An expesive day

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Well Bev went out in her 2016 Fiesta 1.0 ecoboost today. Got a few miles & the dreaded rattle & oil light followed by total seizure of the engine. This was aproaching a roundabout. All within around 100 feet in distance. The car has done 45,000 & i regularly service inc oil & filter. the oil level was correct as was the water.

Having looked around online it is stated by Ford 10 years or 150,000 miles for the internal wet belt to be changed. The car is neither of these. What it seems happens on some of these is the fine fibres that the belt is made from come off. These get sucked into a fine gauze which leeds to the oil pump. The pump gets starved of oil & the rest is history. Aparently no come back at Ford.

So a low mileage 39,000 unwaranted used engine from Synteq was £1600 delivered. Plus whatever my Son in laws garage charges for fitting. We have owned the car since it was 11 months old & has been great until now. At my age it was out of the question for me to strip & repair the engine. So the savings got a good delving into. Hope tomorrow is better. It seems these engines suffer from a few gremlins, this being one of them.

Steve.  Sorry about the title mis spell.

Edited By Steviegtr on 09/06/2023 18:50:31

Edited By Steviegtr on 09/06/2023 18:51:16

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Engine failure

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Well it is a Fix Or Repair Daily!!!!

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Posted by bernard towers on 09/06/2023 18:54:33:

Well it is a Fix Or Repair Daily!!!!

Sorry not sure what you mean. ???.

Steve.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

FIAT -fix it again tomorrow

FORD –

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

Those were said to cost ford £350 a lump discussion on the MIG forum now.

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

My T150V Trident wrecked 2 rods and needed the crank regrinding when an oil filter disintegrated and blocked the gauze filter from the oil tank. I think I could still rebuild a Trident engine in a darkened room.

Mike

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Wasn't there an oil pressure or check engine type warning before the seizure?

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Posted by Mark Rand on 09/06/2023 19:49:11:

Wasn't there an oil pressure or check engine type warning before the seizure?

Yes the oil light came on & then a couple of secs later the car stopped on the spot.

Steve

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Oil pressure lights are also known as the it’s too late light.

Mike

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Posted by Mark Rand on 09/06/2023 19:49:11:

Wasn't there an oil pressure or check engine type warning before the seizure?

They are invariably set far too low to be of any real use when driving. If it comes on at any more than idle speed, then you're normally looking at engine damage.

And the 1.0l Ecoboom is terribly weak in a number of areas – oil pressure, coolant leaks, timing belt issues(it books 9 hours and about £600 in parts), drivability, smoothness etc. They're best avoided.

[jimmy bParticipant @jimmyb]

I'd be inclined to change the belt and have the sump off on the "new" engine, just to be sure it's ok

Jim

[Michael HornerParticipant @michaelhorner54327]

"The car has done 45,000 & i regularly service inc oil & filter. the oil level was correct as was the water".

Hi Steve, my wife has one of these on a 2014 plate so thanks for the heads up. After the warranty period I took on the servicing but I did the oil and filter approx every six months because I clocked the internal fibre cam belt.

From watching Youtube what do you think of getting the oil pressure checked to see if it falls off at high RPM?

Seems the simplest option to see how blocked the filter gauze is. Last oil change, I was in agony for a week, so taking sump off is a no no.

When I drive it I usually hit 5000 RPM at least once!

Cheers Mike.

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Posted by jimmy b on 10/06/2023 07:02:52:

I'd be inclined to change the belt and have the sump off on the "new" engine, just to be sure it's ok

You have to take the sump off to change the belt. Many mechanics drop the engine when doing them on Fiestas.

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

There are 2 types of oil pump that Ford use, vane type (Worst) and the gear type.(better). Worth checking.

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

No such thing as 'Exchange' units anymore? Short or full engine?

