I've just bought a 2020 focus Vingale with the 1.5 ecoblue engine and there seem to be a lot of conflicting answers whether this is a good engine , does it have a wet belt or a dry belt ,does it use adblue etc... now I think this one has a dry belt as it has a separate plastic housing at the front of the engine and I thought these used adblue but mine has no filler tank ? Anyone with some 99.9% answers regarding this engine would great TIA 

This engine uses a dry cambelt from cam to crank.  But also has a small chain between the twin cams.  So far that chain has been breaking more often than the belt.

These did not get Adblue until around September 2020.  So if built before that, there is no Adblue filler.

Thanks Tom for your quick answers as always,  So do I have to get the small chain changed aswell as the the belt ? And also how can they still call the it ecoblue if it doesn't use adblue? 

Ford don't specify a replacement interval for the chain at all.  It is meant to last the lifetime of the engine.  But if you want peace of mind, you can have the chain replaced with a wider upgraded chain at the same time as having the belt replaced.  There will be extra cost for that, of course.

EcoBlue is just a brand name, it doesn't actually mean Adblue.  Though I also find it strange the early ones didn't have Adblue and can't give you a definite answer as to why.  I can only assume it passed the new-car emissions tests at the time without needing the Adblue system.

12 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Ford don't specify a replacement interval for the chain at all.  It is meant to last the lifetime of the engine. 

It does last the lifetime of the engine, chain breaks & engine dead! 😃

Seriously though, as you say, replace the chain with the upgraded one for peace of mind.

Thanks Alan for those reassuring words 👍 

On 10/27/2024 at 12:53 PM, TomsFocus said:

Ford don't specify a replacement interval for the chain at all.  It is meant to last the lifetime of the engine.  But if you want peace of mind, you can have the chain replaced with a wider upgraded chain at the same time as having the belt replaced.  There will be extra cost for that, of course.

EcoBlue is just a brand name, it doesn't actually mean Adblue.  Though I also find it strange the early ones didn't have Adblue and can't give you a definite answer as to why.  I can only assume it passed the new-car emissions tests at the time without needing the Adblue system.

Constant jerking from gearbox changing gear quickly up small gradients.

Also:

 

Consistently occurs when around town. 

I think this occurs regularly because of the NOX trap. But, because there's no Adblue....

The issue comes up constantly. 

If I let it alone the build up is intense slows down car and sounds about ready to blow up. So I constantly just clear codes then car works fine.

Local mech's are stupefied. Even best local Technician is lost on this one. 

Is the problem: EGR, DPF cycle, trap sticking etc? We don't know?

 

52 minutes ago, ProfitMouse said:

Constant jerking from gearbox changing gear quickly up small gradients.

Also:

 

Consistently occurs when around town. 

I think this occurs regularly because of the NOX trap. But, because there's no Adblue....

The issue comes up constantly. 

If I let it alone the build up is intense slows down car and sounds about ready to blow up. So I constantly just clear codes then car works fine.

Local mech's are stupefied. Even best local Technician is lost on this one. 

Is the problem: EGR, DPF cycle, trap sticking etc? We don't know?

 

These were designed to work without Adblue.  The NOx trap should still be effective, it just needs a similar regen to the DPF, so won't clear if the car is only used for short, cold journeys. 

However, this code comes up regularly on this engine.  Often the NOx sensors get replaced but it just comes back.  There may be a PCM update available for your car.  You would have to contact a Ford dealership to ask.

Use the car nearly always 20-150 miles trip every time.

Trips to local areas I use the bus.

 

4 minutes ago, ProfitMouse said:

Use the car nearly always 20-150 miles trip every time.

Trips to local areas I use the bus.

In that case I would definitely be checking with Ford to see if there is a PCM update available for your car.

44 minutes ago, ProfitMouse said:

Trips to local areas I use the bus.

....and there's the problem. The God's are punishing you for daring to use the bus. You should be ashamed 🤣

8 hours ago, unofix said:

....and there's the problem. The God's are punishing you for daring to use the bus. You should be ashamed 🤣

Over 60 Bus pass. Free journeys mean more money for longer journeys..

6 minutes ago, ProfitMouse said:

Over 60 Bus pass

Over 67 Bus pass in County Durham 🤔

12 hours ago, unofix said:

Over 67 Bus pass in County Durham 🤔

Recently checked this out for the  brother in law. Still 66 in England if born prior to 6 April 1960. Then rises progressively based on DoB until it reaches 67 for those born from 6 March 1961.

Detailed chart downloadable from Gov.UK.

Like everything, this was once very simple, now it's a flipping nightmare!😀

10 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Recently checked this out for the  brother in law. Still 66 in England if born prior to 6 April 1960. Then rises progressively based on DoB until it reaches 67 for those born from 6 March 1961.

Detailed chart downloadable from Gov.UK.

