Ford Ecoboost Engine Failure (TWICE)

[Fastdruid]

Warren Obhead said:

I have no experience with these engines, but my brother works in a rebuild shop.

Ecoboost engines are in regularly. From fords and mazdas. They make up a surprisingly large percentage of their work.

ste engine quality.

Ecoboost is a generic name applied to a range of engines. You're going to have to be more specific as to which "family" he's repairing.

Fox?
Mazda-L?
Sigma?
Dragon?
Nano?
Cyclone?

[gweaver]

I don't think Mazda ever used Ecoboost engines.
I'm curious if the 1.5l 3 cylinder Ecoboost is more robust that the earlier engines.

[Fastdruid]

gweaver said:

I don't think Mazda ever used Ecoboost engines.
I'm curious if the 1.5l 3 cylinder Ecoboost is more robust that the earlier engines.

Ford when they owned majority shares in Mazda took the Mazda-L engine and branded it Duratec in NA and Ecoboost in turbo form. When they split they took the engine with them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_L_engine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Duratec_engine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_EcoBoost_engine

[gweaver]

So some Ecoboost engines are derived from the Mazda-L, but they weren't used by Mazda (in UK at least).
I'm curious as to whether the Mazda-L is unreliable, or if they only break after Ford turbocharges them..

Also curious if Skyactiv-G engines are reliable, since they superceded the L around ten years ago.

[Fastdruid]

gweaver said:

So some Ecoboost engines are derived from the Mazda-L, but they weren't used by Mazda (in UK at least).
I'm curious as to whether the Mazda-L is unreliable, or if they only break after Ford turbocharges them..

Also curious if Skyactiv-G engines are reliable, since they superceded the L around ten years ago.

It's the same "family" rather than the same engines. The Duratec is I think fairly reliable.

Mazda had the turbo, GDI "MZR L3-VDT" which was used in the Mazda 6 MPS and 3 MPS, it's a relation to the Focus ST/RS and Mustang 2.3T but heads, turbo etc very different. It's got issues shall we say...

[Dogwatch]

gweaver said:

I don't think Mazda ever used Ecoboost engines.
I'm curious if the 1.5l 3 cylinder Ecoboost is more robust that the earlier engines.

I came across a YouTube video a while ago in which a bloke in an American repair shop was being very uncomplimentary about Ford Ecoboost engines. I can't remember the details but they seemed to be 1.5litre and above.
As the owner of an early Mk3 Focus chugging along on a Duratec I was interested . It's obviously going to need replacement sometime.

[gweaver]

I wouldn't worry if I had an MZR, Sigma, Duratec or Volvo five cylinder engine. IIRC the Sigma sometimes suffers head gasket failure, but that wouldn't put me off (former owner of a Rover K-series here).

Somehow all of those engines seen to have a good reputation, but the turbo charged derivatives do not. I've heard a lot about cracked cylinder heads on various Ecoboost engines, and of course the cracking liners on the 2.5T variant of the Volvo five cylinder. It's as if the Ford engineers look at the safety margin of a well engineered engine and say: "yep, we'll make some mods and use all of that safety margin".
Alternatively maybe it's the quality of the castings?

[gweaver]

Dogwatch said:

I came across a YouTube video a while ago in which a bloke in an American repair shop was being very uncomplimentary about Ford Ecoboost engines. I can't remember the details but they seemed to be 1.5litre and above.

Sounds about right. I assume the 1.5 would be the older four cylinder version. I mentioned the new 1.5 3 cylinder because I think it's a clean sheet design, and they should have learnt from their mistakes with the 1.0l Ecoboost by now.

[MC Bodge]

gweaver said:

Sounds about right. I assume the 1.5 would be the older four cylinder version. I mentioned the new 1.5 3 cylinder because I think it's a clean sheet design, and they should have learnt from their mistakes with the 1.0l Ecoboost by now.

I have a 1.5 4cyl 160 in my Mondeo.

It's a peculiar thing.

It is quick enough once rolling, in third gear upwards, if revved hard, but it drives like an n/a 2.2/2.5, with no bottom end torque, but then never really starts pulling hard before hitting the rev limiter, which has caught me out.

Torque is oddly very limited in first and second gears.

Fuel consumption is also quite poor. It increases rapidly at anything other than a very gentle cruise.

The VAG TSI 1.4/1.5 drives far better.


If my Ecoboost ever blew up, I'd be amazed.

Edited by MC Bodge on Sunday 11th September 12:46

[Teebs]

Friend has just had their 1.0 Ecoboost C-Max 65 plate let go last week, £4k bill apparently (presume new engine).

