5 minutes ago, Paulzx said:

I'm assuming on reasonably low miles and only 6 years old, I don't have to panic just yet but equally, I don't want to have the headache of worrying about it down the road eit

As Tom has already mentioned, low mileage seems to be no safeguard, quite the opposite, from what we have seen on here. 

My penn'orth would be service annually (as you have already decided) and at 8 years either move the car on or change the belt.

 

 

20 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The oil pump belt does still fail on these.  And every one I've seen so far has required a new engine.  It's possible that people just aren't shutting off the engine quickly enough when the oil warning comes up.  And also possible that Ford aren't diagnosing any further than removing the sump.

But either way, there is still a proven considerable risk of catastrophic engine failure with the chain engine.

Do you have any info on the Mk8.5 ST engine in terms of issues?

1 hour ago, Paulzx said:

I imagine like a lot of cars, it didn't go anywhere much for 21 & 22 during the lockdowns. The mileage did shoot up a bit after that

Yes, there was a huge increase in belt failures after the pandemic years.  I would put the lockdowns as a major factor in many of the belt failures.

1 hour ago, Paulzx said:

Oh really? That's a bit more promising. I'm actually based on the Isle of Wight. There are a lot of specialised mechanics here as well as a Ford dealer of course, although they wouldn't be my first port of call for obvious reasons

I had a quote from Cedar Garage, Worthing recently for my wet belt replacement. £1,370 all in. Snag is they need the car for two days to allow for issues with seized bolts etc. So to come from the IOW is a bit more of a ball ache. But, that said, it's not so much a ball ache than a new engine would be. I do my oil changes religiously every year, and have every confidence with my wet belt 😊

1 hour ago, TimST3 said:

Do you have any info on the Mk8.5 ST engine in terms of issues?

They haven't been around long enough but I don't think the engine changed from pre-facelift?  I'm struggling to remember a single failure of the 3 pot 1.5 in the pre-facelift ST.  They do seem to be very reliable so far.  It is worth noting the 1.0 was produced and sold in much higher numbers than the 1.5 so that may skew the results a bit.

Just now, TomsFocus said:

They haven't been around long enough but I don't think the engine changed from pre-facelift?  I'm struggling to remember a single failure of the 3 pot 1.5 in the pre-facelift ST.  They do seem to be very reliable so far.  It is worth noting the 1.0 was produced and sold in much higher numbers than the 1.5 so that may skew the results a bit.

That's good news. The Mk8.5 has more torque than the Mk8, but I assume that's just the mapping?

5 minutes ago, TimST3 said:

That's good news. The Mk8.5 has more torque than the Mk8, but I assume that's just the mapping?

I think that's about it. Same tune as the 1.5 Puma ST afaik.

Only failure I've seen photo evidence of was on the Fiesta ST forum. That was on the very early Mk 8 1.5 ST with the gear, rather than belt, pump drive. 

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I think that's about it. Same tune as the 1.5 Puma ST afaik.

Only failure I've seen photo evidence of was on the Fiesta ST forum. That was on the very early Mk 8 1.5 ST with the gear, rather than belt, pump drive. 

And I heard that it was a rubber bush in the wet gear assembly that failed 🙄

As a mechanical engineer, the wet belts in engines were a terrible idea and a problem waiting to happen!

Annual servicing (even over servicing depending on your usage) using quality oil is as good mitigation as you the user can do. A really quick way of understanding the state of your belt is to remove the sump at your next service and check the oil strainer for fragments of belt. That's where they collect first which causes oil starvation as they build up. This eventually causes self detonation of the engine when the oil supply fails to lubricant anything adequately! Checking the oil strainer will be significantly cheaper than a belt change, and if done during a service, no additional oil would be wasted, you should be billed for an additional gasket and extra labour. for peace of mind, I would do that of you plan on keeping the car! 

For info, my sister in law's Focus 1 ltr ecoboost wet belt self destructed on her in the fast lane after about 30 seconds of flashing a red oil warning light at her!

The car was written off by the insurers as Ford refused to accept liability as they claimed she didn't stop in time to protect the engine!

"You try moving across 3 lanes of fast moving rush hour traffic Ford when your dashboard starts flashing like a Christmas tree on you!"

She couldn't and only got a payout of about £2500 for what should have been a £12k car! Bankers the lot of them! 

For vehicle recalls, check the UK Gov site, you should be captured in that! 

Check this link out for solid info on wet belts. This guy knows his stuff:

 

To add a little more to the above, even oil rubber oil seals in engines fail over time due to heat cycles, exposure to new contaminates in oil and simply age!

