Ford Ecoboost 1.0 Cambelt Changes starting to be due @ £1000+

[Nasher]

Sounds a bit like the whole thing with "sealed for life" automatic gearboxes. Which apparently last the life of the car. What they didn't tell people is they consider the "life of the car" to be the warranty period and then you lease a new one

 

[Liquid_Entity]

Looks like I wont be getting a Ford/Ecoboost any time soon then

 

[Armageus]

Looks like I wont be getting a Ford/Ecoboost any time soon then

So what will you be getting? Can find scare stories about most brands/models/engines if you look hard enough

 

[Liquid_Entity]

Well I have tried to avoid owning a car at all for 2 years but needs must now.

 

[Doobedoo]

Lots of cars with these engines seem to be a plenty on Autotrader at the minute. I suspect they are all due cambelt changes.

 

[Liquid_Entity]

Lots of cars with these engines seem to be a plenty on Autotrader at the minute. I suspect they are all due cambelt changes.

thats why i was looking at them but now given it will be cost price + £1000 to sort out I will pass.

 

[dave28]

Had my entire engine removed, second hand one removed from a donor car and fitted into my car. Had the cambelt done on the new engine and had a brand new clutch fitted and all the fluids / oil changed.

All for the same price as Ford are quoting for a cambelt change. Ok well that sounds like good value.

 

[Armageus]

Lots of cars with these engines seem to be a plenty on Autotrader at the minute. I suspect they are all due cambelt changes.

Probably are, but equally there's probably just as many other makes/models due a cambelt change. Only difference being that they are due every 5 years, and cost £400-£500 at the time.

 

[Nasher]

Looks like I wont be getting a Ford/Ecoboost any time soon then

The STs seem to be ok and quite durable (real ST, not the ST line), use timing chains etc. The "eco" models turned out to be a bit of a false economy.

 

[VaderDSL]

The mild hybrid versions also need an auxiliary belt every 70k ish miles / 4 years as per Ford's servicing schedule. Not sure how much that is, but maybe a few hundred £ every 4 years? They did the cheapest hybrid update they could, swapped the alternator and used that and a small battery to drive the aux belt, so presumably the extra strain requires it replacing earlier. Not sure what would happen if the aux belt snaps on these.

 

[Liquid_Entity]

The STs seem to be ok and quite durable (real ST, not the ST line), use timing chains etc. The "eco" models turned out to be a bit of a false economy.

alternatives I am looking at are Mazda3's, Hyundai i30 and Skoda Octavia. All around that age.

 

[Nasher]

alternatives I am looking at are Mazda3's, Hyundai i30 and Skoda Octavia. All around that age.

Skoda (most VWs really) have belts, so probably the same situation with many older ones for sale needing it done.

Mazda and Hyundai is probably a chain.

 

[Armageus]

Skoda (most VWs really) have belts, so probably the same situation with many older ones for sale needing it done.

Mazda is probably a chain. I10 a belt.

Most Skoda/VW are 5 years for cambelts

VW Cambelts Frequently Asked Questions | Volkswagen UK

If you reach the recommended mileage limit before 4 or 5 years, you may need to change the cambelt sooner. Get in touch with VW if you have more questions.

www.volkswagen.co.uk

 

[Doobedoo]

Probably are, but equally there's probably just as many other makes/models due a cambelt change. Only difference being that they are due every 5 years, and cost £400-£500 at the time.

Correct although they don’t have the same issues with the belts breaking up and clogging the pickup pipe ect.

Personally I wouldn’t touch one with a barge pole.

 

[HangTime]

Life of the car equals 150k miles

Thanks Ford..

150k miles for average usage is well over 10 years and with cars on the cheaper end of the spectrum (Fiesta/Focus) their depreciation means their worth reduces to something approaching uneconomical to repair at that point anyway. Having parts that lasted 500k miles would be kind of a 'waste', probably increasing the cost of the car in the first place.

I know it doesn't make great reading but playing Devil's advocate here arguably it makes sense to produce cars that start falling to bits once they become a teenager unless they were expensive to start with. You have a car that's worth say £2k (I actually surprised myself looking up these cars, Ecoboosts generally seem to still go for £3k+!) so spending over a grand on the replacement starts to become questionable. It actually makes these current price tags even more crazy, 10 year old Fiestas with over 100k miles going for £3.5k+, if they haven't had the belt done (some have) that's basically £4.5k for an old Fiesta that probably cost only 3x that when it was brand new.

 

[Beerbaron]

My 63 1.0 Focus has done 72k now. I have decided to run it until April next year and buy a new car.

 

[Puzzled]

The STs seem to be ok and quite durable (real ST, not the ST line), use timing chains etc. The "eco" models turned out to be a bit of a false economy.

Always preferred engines with chains. I don't really get why you'd use a timing belt, is it just cost saving?

 

[Janesy B]

Always preferred engines with chains. I don't really get why you'd use a timing belt, is it just cost saving?

Wet belt has lower friction, so more efficient.

As with everything in the name of economy cars have ended up more complicated and expensive to fix to save 1g/km.

Wet belts aren't an 'ecoboost' thing, some have chains or normal belts like the 1.5/1.6. 1.2 PSA Puretech is wet belt with a much lower interval too.

 

[sx_turbo]

Looks like I wont be getting a Ford/Ecoboost any time soon then

They along with the PSA 1.0 3 cylinder turbo are awful engines for longevity.

Cambelt break up in the oil, clog the strainer and ruin the bottom end

The oil change intervals are far to long and the oil control rings coke up with carbon resulting in obscene oil consumption.

 

[jpaul]

Looks like I wont be getting a Ford/Ecoboost any time soon then

what age are you looking then, older 5+ year cars have stronger market values than newer used at the moment, can you wait for market stabilization ?
(housing market death of purple bricks today - that is mending itself)

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latest focus estate always looks nice - should be a glut of chained ford puma/kuga/fiesta in a few years, combined biggest of the uk car sales last year -


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belt reasons - all in this current thread

According to FEV GmbH, an independent engine designer, the belt drive lowers fuel consumption compared to the chain, and therefore reduces CO2 emissions. In a 1.6 liter gasoline engine, for example, the belt drive reduces fuel consumption by more than 1% and saves up to 1.5 grams of CO2 per kilometer. "Belt drives are lighter and run a lot more quietly too. Belts don't tend to lengthen either," says Hermann Schulte, head of Timing Belt Development at the ContiTech Power Transmission Group. "A significant advantage, because a lengthening chain alters the engine timing. As a result, consumption increases and performance drops. Emissions levels are quickly exceeded." In endurance tests, a belt lengthened by just 0.1% after 240,000 kilometers of service life - the figure was five times greater with a chain.
..
The advantage of the timing belt in oil is that it has a narrower construction than the dry-running version and it is even quieter. In the case of a crankshaft pulley with 19 teeth, no noise can be detected, even with the engine operating under full load, because the oil not only reduces friction, it absorbs sound as well. This is important for the simple reason that the increasingly popular downsized engines generally run less smoothly.