Hey guys,

 

I am seeking a little of advice or insight to guide my decision to buy (or not) a Fiesta Active X Ecobost 1.0 (located in Belgium). I found that model at a reputable car reseller and it ticks most of my current criterias, which are particularly annoying to search with in the current used cars market.

The Fiesta looked in pretty good state except for some minor visual damage and I was initially quite happy with it after inspecting it and trying it for a short ride. It's only after coming back home that I took some time to research the model and found all the issues with the wet belt (either cam belt of oil pump belt if model with chain).

I think the car in question has an updated chain engine but since the oil pump is still driven by a wet belt that is difficult to access, I figured the buy is maybe not a good decision. I would write it off the list and continue searching for something else but finding a used car is currently a nightmare so I'm kinda hanging on and trying to see how much of an issue it would be.

Car mileage is currently at 66k km and was first registered in July 2021 . It has seen two servicing at Ford dealers at year 2 and year 4 (including oil change but no mention of which oil was used). Would you say buying this car is kinda risky ? Or maybe with proper servicing would it be fine ?

Engine picture in case it helps figuring things out :

1 hour ago, erzirha said:

so I'm kinda hanging on and trying to see how much of an issue it would be.

It is going to be around 2029 before the oil pump belt will need replaced. By then the government will have probably banned all cars of any kind so I'd not worry too much. Who knows what the cost will be by then but presently it would cost about £1100

On 6/3/2025 at 8:08 PM, unofix said:

It is going to be around 2029 before the oil pump belt will need replaced. By then the government will have probably banned all cars of any kind so I'd not worry too much. Who knows what the cost will be by then but presently it would cost about £1100

I've seen recent quotes going as high as 2700€ in Belgium for that job, so it's pretty steep. Also that car is euro6d so allowed in major Belgian cities until 2035 at the latest.

 

13 hours ago, erzirha said:

I've seen recent quotes going as high as 2700€ in Belgium for that job

That's about in line with the higher end of quotes from Ford dealers here.** Some independent garages are charging around half that or less.

10 years (the official recommendation) takes you to 2031, so you'll still need to have it done at some point if you're thinking long term. I think @unofix was suggesting a little earlier as a wise precaution.

Personally I wouldn't be happy unless the car had had oil changes annually (irrespective of the official 2 year service interval). If you did buy, I'd certainly suggest doing that from now on, and replacing the belt early, as already mentioned.

(**NB that is on the earlier wet cambelt version. I dont think we've seen an oil pump belt replacement on a cam chain engine as yet, but as its virtually the same amount of work we expect costs to be similar.)

11 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

(**NB that is on the earlier wet cambelt version. I dont think we've seen an oil pump belt replacement on a cam chain engine as yet, but as its virtually the same amount of work we expect costs to be similar.)

Yeah indeed that was what I was reading here and in other places. I think it's better to be prudent, current cost for a used car is 12 to 14k€ around here (asking price for the Fiesta is 12.5k€) and adding a service cost of near 3000€ in the near future is just unreasonable.

Have we witnessed any later chain Ecoboom's wet oil pump belt failures yet?

10 minutes ago, DaveT70 said:

Have we witnessed any later chain Ecoboom's wet oil pump belt failures yet?

A few, I think. One thread here:

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/154136-2020-focus-mk4-oil-pump-belt-issues/

And one concerning the 1.5 version:

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/159574-focus-mk4-2019-15-petrol-stock-oil-pump-replacement/

On another forum, I've also seen mention of a very early 1.5 (with gear pump drive) failing.

It's interesting that I've not seen any failures on Mk 8 Fiesta ST sites (other than that one). I wonder if the 12 month service interval on the ST could be a factor.