Trying to get more info but looks to be the same issue as most on here. What are the chances of a Ford contribution if serviced outside of the network?

[MarkwG]

Teebs said:

Friend has just had their 1.0 Ecoboost C-Max 65 plate let go last week, £4k bill apparently (presume new engine).

Trying to get more info but looks to be the same issue as most on here. What are the chances of a Ford contribution if serviced outside of the network?

Worth a try but very little chance of success would be my guess. My understanding is the engine can be sensitive to the correct oil being used, so once outside the network Ford can't guarantee what it's been serviced with, so are unlikely to support a claim.

[Teebs]

MarkwG said:

Teebs said:

Friend has just had their 1.0 Ecoboost C-Max 65 plate let go last week, £4k bill apparently (presume new engine).

Trying to get more info but looks to be the same issue as most on here. What are the chances of a Ford contribution if serviced outside of the network?

Worth a try but very little chance of success would be my guess. My understanding is the engine can be sensitive to the correct oil being used, so once outside the network Ford can't guarantee what it's been serviced with, so are unlikely to support a claim.

Thanks, as I thought really.

[MC Bodge]

Teebs said:

Friend has just had their 1.0 Ecoboost C-Max 65 plate let go last week, £4k bill apparently (presume new engine).

Trying to get more info but looks to be the same issue as most on here. What are the chances of a Ford contribution if serviced outside of the network?

Which issue? Coolant pipe failure?

[Teebs]

MC Bodge said:

Teebs said:

Friend has just had their 1.0 Ecoboost C-Max 65 plate let go last week, £4k bill apparently (presume new engine).

Trying to get more info but looks to be the same issue as most on here. What are the chances of a Ford contribution if serviced outside of the network?

Which issue? Coolant pipe failure?

I think so, pretty short on info currently.

[MarkwG]

Teebs said:

MC Bodge said:

Teebs said:

Friend has just had their 1.0 Ecoboost C-Max 65 plate let go last week, £4k bill apparently (presume new engine).

Trying to get more info but looks to be the same issue as most on here. What are the chances of a Ford contribution if serviced outside of the network?

Which issue? Coolant pipe failure?

I think so, pretty short on info currently.

Fair enough, I'd be surprised if it was the coolant pipe on a car that age, though - it would have failed very early on or been replaced by now. The failure pipe was fitted to early Focus cars, & changed on the other models when it started failing on the Focus. I suspect it's the belt that's failed, either catastrophically or debris from it has blocked the oil pump, leading to engine seizure, that seems to be what's happening lately.. That's why the oil is significant, the wrong oil degrades the belt prematurely. But that's supposition anyway, could be any number of other issues.

[Teebs]

MarkwG said:

Teebs said:

MC Bodge said:

Teebs said:

Friend has just had their 1.0 Ecoboost C-Max 65 plate let go last week, £4k bill apparently (presume new engine).

Trying to get more info but looks to be the same issue as most on here. What are the chances of a Ford contribution if serviced outside of the network?

Which issue? Coolant pipe failure?

I think so, pretty short on info currently.

Fair enough, I'd be surprised if it was the coolant pipe on a car that age, though - it would have failed very early on or been replaced by now. The failure pipe was fitted to early Focus cars, & changed on the other models when it started failing on the Focus. I suspect it's the belt that's failed, either catastrophically or debris from it has blocked the oil pump, leading to engine seizure, that seems to be what's happening lately.. That's why the oil is significant, the wrong oil degrades the belt prematurely. But that's supposition anyway, could be any number of other issues.

Thanks, that's really helpful!

[MC Bodge]

MarkwG said:

Fair enough, I'd be surprised if it was the coolant pipe on a car that age, though - it would have failed very early on or been replaced by now. The failure pipe was fitted to early Focus cars, & changed on the other models when it started failing on the Focus. I suspect it's the belt that's failed, either catastrophically or debris from it has blocked the oil pump, leading to engine seizure, that seems to be what's happening lately.. That's why the oil is significant, the wrong oil degrades the belt prematurely. But that's supposition anyway, could be any number of other issues.

Cheers.

Meanwhile, our 2006 1.4 Zetec is still going strong.

[jamei303]

Mine leaked coolant out of the front cover. Wherever they leak from, once the coolant is out they just die before you can blink.

[MC Bodge]

jamei303 said:

Mine leaked coolant out of the front cover. Wherever they leak from, once the coolant is out they just die before you can blink.

the front cover of what?

[jamei303]

MC Bodge said:

the front cover of what?

The engine.