Is the Ford Ecoboost a terrible engine?

GHendrix

I just bought a 16 Ford Focus 1 litre ecoboost with just the 1 previous owner and 110000km. Car looks great inside and out and drives really well. I was delighted with it. The car is mainly for the wife.

I must confess, I did some research and read quite a bunch of horror stories about ecoboom and basically engine failure. However, a few balanced posts and articles seemed to suggest that it happens only a very small percentage of the time and usually when regular servicing isn’t happening etc. So I decided to take a punt on it.

As I collected the car, the dealer mentioned that a bunch of the service history was in the glovebox. I thought that was fairly sound. They don’t have to provide you with that.

I was shocked to see that last year the poor owner spent 5K replacing the engine and battery! I guess this ecoboost went ecoboom.

Now I’m wondering whether I’ve bought a ticking time bomb or whether it’s a good thing that the car has quite a new engine.

Anyone got any good or bad experiences with these engines?

LIGHTNING

I know a Ford mechanic would said in the early days they had crates of replacement engines in his dealership. Early ones were not good, from what I heard they got "better"

User1998

If the engine has already been replaced, then you should be good for another 10 years past that date. As long as you can confirm it wasn’t a second hand engine that was fitted.

Funnily enough I also bought one which had a £3,000 invoice in the glovebox for a new engine, so unfortunately the horror stories are true.

-=al=-

I think after 2014 they ironed out the issues. I don't think you have much to worry about if a new engine was fitted unless it had a similar mileage but probably a good thing.

I have had access to a 2014 ecoboost focus the last few months and I like the idea behind them but they're not as economical as expected and just lack a bit of oomph even with the turbo. Comfy cars and feel pretty solid but slightly disappointed with the engine. Wouldn't kick it out of bed though it's a nice car to be in and scoot around in

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121512647#Comment_121512647

This one is 2016 and still needed an engine though

GHendrix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121512618#Comment_121512618

Well the first owner seems to have gotten 6 years and 100km out of it. That’s not great at all but I’d be reasonably happy if I got similar.

I actually just assumed an engine replacement meant a brand new engine. I wonder if there is any way to verify the mileage on the new engine?

Darwin

My Father-in-law had an engine replacement in his 2015 Fiesta, the engine had only 20K Km on the clock. New one is in situ a few years now and all fine so far. OP I wouldn't worry too much if it is a genuinely new engine. I have similar in my car (mine is 2021), no problems so far but I understand it runs a "wet timing belt" which will eventually deteriorate with debris getting into the oil pump strainer leading to oil starvation. You need to be on time with your services and most importantly use the correct oil. FYI PSA group also use this type of engine tech (I'm sure there are other brands too).

sugarman20

Had one of these engines replaced, a 171 van, belt snapped. Ford covered it thankfully.

damemcd

my ford focus 2012 went and cost me north of 2 grand to fix, will be going Japanese going forward.

-=al=-

What was the mileage when it packed up?

From speaking to a mechanic about the engines he mentioned similar as above in regards to maintenance and servicing suggested every 6k miles for an oil change to avoid common issues

GHendrix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121514082#Comment_121514082

I can’t say for sure but looking at the overall mileage and the age of the car I reckon it was between 95 - 100km or somewhere close to that.

sumo12

Sweeping generalisation... Ford engines are generally pretty soft and don't like anything other than impeccable servicing with the correct oils used. Even at that, sometimes they still dissolve.

Montage of Feck

What modern engine isn't a problem waiting to happen, as the saying goes there's no replacement for displacement.

Furze99

Avoided a car where the previous one owner was a bit casual about servicing - 18,000 before first oil change. Oil & filter changes are best done regular to minimise issues.

artanevilla

"As I collected the car, the dealer mentioned that a bunch of the service history was in the glovebox. I thought that was fairly sound. They don’t have to provide you with that."

Did you review the history or were you just happy to know that it existed?

GHendrix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121514496#Comment_121514496

I didn’t even know it existed. I gave the car a good test drive, it just passed NCT, nothing unusual showing up on cartell and have a few months warranty.

