Hi guys, im new here as i wanted to get some actual advice from ford owners, who may actually be straight on a ford rather biased.

Im thinking of getting an upgrade on my current 15 plate focus, i have my eyes on a 19 plate focus 1.0 ecoboost st line. Its hard its service when required every 2 years. Its at 51k miles. This is chain driven but have the oil pump wet belt. Which as im  aware this is pretty common in modern cars. Now my main question would be, are these oil pump wet belts as bad as people say? Or is this because these are the people that havent taken thw correct care with correct oil, reg services. At 51k should i be concerned about this welt belt or would in 3 years time, and i plan on oil change every year, full service every 2 be generally okay? Am i overthinking these belts. Or shall i steer away from this? Any genuine honest advice, or experiences in this id appreciate so i can make my decision less stressful. I really do love the look of these focuses (im very particular in terms of how a car looks) . Thank you.

5 hours ago, Darrenx92 said:

are these oil pump wet belts as bad as people say?

Yes.

I owned a 2013 Focus MK3 1.0 ECOboost for almost 9 Years. During this period, it was serviced by the book (by myself) and it never did develop any problems.


However, would I buy another wetbelt engine ever again? 

No, not unless it is brand new and I have the possibility to service it in accordance to my own standards from new. I would never buy a used wetbelt engine. Especially if the 2 Year service interval has been applied. There is just too much risk for the oil pump wetbelt to fail prematurely.

I  have a 73 plate Focus , ecoboost 155 MHEV — and so far,  I’m very pleased with it. Drives really well, and is a very practical, well-equipped car, a proper hatchback that looks like a car not another ugly, oversized cross-over.  Like @Darrenx92, I was attracted by the design, and realising it was the last chance to own a Focus, jumped in head first!

But — it is very low mileage, I have a Ford warranty (value yet to be tested), and I will always observe and probably better the recommended service intervals.

Am I worried about the oil pump wet belt? Not really.  I’ve read enough reports now to realise that most of ecoBoom problems relate to the older welt timing belt models.  

Will I keep it a very long? Probably not! I’ll likely move it on well before any problems might be expected to develop. But for now, I’m perfectly happy with my ecoboost MHEV Focus, and think it’s a crying shame that Ford have dropped production of their last ‘proper’ car-shaped car.

Speaking about the older wet cambelt engine here, but myself and several friends had a problem free experience with these. BUT - they were all bought new and had annual oil/filter changes, irrespective of the Ford service schedule. 

My current car (chain cam/wet oil pump belt engine) is on a 12 month interval anyway.

I'd be reluctant to recommend buying a used car that had not had annual changes.

So far, we have seen a few oil pump belt failures with the revised (chain cam) engine on here, particularly on automatics.

Another point to bear in mind is that the oil pump belt still requires replacement at 10 years maximum. As this involves removing the timing chain it is effectively as big (and expensive) a job as on the earlier engine.

10 hours ago, unofix said:

Yes.

That Guide thing again!😀

On 10/4/2025 at 6:56 PM, Darrenx92 said:

Hi guys, im new here as i wanted to get some actual advice from ford owners, who may actually be straight on a ford rather biased.

Im thinking of getting an upgrade on my current 15 plate focus, i have my eyes on a 19 plate focus 1.0 ecoboost st line. Its hard its service when required every 2 years. Its at 51k miles. This is chain driven but have the oil pump wet belt. Which as im  aware this is pretty common in modern cars. Now my main question would be, are these oil pump wet belts as bad as people say? Or is this because these are the people that havent taken thw correct care with correct oil, reg services. At 51k should i be concerned about this welt belt or would in 3 years time, and i plan on oil change every year, full service every 2 be generally okay? Am i overthinking these belts. Or shall i steer away from this? Any genuine honest advice, or experiences in this id appreciate so i can make my decision less stressful. I really do love the look of these focuses (im very particular in terms of how a car looks) . Thank you.

If it's manual then take the risk ( I wouldn't) and change the oil every 12 months minimum

If it's auto walk away