Ford Ecoboost - engine failure

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Tarambor wrote: »

Did you read that on your favourite scaremongering website? Clearly written by a journalist with zero mechanical knowledge. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that oil spewing onto the exhaust manifold isn't likely to result in anything more than a horrible smell and a bit of smoke.

This is cut n paste from DVSA recall website:

For 1.6 Kuga, Focus, C-Max, Fiesta ST built between June 2010 and Dec 2014

Concern : THE ENGINE CYLINDER HEAD MAY CRACK

Description : Localized overheating of the engine cylinder head may cause the cylinder head to crack.This may cause a pressurized oil leak which in extreme circumstances could result in a fire in the engine compartment.

Remedial Action : On affected vehicles Inspect engine and cooling system. Replace affected components and fit a Coolant Level Sensor along with associated software to provide and audible and visual warning to the driver.

So the recall is not for fire, it is the faulty design that means when low coolant events occur there is no warning and the engine cracks, leading to loss of power at speed and a very expensive repair.

Watch this space for the next very likely recall.... on 1.0 litre Ecoboosts. They also dont have the coolant level sensor and hundreds have cracked, and new cases are being reported every week.

facade

TickersPlaysPop wrote: »

So the recall is not for fire

I beg to differ, Ford couldn't care less if the engine blows up out of warranty, but the possibility of fire (or panic when the car fills with smoke) when the car is filled with children could result in some hefty legal bills.

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facade wrote: »

I beg to differ, Ford couldn't care less if the engine blows up out of warranty, but the possibility of fire (or panic when the car fills with smoke) when the car is filled with children could result in some hefty legal bills.

Ford beg to differ with you, Ford have been replacing 100's of engines out of warranty for free. Even over a year out of warranty.

The evidence is on the Facebook group...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FordEcoboostNightmare

You are right that that don't care, because often they try to make people pay around £4500 before backing down when they know that the victim knows about the Facebook page.

11Mike

adonis10 wrote: »

Interesting comment and one which I am interested in as am currently considering buying a 1.0 ecoboost. What is the general consensus of how long they build them to last, in mileage terms?

I have one, a Fiesta Black Edition so has the 140PS (138 BHP) variant, the engine and car is superb. If any car is looked after it will be fine not withstanding manufacturing defects, such as the coolant hose between 2010 and 2014 whch Ford have issued a recall on for the ‘degas’ hose,

TickersPlaysPop wrote: »

Ford beg to differ with you, Ford have been replacing 100's of engines out of warranty for free. Even over a year out of warranty.

The evidence is on the Facebook group...

Link removed as I am not allowed to post them yet.

You are right that that don't care, because often they try to make people pay around £4500 before backing down when they know that the victim knows about the Facebook page.

If Ford didn’t care they wouldn’t have replaced any out of warranty for free, they also wouldn’t have bothered with a recall. All major manufacturers have major issues and recalls at some point, look at the bonnet catch failure for the Mk2 Clio. That affected a hell of a lot more cars, and i’d guess Ford have sold more ecoboost engines than clios were in the same period. The fact that in the last 3-5 years both the Fiesta and Focus have been in the top 5 of new cars sold.

Other than car enthusiasts, how many people go on a website, such as google, to look for the answers to things with cars other than problems, i’d say not many. Most people tend to head to the search engines when a problem develops with anything, hence why the web is full of issues and not happy stories.

Even Whirlpool/Hotpoint/Indesit had a major recall on a drier. I’d be more concerned with that burning my house down than a coolant issue with my car.

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11Mike wrote: »

I have one, a Fiesta Black Edition so has the 140PS (138 BHP) variant, the engine and car is superb.

You probably haven't heard of the recent recall for approx 15,000 1.6 Ecoboost engines in Jan 2018? Since you have one I would very quickly look it up...

http://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleSelection.do

No need to thank me for doing Ford's job, but maybe they have suddenly started caring for their customers and you have received a letter by now?

The recall is due to risk of engine failure if coolant low, with potential for engine fire. Fix is to install a coolant level sensor, which is also not present on the 1.0 litre Ecoboost but the 1.0 litre have not been recalled despite almost exactly the same problems.

re your comment about the engine failures being less worrying than domestic appliance fires...

Consider a car, containing 2 young children under 5, that can suddenly and without warning lose all power on the motorway at 70 mph surrounded by other cars and lorries... if you survive that, how safe would you feel for yourself and your family stuck on the hard shoulder waiting for recovery... if in fact the motorway had one if it wasnt a 'smart motorway' .... appliance fires and engine failures both terrify me.

tomstickland

A comment on the HonestJohn form was that the 1.5 and 1.6 Ecoboost engines are based on the mid 90s 1.6 16v petrol engine which is proving to be really strong so is the preferable option.

Worth a try but I doubt Ford will pay for repair. You can get the head gasket replaced. Get a quote on a complete engine from here: http://engineengineering.co.uk/start/reconditioned-engines-rebuilt:298/ford-reconditioned-engines:330/ford-10l-ecoboost-engine-for-sale:2123/

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tomstickland wrote: »

A comment on the HonestJohn form was that the 1.5 and 1.6 Ecoboost engines are based on the mid 90s 1.6 16v petrol engine which is proving to be really strong so is the preferable option.

Worth a try but I doubt Ford will pay for repair. You can get the head gasket replaced. Get a quote on a complete engine from here: http://engineengineering.co.uk/start/reconditioned-engines-rebuilt:298/ford-reconditioned-engines:330/ford-10l-ecoboost-engine-for-sale:2123/

You couldn't be more wrong about Ford. Ford have replaced engines for free , and some are waiting for their 4th 1.0 litre engine!

agrinnall

TickersPlaysPop wrote: »

You probably haven't heard of the recent recall for approx 15,000 1.6 Ecoboost engines in Jan 2018? Since you have one I would very quickly look it up...

The Fiesta Black has a 1.0 engine so you wasted your time writing the post and our time reading it.

Bitanga

Same problems here on my focus 1.0 on like 48 000 miles. The problem is one small rubber band in the engine that is worth less then 1 euro. Ford did bad job in producing this band that brakes around this mileage and causing big engine problems like broken head gasket in my case and more then 1000euro bills from my pocket. Problems started right after 2 year warranty. I dont know when will ford addmit their bad production of their 1.0 ecoboost engine known as the best engine for few years now... (I have the picture of this rubber band but cant upload it yet as a new user here)

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UPDATE...

BBC Radio 4 cover the scandal: Listen from 31min onwards (7mins long)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09wpmrx

Facebook page now up to 470 car registrations from 150 back in Sep 2017.

Ford continue to be obstructive and delay replacing the engine for free, rarely with courtesy car provision.

DVSA reviewed a limited sub set of cases and came out with a conclusion disputed by all victims of this scandal.

1.6 litre Ecoboost recalled in Jan 2018 to fit a coolant level sensor to avoid engine over heating within in mins resulting in need for replacement engine.

Root cause - a design flaw in that any temporary coolant malfunction such as low coolant or sudden loss of coolant even followed by turning the engine off results in engine damage i.e. cracked cylinder head due to excessive heat. If driving at speed and there is a fast loss of coolant, this results in a sudden loss of power often with no warning. Weak points exist throughout the coolant system, including degas hose, cabin heater matrix, reservoir, various coolant/engine seals around the engine. What in most other cars is just a simple loss of coolant event that requires a top up, is a much more serious £4500 bill to replace the engine in ecoboost 1.0 and 1.6's.