A top motoring expert has urged Brits interested in buying a used car to avoid any model that features a certain engine in order to avoid risking an expensive fault.
Whilst cars are generally much more reliable than they once were, Grant from the YouTube channel Scottish Car Clan highlighted that owners of some models have experienced serious mechanical issues, which can become worse as the car gets older.
In a recent video, Grant discusses a number of problematic engines, warning drivers against any Ford model fitted with the original Fox version of the 1.0-litre EcoBoost.
He explained: “I’ve spoken about the 1.0-litre EcoBoost quite a bit in the past, but to give you a really high-level overview, essentially, the rubber timing belt is buried within the engine, and it runs through the hot engine oil. Rubber belt, hot engine oil.
“That rubber timing belt starts to break up into little pieces, which find their way into the oil. That gets caught in the oil pickups and oil lines, and makes a right old mess inside the engine, possibly leading to oil starvation and critical damage.”
Introduced in 2012, the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine was designed to be as compact as possible, with the main block being smaller than a sheet of A4 paper. One of the ways Ford were able to make the engine so small was by running the timing belt through the sump.
Whilst Ford claims that the timing belt should be changed after 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first, some owners have experienced faults much earlier, with pieces of the belt blocking oil from reaching vital components.
As a result, many mechanics have recommended that owners of a model fitted with an original 1.0-litre EcoBoost, which includes the Fiesta, Focus, and EcoSport, get their belt changed after eight years or 80,000 miles.
Nevertheless, Grant reassured drivers hoping to buy a used Ford that the company revised the engine in 2019, vastly reducing the risk of the fault.
He added: “Now, there are two variations of this engine and I don’t hear many people talking about this. There’s an older version of the EcoBoost which is referred to as the Fox. Now, this is the worst engine, and you’ll generally find this in pre-2019 cars, but some snuck into later-year cars.
“The later EcoBoost is Ford’s way of recognising the problem and trying to fix it, as they shifted back to using a much more robust and much more conventional timing chain. They’re much better, but it does still use a wet belt to run the oil pump. These engines are proving to be less problematic, but time is going to tell on this.”
According to Grant, used car buyers are able to tell whether a model they are interested in has the newer type of engine by looking for a silver turbocharger.
If a driver can see it in front of the main engine block, the used car features the older and more troublesome Fox EcoBoost engine, whereas examples with a turbocharger mounted at the back feature the more modern engine.
Motorists could also consider a used Ford that features a different type of engine, with larger powertrains, such as the 1.5 Ecoboost and 1.1 Duratec having a much better track record for reliability.
