If you decide to keep the car and get them both replaced, ensure you also ask for the oil pump strainer to be checked and cleared of any debris whilst the oil pump belt is being replaced.

I have a Focus with the same engine. The car was my daughters until it had Cambelt/Oil Pump blockage issues. Those issues are well documented online - also see FB page 'Ford Ecoboost nightmare'.

Having said that, I now own and drive the car and those issues have been fixed. If the Fiesta is anything like the Focus to drive it's great.  I find the engine very smooth, quiet and responsive for such a small unit.

It's two wet belts.  Cambelt & oil pump belt.  As soon as you mention 1.0 EcoBoost, every garage will know which belts you mean...

13 hours ago, nattybards said:

got all the service history

Presumably there's nothing to indicate the belt has been done? Might be worth having a word with the servicing garage.

Another outfit which may be nearer: https://www.aaronsautos.co.uk/services-derby/replacing-the-wet-belt-on-the-ford-1-0-ecoboost/

I am in a similar position.  I am 25+ years in the motor trade so maybe i should have known better....

But, its a hell of a good car with huge spec, in immaculate condition and it is a perfect car for my daughter to learn in and then use daily.  For the price we paid (I now feel the guy who sold it to me was informed enough to know what was due and he knocked enough to cover 75% of the bill to do the work) i am happy that once i pay for the wet belt job to be done it will be an excellent car i can be happy for her to drive.  Its one owner and has every recipt from original purchase down to every spark plug, tyre, oil change, brake pads/disc etc etc.  

FYI i contacted Pumaspeed within the last couple of weeks to ask how much they would charge for the job.  They replied with £900 for wetbelt changes fully fitted or £1100 with the water pump replaced.  Whilst expensive i think the car will be worth spending that on for peace of mind for the next few years and then worth a bit more if being sold with the job documented.

 

 

I may have just got extremely lucky, but I got almost 120,xxx miles out of my '16 ecoboost before I started having wet belt issues, then I just replaced the car. Got a solid 7 years out of it.