Fords - wet belts & ecoboosts?

B0bbyEwing

Skiddaw1 said:

For what it is worth, we've had two eco-boost Fords in a row (one Focus, currently a Fiesta) and had no problems with either of them.  Quite the opposite in fact. Touch wood anyway! 

Have they been in & about the 80k-100k area or have you been clear of this? 

It was mentioned earlier that some Civic's have wet belts also. Anyone care to share which so can be avoided?

Or is it really just a case of looking for a car, finding one & then running it in Google such as....

"Does a 2012 Peugeot 308 1.6 diesel have a wet belt?"

Which could end up pretty tiring if the result to every search was yes. 

* For the record I wouldn't be searching for any Peugeot. Not a fan. Would have to get to pretty desperate times for me to buy one I'm afraid.

facade

B0bbyEwing said:

It was mentioned earlier that some Civic's have wet belts also. Anyone care to share which so can be avoided?

Or is it really just a case of looking for a car, finding one & then running it in Google such as....

"Does a 2012 Peugeot 308 1.6 diesel have a wet belt?"

Which could end up pretty tiring if the result to every search was yes. 

* For the record I wouldn't be searching for any Peugeot. Not a fan. Would have to get to pretty desperate times for me to buy one I'm afraid.

Goudy posted it earlier, the Civic 10th generation with the 1.0 turbo engine (2015-2022)

So avoid 

1.0 Civics

Any Peugeot/Vauxhall/Citroen with a 1.2 petrol engine

Any Ford with a 1.0  Ecoboom, or a 2.0 Ecoblue diesel (I think it is only fitted to vans though not cars)

Your best bet is to look for a badge on the back of the car that says "Swift" "Ignis" "Aygo" or "Yaris" though!

B0bbyEwing

Ahh that'd work out then. Sorry, I quickly read Goudy's while I was at work so missed that bit.

If we have to go the new car route then currently torn between something that has a bit of anything under the right foot and something that's just cheap to run.

By that I mean this car is like the second car. It's handy to have (I was without a car recently & if we were 1 car household it'd have been a problem), it does the food shop at the weekend (unfortunately not literally) & it'll occasionally get used for further trips out when the wife is off work some times.

But to keep it running so that it's not sat there doing nothing, I alternate between the two cars for my own drive to work & on my drive to & from there's an annoyingly large number of people doing a fraction of the speed limit (I'm not talking 47 in a 50 I'm talking 30-35 in a 50) ... and so I like to have something that'll get me by ok enough.

Do I need it? Of course not. But I'd bet most people have cars beyond what they 'need' anyway.

But the £265 a year tax on the current car is a bit annoying when you see other cars like £20.

B0bbyEwing

daveyjp said:

For £3k the badge isn't that important, but Far East brands are generally well built and mechanically simple and reliable, just check MOTs for any issues with corrosion.  You may be better trawling private ads and see what is out there as £3k doesn't get much from a dealer these days.

I'd avois diesels and small turbo engines.  Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Suzuki, Honda would be where my searches would start.

Knew I'd seen this in this thread. It was just at the back of my mind that I'd forgotten to ask

Why do you say that?

I ask as the 1.4T Astra K was on my consideration list with a reasonable balance of economy & performance. I know they do the 1.4T in the J although from Googling it's not exactly the same engine & the K seems to be regarded as the better of the two. 

Have owned both the G & H and while not to everyone's taste, they were both fine for us. In fact the G cost me basically nothing at all for over 10 years beyond tyres, brakes, wipers etc. H also generally reliable too. I had the 1.8 (Z18XE) in the G & 1.6 Twinport in the H (Z16XEP).

Goudy

The 1.4T in the Astra J can suffer crankshaft end float problems.
There is a recent thread.

It also has some low speed pre ignition (often referred to as LSPI) issues that can damage the pistons. 
I hear it's more common than the end float issue.
Under certain engine speeds/load,  LSPI will cause the engine to knock badly.

The 1.4 engine in the J (LUJ) is different to the K (LE2).

You can often spot the crank float problem.
Run the engine up a while, then shut it off.
While carefully watching the crank pulley get someone to push the clutch pedal down.
If the pulley moves out, the crank has too much end float.

Downsized turbo petrol engines can get flaky as they get older.
Manufacturers were able to squeeze impressive figures out of them for emissions and power (just not at the same time).
They are a bit of a fudge. They can be made to run efficient and clean on test, but in everyday driving you tend to have to work them, so emissions and mpg suffer,

Turbos generally don't last as long as other engine components and they can often be made to work hard on a small engine dragging a biggish car.
They add complexity, it's not just the turbo but all the other associated parts and plumbing that can suffer as well.

For budget motoring, normally aspirated engines tend to be more hardy and require less attention. Mile for mile they tend to be comparable with small turbos mpg wise.

We've been running the 1.6 M16a N/A engine in our Vitara for 8 years now and it's been bombproof.
Cheap and simple to service and doesn't suffer from some of the issues that effect the 1.4 Boosterjet, like the cracking cylinder heads.
It does 50 mpg on a steady run and has ample power.

B0bbyEwing

Thanks Goudy. I did wonder when they started putting decent numbers out of small engined cars as to whether it was such a good thing as the car got older. 

Found a 2013 1.8 Civic locally but it's on the top end of what I'd like to pay so will see if it's still around when I have time to go see it next week. 

Mgman1965

jimjames said:

B0bbyEwing said:

My question was actually specifically about Ford's & whether we should rule them out of a search based on the horror stories we've heard & warnings from others we've been given. Not sure if it's actually as bad as what people suggest or not. 

Depends how long you are intending keeping it. Reason many are for sale is that the wet belt costs up to £2k to replace and on a £3k car that isn't economical option for many people. If it might need doing during your ownership you need to cost it in.

Also, many garages won't change wet belts.

Had this discussion with the two garages i use, when I asked them about cost of changing the cam belt on my Ford, first thing they said, was if its a wet belt (it's not) they wouldn't do it and said to go to Ford dealers.