Hi all,

I have a Ford Focus EcoBoost 1.0 MK4 (2019) that has done around 56000 miles. 

A few days ago, I had a low oil pressure light come on. I was with my wife and son, and decided to drive home approx. 50 miles on the motorway home. I honestly had no idea about this fault before, and I really don't know much about cars. I spoke to Ford and they say as it's a MK4 and has the new chain belt for the main timing belt, it isn't covered on their goodwill scheme.

Here's how things have gone:

1. The car is driving in a way that feels totally fine, no unusual noises or loss of power. I call a mobile mechanic to come see it on my driveway.

2. Mobile mechanic confirms and shows me the tablet diagnostic to show the low oil pressure. This pressure rose when he revved and it showed between 6-8 kpa (from what I remember). He said this is a decent sign that the belt was still moving and circulating oil. His theory was that we may be able to clear out the oil intake pipe after dropping the sump, and IF the belt was ok, then it would restore oil pressure.

3. The recovery guy drove the car onto the truck, no low oil pressure indicator came on and the guy said it sounded fine, no unusual sounds again.

4. Today, had the sump removed - visible belt teeth debris in the oil and the belt teeth had come off. Mechanic showed me on a video call - it looked like little black lines floating in the oil within the sump. Mechanic showed me the oil, I could see the pieces in there. He said that he couldn't see any glitter/metal in the oil. He said it would be £1.2-1.3k to replace the wet oil belt and "hope" that the engine has survived the low oil pressure.

I'm stuck here on this:

1. Is it worth spending on a new belt for this, or is it definitely scrap? If it turned out the engine was damaged, how would I even get rid of this car and limit the financial loss?

For context, the car is worth approx £9k fixed, and i am unsure on the scrap value (please let me know if you'd have an inkling).

2. Could it get to a point where with a new wet oil belt, pressure could be restored and I could part exchange the car?

3. Are there any channels I can follow to ask Ford to offer goodwill towards the repair or as compensation?

Thank you

 

 

A1. It is going to need a complete new engine. Get the new engine supplied and fitted by PumaSpeed £3800

https://pumaspeed.co.uk/product-Brand-New-Ford-Service-10-EcoBoost-Engine_18898.jsp

A2. Very unlikely the engine will last long enough to be able to part exchange it.

A3. Don't waste your time even thinking about getting any help from Ford. Even if they took pity on you, which they won't, the very best you would get is 50% off their retail price which is approximately £9200

27 minutes ago, unofix said:

A1. It is going to need a complete new engine. Get the new engine supplied and fitted by PumaSpeed £3800

https://pumaspeed.co.uk/product-Brand-New-Ford-Service-10-EcoBoost-Engine_18898.jsp

A2. Very unlikely the engine will last long enough to be able to part exchange it.

A3. Don't waste your time even thinking about getting any help from Ford. Even if they took pity on you, which they won't, the very best you would get is 50% off their retail price which is approximately £9200

Thank you for the link and your input, I suppose either way I would need a new belt and I would know this for certain after that was fitted.

Did the mechanic check the belt tensioner at all?

The belts on the chain engine mostly fail on automatics.  We are still trying to confirm whether that is because the additional belt tensioner is failing, leading to belt damage, or whether the belt itself is being put under extra strain, and the tensioner itself is not to blame.

29 minutes ago, xn43 said:

I suppose either way I would need a new belt and I would know this for certain after that was fitted.

You will be wasting at least £1000 getting the oil pump wet bet changed. It's a major job which requires a complete strip down and the timing chain will have to be removed (and replaced). Get a quote before doing anything with your engine.

 

13 hours ago, unofix said:

A1. It is going to need a complete new engine. Get the new engine supplied and fitted by PumaSpeed £3800

https://pumaspeed.co.uk/product-Brand-New-Ford-Service-10-EcoBoost-Engine_18898.jsp

 

I think that's the wet belt version?

We did find links to the later one, such as:

https://approvedengines.com/products/brand-new-b7da-engine-1-0-ecoboost-chain-driven-engine-ideal-replacement-brand-new-complete

20 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

The belts on the chain engine mostly fail on automatics

Not clear if this is just an issue with the 8 speed torque converter box on the original Mk 4, or if it also affects the 7 speed DCT post facelift (Mk 4.5) cars?

If so, worrying for Puma owners also as the 155 versions of Focus and Puma eventually went auto only (we suspect because the manual wasn't up to the job with MHEV) and it seems auto is a popular choice on the 125 versions.

 

 

 

 

Just another thought on the replacement engines already mentioned. We were not clear on an earlier thread if the engine was the same for auto or manual and just needed the addition of the balancer shaft module** on autos?

** Example here:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/326525556805

I have been told by a reputable source that the manual transmission engines sometimes do not have the mounting holes that are required for the balancer shaft assembly.

 

An update on this one - after a month in the garage, the wet belt finally got replaced by a local independent mechanic. It cost £1450. The engine was running fine and sounded fine, no warning lights or knocking/rumbling. I got it recovered half a mile from we buy any car to reduce risk of driving it far, and then sold it on for £7.5k. It felt fine to drive, but I was gentle with it just in case.

Paranoid? Maybe, but after observing metal in the sump I didn't want to take any chances.

Certainly the last Ford I will ever own, shame as I've always had Fords and they were fine (non-ecoboom).

 

One duffer in how many? Luck of the draw.  The Chain driven engine has survived and you effectively lost 1/3 of your estimate of the car's value by selling it. I don't understand why you sold it as there was no metal in the oil according to your first posting:

4. Today, had the sump removed - visible belt teeth debris in the oil and the belt teeth had come off. Mechanic showed me on a video call - it looked like little black lines floating in the oil within the sump. Mechanic showed me the oil, I could see the pieces in there. He said that he couldn't see any glitter/metal in the oil. He said it would be £1.2-1.3k to replace the wet oil belt and "hope" that the engine has survived the low oil pressure.

Your mechanic was spot on.

18 minutes ago, anon said:

One duffer in how many? Luck of the draw.  The Chain driven engine has survived and you effectively lost 1/3 of your estimate of the car's value by selling it. I don't understand why you sold it as there was no metal in the oil according to your first posting:

4. Today, had the sump removed - visible belt teeth debris in the oil and the belt teeth had come off. Mechanic showed me on a video call - it looked like little black lines floating in the oil within the sump. Mechanic showed me the oil, I could see the pieces in there. He said that he couldn't see any glitter/metal in the oil. He said it would be £1.2-1.3k to replace the wet oil belt and "hope" that the engine has survived the low oil pressure.

Your mechanic was spot on.

He'd had a cursory look at that point - next day he was saying he found a decent amount of metal in there. 

In which case, I understand your decision although as the oil pressure was OK, I think I would have changed the oil filter twice at 500 mile intervals and  taken a tin opener to them to see what was going on.