Regards Ian.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

This issue certainly sounds like some of the engines are not fit for purpose. This should mean the retailler / Ford should have some responsibility for the repair. Unfortunatly if it was not serviced on time every time by a Ford garage (or you can prove it was done by a competent commercial garage using Ford approved parts) Ford have a reason to avoid liability. As soon as Steve di a service Ford had get out. There was a brief piece on the BBC recently and the cases highlighted had incomplete service history. They also quoted Ford as saying somthing like it had only happened on 0.01% of ecoboost engines worldwide". That sounds like lying with statistics to me. Ecoboost range covers a wide range of models including 4 and 6 cylinder varients. It seems like it just affects certain versions of the 1l 3 cyl engine. In the USA the 1l ecobost (which may be different to the UK one anyway) accounts for less than 10% of Focus and Fiesta sales. The Wet Belt was designed out around 2018/19.
If this had affected any significant number of cars in the USA there would be a class action suit going on.

Robert.

[VicParticipant @vic]

I’ve never been very impressed with the concept of using turbo chargers on small engines for road cars. Normally aspirated engines have proven to more than adequate for the majority of drivers. I suppose making cars more complicated with more to go wrong helps bolster main dealer workshops? I’ve been very impressed with my wife’s Mazda 2. The whole range is available with just one 1500 engine but with a choice of three different levels of power output. We went with the middle one and it’s been very reliable.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by Circlip on 10/06/2023 09:55:27:

No such thing as 'Exchange' units anymore? Short or full engine?

Regards Ian.

No you don't seem to see them so much anymore. Seem to have been taken over here in Australia by cheap low-mileage secondhand motors imported from Japan, where they drive very few miles a year and cars are discarded after just a few years due to steeply increasing taxes on cars more than a couple of years old.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

How many drivers understand the vehicle they drive ? The days of several gauges to tell those who understand what is going on in the engine have long gone. Many drivers would not now understand what they were telling them. An oil pressure gauge would have probably saved this engine if the driver understood the readings, and acted quickly, you only have seconds. Many oil pressure switches are to low to save disaster ! There are many engines which would have been good if built as designed – but the accounts spoilt them ! 3 that come to mind are the Ford V4 oil pump drive and the fuel pump cam, the V6 plastic valve train drive and the Pinto cam followers. These problems would only show up after the warrentee had expired ! The motoring world is full of vehicles that could have been good if the accounts had let the engineers build them and increase the price just a little ! Ah well. Noel

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

The trouble with oil pressure gauges is they will show wide variations and still be operating normally, it will require the driver to understand what is normal behaviour and not panic when the needle drops with hot oil and idling speed. Manufacturers don’t normally fit them as they would get worried people on the phone all the time. A performance engine with an informed driver can make good use of an oil pressure gauge but probably best not to let Joe Public see what is going on.

Mike

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

An oil flow per rev indication might be more useful. It'd cost two or three pounds more in components (so 200-300 in retail price?) and some software in the ECU.

[Andrew EvansParticipant @andrewevans67134]

Do you know the cause of the seizure? Is it possible the sump got holed and all oil lost? That happened to my dad once when a brick fell off a lorry in front and it went straight through the sump.

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Posted by Andrew Evans on 10/06/2023 15:15:09:

Do you know the cause of the seizure? Is it possible the sump got holed and all oil lost? That happened to my dad once when a brick fell off a lorry in front and it went straight through the sump.

Not sure you read my post but no oil loss or water. Seems a common problem with the ecoboost 3 pot engine. Spoke with a company that does these engines all the time. They are Whitkirk motors..what happens on some is fibres come off the belt & just above crank is a oil port to the pump. With a fine strainer in it. They get clogged with the fibres & restrict oil flow. Onthis ocation it seems like it has destroyed a big end shell. Cannot verify as the engine is waiting the replacement ordered yesterday. There is a guy on YouTube doing one of these & clearly shows the fibres being pulled out of the strainer while they fit a new belt.

The car has 45.000 miles. Since we bought with 8.000 miles & just main dealer serviced. I have changed oil & filter twice. No additives just the correct oil .

Bev drives pretty steady & never screams it. The Internet is full of similar low mileage stories. Ford recommend 10 years or 150.000 miles to change.

Steve.

[John Doe 2Participant @johndoe2]

Andrew: 2nd paragraph of the very first post

What a xxxx by Ford. Why didn't they recall the cars and change the belts once it was known the belts were causing a problem? No, it's alright, I know the answer – similar to the Boeing MCAS disaster.

Perhaps the Ford garages pulled the sumps off at every oil change and checked and/or cleaned the gauze pre-filter.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 10/06/2023 16:44:07

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