Hi all,

I'm half way through replacing the timing belt on my son's 2014 fiesta 1.0 ecoboost.

Was just starting to put it back together when I found this oring (about 16mm in diameter) on the ground, in the area below  between the engine and battery tray.  It definitely wasn't there previously as I had just put down a cleaned foam mat.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

UW

 

Hmm.... a mystery indeed!

I did the belt change on ours and in the process got fairly familiar with all the different component parts involved but certainly don't recall coming across one of these. That said, I am thinking specifically in terms of what had to be actively removed/replaced whereas an o-ring of this size could well have been located within one of the many hose connections and might only come adrift if it happens to get caught when being separated.

Stabbing in the dark here but it seems a bit small to be on the coolant side of things and so I am thinking maybe an air-related hose e.g. something on the vacuum side of things? The below-engine-and-battery-tray could of course be a red herring if it has rolled from elsewhere.

I certainly don't think it is a buried-inside-the-engine component as it seems too 'clean' and showing little sign of compression for what would in that environment be a bolted-together mating face and so I think you are safe to continue to the point where hopefully once running again there will be obvioud symptoms manifested (e.g. a fluid leak, lack of vacuum etc) that will help pinpoint exactly where it has come from.

I've just thought - whilst most of the small pipes connected to the thermostat housing are clamped in place I do recall there one being on the front that is of the quick-release type (and it also happens to sit above where you found it). That must contain an o-ring and whilst you wouldn't normally need to remove it to replace the timing belt if you did for other reasons it'd be worth checking inside the female end of that to see if it has popped out.

Looks like the temp sensor o-ring.  I wonder if a previous owner changed it and dropped the o-ring in the process?

Thanks for the inputs.  I did a quick check of vacuum hoses and they all seem to be in order.  Where there are rings, they are on pretty tight and very unlikely to fall off even if you were to swing it around like a lasso.

The push fit hose to thermostat is in the vicinity of where I found it (unless it rolled of course), but as it's now full of new coolant, I can't check.

Car has been back running a few days now and coolant level is stable with no signs of leaking as yet.  I'll just continue to keep an eye on it.  Wherever it came from, it doesn't seem to be impacting anything so far.

As for changing the timing belt, all I can say is Wow!  What a job!! Local Ford service centres wanted €2,500 to do the belt.  Others said they wouldn't touch it!! I now know why.

The job went relatively OK I suppose.  The air con pump and cat came off OK.  One bolt on the cat to exhaust was seized so I had to dremel the nut off.

Putting the sealant on the front cover and sump was a bit nerve wracking...afraid of ***** it up.

I was tightening the front cover bolts to spec which I guess you shouldn't if reusing the bolts.  The final stage calls for 90° turn and the second bolt I did snapped.  Rather than risk it further, I removed the cover, cleaned off all the sealant again, and bought some new bolts.

The cat caused me some grief getting back on.  For some reason I couldn't get it to sit properly against the turbo.  After some yanking, I finally got the rear upper bolt on but it slightly dislodged one of the the bolts unknowingly and as I tightened it I realised it was cross threaded.  On backing it off it stuck solid and the bolt snapped.  Tried drilling it out and after going through 3 drill bits and over and hour of pain, I was still only half way through.  At that point I decided to just dremel a slot in the turbo flange and slice the siezed bolt in two.  Worked OK in the end and was sorry I just didn't do that to begin with.

So all buttoned up, full of fresh fluids, I cranked her over, first with the fuel pump fuse removed to prime it with oil, then with the fuse installed.  Expecting a quick splutter before roaring back to life, it did anything but.  The engine sounded very very very sick, like it was in the dying moments of an oil-starved death rattle.   I rechecked the crank pully timing, and the cam position...all looked OK. Rechecked fuel injector and coil connections...all OK.

Anticipating making a call to get a tow truck to bring it to the scrape yard, I checked the throttle body connector.  On pushing it, I felt a satisfying click as it pushed home, and with much anticipation, turned the key again. This time, much to my relief, it fired up. I guess all fuel and no air makes ecoboost a sick engine.

It's been going well for the last few days so fingers crossed.   

Now that one is sorted I have to start planning for the timing belt change on the wife's qashqai.  After the ecoboost I sure it will be a walk in the park.

UW

Ps. Regarding the condition of the belt, it was clearly starting to delaminate.  The oil pickup was starting to collect the disintegrated particles.  Picture attached!

  

 

 

 

Nice job! Sounds like you had quite a few hurdles thrown your way but, in hindsight at least, I always think they're worth it as you certainly learn a lot more and build experience that way. 

Funny you mention about now tackling the Qashqai belt... It took me a few weeks to complete my wife's Ecoboost belt and I followed it up with doing the belt on my Hyundai Coupe - despite a late breakfast I was done and dusted by lunchtime...

May be in trouble with this now.  Car was running fine for the past 6 days.  Yesterday my son took it on a 300 round trip (Irish Open Golf Tournament).

Today, as he pulled into the drive after work, I noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust.   Told him to rev it and the whispy smoke puffed out.  That said, it's not constant either.

I took it for a drive and while it seems to be going OK, I wasn't sure if it was 100%. Does sound a bit tickity but might be my imagination. 

The coolant level was slightly down on where it was originally but after it cooled a little I opened the expansion tank and with the release of pressure the coolant level increased back to max.

Not sure what to think.   Afraid the HG might have blown.  Have ordered a test kit to see if there's exhaust gas in the coolant.

When I refilled the coolant after the timing belt change, I ran a vacuum on it. Still possible I suppose that there was a pocket of trapped air somewhere in the system.

Perhaps the turbo is another possibility.  Not sure of its design but it is water cooled I believe so maybe there some internal leaking there.  That would be a better outcome than head gasket.

Starting to regret not just advising him to sell it.

UW

300 miles is quite a distance, and I'd expect any significant leak or issue to have a much greater impact than just uncertainty over whether the coolant level has changed or not. It might just be a bit of trapped air as you say. 

Did the sniff test today and all is clear so no sign of exhaust gases in the coolant.  Funnily enough whilst running the engine with the sniff test fitted, the coolant level increased, I guess due to lack of system pressure with the cap off. As MJ commented, you would expect coolant consumption if the hg was gone.

Additionally, there has been no sign of significant exhaust smoke for the past few days.  It's been quiet warm and dry out the last few of days so I wonder if a highly humid day would result in an increase in exhaust smoke.  It was quite damp on the day the smoke was observed.

Anyway, immediate panic seems to be over.  Will just continue to monitor.

UW