It was only when I got home that I read through the service invoices and saw the engine replacement.

Overall, it’s actually a good thing for me.

Im just a bit spooked that the same thing could happen to this engine and if it did I probably wouldn’t bother replacing again

hellyeah

In my experience the most important thing you can do with this engine is oil changes. Only use castrol magnetic 5w20 as this oil was specifically designed for this engine and the wet belt.

My father bought a new fiesta back in 2013 and had zero issues with this car up till he traded it in last year with 90k on the clock. We changed the oil annually with the above spec.

The problem is people use the wrong oil or don't change it at all, the belt then degrades blocks the oil strainer and starves the top end or the belt snaps and its game over.

My dad traded his fiesta for a new focus last year with same engine( his mild hybrid) is chain driven now so hopefully will be just as reliable if he keeps up with the servicing.

Henry Ford III

Wet belt engines were upgraded to a chain a couple of years ago.

I'm running a 155bhp 1.0l Ecoboost in a Puma and it's great. Excellent performance and good economy too.

Henry Ford III

This is reasonably balanced. Some early engines suffered from wet belt degradation too.

Regular oil changes should take care of the former issue - check the service history for proof and don't buy without it..

https://www.carbuyer.co.uk/tips-and-advice/170038/ford-ecoboost-engines-what-are-they-and-should-you-buy-one

Fuel economy and performance are both good, but very hard driving will see the mpg figure drop a lot. These engines won multiple awards and faulty ones were not too numerous.

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/feu/en/news/2019/05/22/ford-1-0-litre-ecoboost-wins-11th-iepoty-engine-oscar--powered-1.html

chicorytip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058327495/is-the-ford-ecoboost-a-terrible-engine

...at least your car has a manual transmission and not the notoriously problematic "Powershift" automatic box.

GHendrix

Just wanted to bump this to say that the engine went boom after almost 4 months and just out of warranty.

Not even 8 years old and 118km on the clock and 2 failed engines.

Will scrap it and take the hit.

I really hope this thread will prevent even 1 person from buying a car with one of these engines.

Agent_47

@GHendrix sorry to hear that. Daughter has same engine in a fiesta. I service it religiously every 12k km or annually. Has 80k km on it at the moment, a 2018 model.

Wife has a 2023 Puma 125 bhp eco boost but I think it’s a a different system. Have to watch both like a hawk. Wife’s 2015 1.2 tsi 110 bhp Golf , suffered poor mechanicals. Modern cars really suck when it comes to reliability

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121954279#Comment_121954279

God that is terrible. Have you contacted the dealer? Surely you have some consumer rights here

GHendrix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121954522#Comment_121954522

Yeah I’ll probably give it a shot but not expecting much.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121954279#Comment_121954279

I guess we can assume itwas a piece of **** engine that was swapped in so.

It was rather sharp for the selling garage to not mention the engine swap originally.

Mad_Lad

I'm not that up on the ecoboost but from some research it appears that these engines were fixed around 2019 and those that use the dry belt have the turbo to the rear all the bad ones have the turbo to the front.

Maybe we can establish an exact time frame when this engine was finally fixed ?

mikeecho

my understanding, is that it was a highly stressed engine, needing to be serviced within or at the timing interval.

personally , i'd avoid it.,.. and this coming from the owner of a bmw n47 .. who has had oil changes at 1/2 the recommended intervals. (cos i'm paranoid). 250k+ without issue (fingers crossed)

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121970561#Comment_121970561

You’d need the engine codes and check the logbook to see which one it has. Someone posted a comparison before of what the two engines look like. It would be hard to give an exact timeframe of when it was rectified.

Henry Ford III

The revised engines have a timing chain, not a belt.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121970845#Comment_121970845

A timing chain is no longer a guarantee of reliability - just look at the Renault engines for example.

Coincide

I have one and it's never done me wrong.

Now I did get an engine replacement at one point but it was unrelated to an engine issue.

Was because the sump got a hole in it due to a branch on the road and all the oil fell out before I realised.

Little to no engine is gonna survive such a series of unfortunate events.