Rubber belts that are fully submerged in oil should fair much better as they are exposed uniformly, but as this belt merely dipps it's behind in the oil when running , when the car is parked up, you will have parts that stay wet until he engine starts next, and drier parts that cool at different rates to the submerged sections! 

A truely bonkers idea, moved towards for noise, vibration and cost reasons! 

22 hours ago, blahde2 said:

. A really quick way of understanding the state of your belt is to remove the sump at your next service and check the oil strainer for fragments of belt. That's where they collect first which causes oil starvation as they build up. 

Thanks John, I think this is the way i will play it. Keep the car for a couple of years but check the strainer at the next service, then either sell the car at 8 years old or do a belt change.

I did see an article very recently stating Ford had agreed to sort this out again now, for cars which have suffered from the wetbelt issue. I didn't see the particulars of that or if it's even been confirmed but I know something was happening there.

Might be in an upcoming recall, you never know. Regular oil changes and check every time you get the opportunity. Good engines otherwise which is a shame, seems not everything likes getting hot n wet!

15 hours ago, blahde2 said:

Might be in an upcoming recall, you never know. Regular oil changes and check every time you get the opportunity. Good engines otherwise which is a shame, seems not everything likes getting hot n wet!

The recall for timing belts was in the USA, and only for specific vehicles.

I think it's highly unlikely that Ford will do a recall on British vehicles after all this time!

If the EU push it, who knows but you are probably right! 

On 10/5/2024 at 5:50 PM, blahde2 said:

If the EU push it

Bit of bad news for you I'm afraid. Wiltshire is not in the EU 🤣

9 hours ago, unofix said:

Bit of bad news for you I'm afraid. Wiltshire is not in the EU 🤣

Ah, but the son of a toolmaker wants to "march in lockstep" with them whatever that means. Realistically though, EU rulings on vehicles wiill probably apply, or at least influence, what happens here. 

I read an article on Ford UK mentioning something about wet belts and warranty repairs.....you might be about to get lucky! 

59 minutes ago, blahde2 said:

I read an article on Ford UK mentioning something about wet belts and warranty repairs.

Can you post a link to that?

I did read Ford were repairing premature failures of certain wet belt engines but subject to full Ford service history at the set service intervals. May have to prove it by receipts etc.

11 minutes ago, RL123 said:

I did read Ford were repairing premature failures of certain wet belt engines but subject to full Ford service history at the set service intervals. May have to prove it by receipts etc.

They'll get sued by the biscuit makers next! 

 

On a serious note though, that is very interesting how far they've relaxed the criteria now.  Even going as far as allowing the missed service during the pandemic.  Though I feel that may be strategic, as most of the engines that were damaged by the pandemic period have probably failed by now anyway.

Not seen the term "classic" used before in reference to the ecoboost.

Interesting that it specifically states pre-2019 manufacture. As we know, the revised (chain cam) version was not fitted to the Fiesta until mid/late 2020, and the 100ps continued with wet belt to the end, as did the Ecosport.

So, is this a slip up or was there something different about 2019-on manufactured wet belt engines?

7 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Not seen the term "classic" used before in reference to the ecoboost.

Interesting that it specifically states pre-2019 manufacture. As we know, the revised (chain cam) version was not fitted to the Fiesta until mid/late 2020, and the 100ps continued with wet belt to the end, as did the Ecosport.

So, is this a slip up or was there something different about 2019-on manufactured wet belt engines?

Me neither, though the chain engine is referred to as 'New Fox' on Ford systems so it does make sense at least.

I think pre-2019 probably means the engine build date.  I don't think they were still being built alongside the chain engine, unless production moved to another factory?  

Wonder if anyone with a post 2020 wetbelt engine could check the dates for us?

14 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I think pre-2019 probably means the engine build date. 

Probably so. If they stopped building wet belt at that point though, that would mean that they built up a heck of an inventory to provide engines for cars manufactured later. My pal, who was a warehouse/logistics manager, would tell you that high stock levels = smack on the head from above!😀

14 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Wonder if anyone with a post 2020 wetbelt engine could check the dates for us?

Yes, that would be useful. At least the engine build sticker is easily seen from the front on a wet belt engine. 

8 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Probably so. If they stopped building wet belt at that point though, that would mean that they built up a heck of an inventory to provide engines for cars manufactured later. My pal, who was a warehouse/logistics manager, would tell you that high stock levels = smack on the head from above!

They will still be being manufactured now as the aftermarket spares and repairs market continues.