15 minutes ago, zpavlic00 said:

Hello everyone, I am buying (importing from Germany) a hatchback Focus mk4 2.0 ecoblue made in November 2019 with 172.000 kilometers. After researching I am pretty worried about driving it at all before replacing the belts, would you recommend I get it delivered straight to the Ford repair shop? Are there any early warnings for a failing belt? Is there an easy way to visually check if it has maybe already been done? (it is not indicated in service history that they have available)

Service history indicates oil changes every 30k km at Ford dealers, last change at 150k km, which I know is not good.

Can anybody decode what does this first item mean on the service bill in the image?

The very top line just means 150,000km service.  Looks like it also had brakes changed and windscreen wipers.  Nothing on there about belts that I can see.

 

5 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

The very top line just means 150,000km service.  Looks like it also had brakes changed and windscreen wipers.  Nothing on there about belts that I can see.

 

I was secretly hoping it had something to do with at least inspecting the belts somehow 😅 (understandably, I am very much a beginner at best)

Does anybody have any information if it can somehow easily be checked if belts were done? Could it be spotted by checking the sealant on the belt/timing cover? Or is it just impossible without opening everything up?

10 hours ago, zpavlic00 said:

I was secretly hoping it had something to do with at least inspecting the belts somehow 😅 (understandably, I am very much a beginner at best)

Does anybody have any information if it can somehow easily be checked if belts were done? Could it be spotted by checking the sealant on the belt/timing cover? Or is it just impossible without opening everything up?

It is impossible to check the belts unfortunately.  If the belt cover looks clean or is covered in fingerprints then you could infer that the belt had been changed, but on a car of this age and mileage I would be very surprised if it had.

On 10/30/2024 at 10:28 AM, TomsFocus said:

It is impossible to check the belts unfortunately.  If the belt cover looks clean or is covered in fingerprints then you could infer that the belt had been changed, but on a car of this age and mileage I would be very surprised if it had.

Update: I guess you can at least somewhat check the belt through the oil cap, but it is a very limited view (I did notice it has very very tiny cracks on the surface and I couldn't see any parts of belt falling apart on the visible side).

Also, the seal sticking out from the belt cover is just too perfect to be anything but factory installed, so it is very safe to assume those are all original parts like you suggested.

I booked a replacement service with my local Ford garage so I will report back with pictures and their comments on the old belt. They commented that considering the mileage (172k km) and (stupidly long) 30k km service interval, it is probably on its last legs, but we will soon see. They only know of belt failures with vans (owned by a construction company).

UPDATE: Today I finally picked up the car from Ford garage and after an eyewatering bill of 1300 EUR in total (in Croatia), I am happy I did it.

They showed me the old belt but I forgot to take a picture and they told me it has already started to crack (but no chipping yet) and that it was last minute to change it before any problems occurred (172.500 km). 

Also, I previously noticed some slight whining noise from about 1500-2000 rpm and I think this is gone now (but not 100% sure)

 

Those prices are ridiculous. I was considering replacing my Mk2 with Mk4 but this is really putting me off.