Like everything, this was once very simple, now it's a flipping nightmare!😀

Still get the concessionary bus pass at 60 in Wales, and it also covers some train journeys as well, with a discount on others. You can also use them all day, so no "twirlys" here!

Had my bus pass since i was 60. Only used it a couple of times though.

We seem to have changed this into a bus pass thread.😀

The bus pass age in England used to be 60 for both sexes. When they started equalizing the male/female pension age, ladies got the bus pass at the same time as they eventually got the pension (which they had been expecting to get at 60.)

For men, it was the age you would have got your pension if you had been a woman! So I got mine around 63 and a bit, then got the pension at 65. All very confusing!

Bit simpler now, as it's the same age for pass and pension, all you need to do is figure out when you get the pension, as discussed earlier.

Then you find you probably don't get the full new pension amount. There seem to be as many reasons why not as there are for why start/stop doesn't work!

Okay back to my issue.

it seems no one has an answer to this problem. Not even Ford. So what is the best way to fix it. Delete the whole lot?
Ford are seriously stupid putting out vehicles they cant fix! The law binds me to not to delete it but if noone can fix the issue its become a £15000 trash can!  

On 4/5/2025 at 12:32 PM, TomsFocus said:

There may be a PCM update available for your car.  You would have to contact a Ford dealership to ask.

I think you're right Tom. I've looked for the post (not found it yet) but I do seem to remember that there was a PCM update for these engines for this problem.

Hi all

I have same/similar problem on my 2nd hand 2019 Focus Estate 1.5 Ecoblue. In my case, I mainly use it for short trips with longer trips twice a month. In hindsight was not the correct choice for me.  Car still has low mileage, like 34000 miles.

 

Here is the history:

• The Car was fine for a year and then started to constantly display "exhaust filter overload, drive to clean message", which I completed that cycle
• After about 6 months - I had a breakdown on the highway, RAC came out and error codes where "P200C -Particulate Filter bank1 - too high temperature"  and "P200E - Catalytic converter, bank 1,  too high temperature". After the car cooled down, cleared the code I was able to drive it home without issues.
• A friend told me its related to the DPF filter clogged so i had it professionally removed and cleaned - cost me about 800
• About 2 months later, engine light came back on so I took it in to a local garage and they told me my EGR cooler has failed and is full of soot. They also replace the upstream oxygen sensor
• About 3 months later engine light on again, took it back to garage and they said its a different error code now which was the p2000 NOX issue so they will not repair under previous works.
• I lost trust and went to a new garage at this stage. Seeing similar p2000 NOX code and that DPF is partially blocked - performed a static DPF regen. Did not want to assume the NOX sensor is faulty as its expensive to replace. 
• Engine light on again a few months later - this time he added an additive to the fuel and problem went away for 6 months. I also started using the car less for short trips to change behavior
• 6 months later - engine light on again - going back to check if its the same core later this week.

Are all these parts EGR, DPF, NOX sensor and error codes somehow related to a single problem?
I am not mechanical and I just don't know what to do anymore, car is worth about 10k still so dont have a choice but to try fix this, if there even is a fix and if there is a specialist out there that can comment? 

Kris

 

I've also joined P2000 club.
Bought Ford Focus 2020 recently with 65k miles. A week after purchase I got P2000 NOx trap efficiency below threshold. I was planning to go somewhere anyways so that helped. After driving for 300 miles, the error code disappeared.
A couple of weeks later, it's back again. I am not planning to do any long trips in next few days. Everything else is great with the car, but this error freaks me out. 
Is there anything other than long drive that might fix? Has anyone tried any cleaner or fuel additive that might help?

During the time I owed my car 1.5 d mk4 . I had all of these parts replaced under warranty. Its really interesting to know others had the same issues. Engine light after engine light all costing the 150 diag fee each time .

Loved my car but with a leaky cam shafted and over 10 eml in 2.5 yrs . It had to go .

Such a shame . Moved to a lease now to protect me .

Good evening from Greece!

I have a 2020 model Ford Focus Ecoblue with a ZTDA diesel engine (120 hp).

I am very disappointed with this engine.

At 22,000 km, the DPF broke inside and dark grey ashes appeared in the exhaust pipe.

The dealership replaced it under warranty and reprogrammed it to initiate regenerations earlier.

From the very first kilometres of the car's life, the DMF has rattled a lot and it still rattles when the engine is cold at start.

Now at 60.500 kms there is a leak of coolant coming from the water pump.

And the dealership told me that there is no spare water pump exist to change it under the warranty.

I am very dissapointed because i can not move the car, thew dealership has not a good after sales to give me at least another car to do my job.

I want to sell it because it is unknown what damages are going to appear in the future from that type of engine.

Do you know where this engine suffers so i would be more careful with at the future?

Thanks a lot in advance!