Ford Ecoboost Engine Failure (TWICE)

[Megaflow]

53catalina said:

UPDATE

Just been to view the car and looked at the offending PLASTIC PIPE that burst. It was incredibly brittle. See below.




I then went into the showroom, open the bonnet of a new EcoBoost car and found the plastic pipe has been replaced by a RUBBER HOSE See Below.




Whilst talking to the technicians it seems this is a common problem. Last week they changed a similar engine, and currently have a car needing a new cylinder head, and another fully stripped down for investigation.

I am still waiting for the Ford Customer Care line to call me back.

I will keep you updated.

That's not the same hose. In the top picture the cracked hose connects to the right hand port on the header tank. In the second picture the rubber hose turns and points down just before the header tank, where as the pipe on the right hand port of the header tank looks the same as picture one but comes directly forwards.

ETA: The Fiesta pictured has a different header tank completely and only has 1 port at the top

Edited by Megaflow on Wednesday 24th September 12:52

[Mr2Mike]

heners54 said:

Think of the oil capacity for a tdi lump, the low rpm and boost the turbo runs and compared to that of the ecoboost,

A TDi will run much higher boost than a petrol engine. Diesels don't have detonation to worry about.

53catalina said:

UPDATE

Just been to view the car and looked at the offending PLASTIC PIPE that burst. It was incredibly brittle. See below.




I then went into the showroom, open the bonnet of a new EcoBoost car and found the plastic pipe has been replaced by a RUBBER HOSE See Below.

To be fair that's not the same pipe you are looking at. The original pipe runs into the header tank, and if you look at the bottom picture there is still a plastic pipe going into the same connection on the header tank, it's just routed differently.

[MC Bodge]

53catalina said:

Whilst talking to the technicians it seems this is a common problem. Last week they changed a similar engine, and currently have a car needing a new cylinder head, and another fully stripped down for investigation.

I am still waiting for the Ford Customer Care line to call me back.

I will keep you updated.

I wonder Ford's advice to owners of functioning ecoboosts would be?

Have pipes changed?
Upgrade head gasket?
Ignore it and pay out £1,000s if it pops just outside of warranty?

....A set of sillicone hoses and a temp gauge and alarm sounder to give early warning of head gasket failure might be a good investment.

Edited by MC Bodge on Wednesday 24th September 13:56

[xxChrisxx]

226bhp said:

You said it was 'ill suited to the task', which it isn't, you are also insinuating that the usage (which is normal) has killed it which it isn't.
Find the specs of the car you propose and compare them to this one, the Fester has an average MPG of 65.7.

It's also well known that it gets nowhere near drive cycle figures. You can expect high 40's/low 50s.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gAssing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/ford/focus-201...

I'd have the 1.6 diesel for motorway work. The drivecyle figures for this are total crap too, but it will do 60mpg on a decent cruise.
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-fi...
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-fi...

EDIT: This is not taking into account exact levels of BIK vs fuel cost. Just the one I'd go for the amount of driving. I suspect it'd be close financially.

Edited by xxChrisxx on Wednesday 24th September 14:17

[IanCress]

But it doesn't sound like a tractor, which for some people (myself included) is a big positive.

[xxChrisxx]

IanCress said:

But it doesn't sound like a tractor, which for some people (myself included) is a big positive.

NVH wise, it's not that bad on the motorway. It's less fun than 1.0L, but for the task of trundling down the motorway at 70-80mph for 35k miles. It's the one I'd go for.

If we are talking 10k-15k a year, or a bit of town driving, then it's a no brainer to go for the petrol out of the two.

[anonymous-user]

53catalina said:

Our legal team are about to get busy.

You have your own legal team?

[53catalina]

St John Smythe said:

You have your own legal team?

Yes. Its needed for our business, but this is obviously not their specialist subject.
They are very useful though when problems like this arise.

[53catalina]

Mr2Mike said:

To be fair that's not the same pipe you are looking at. The original pipe runs into the header tank, and if you look at the bottom picture there is still a plastic pipe going into the same connection on the header tank, it's just routed differently.

It is the same pipe. It enters the header tank just under the two thinner pipes, which also take a different route. The connection onto the engine is also slightly different, but the location is the same.

If the original version was good, then why would it have been re-engineered???

[anonymous-user]

53catalina said:

St John Smythe said:

You have your own legal team?

Yes. Its needed for our business, but this is obviously not their specialist subject.
They are very useful though when problems like this arise.

Must be a pretty large business. Have Ford said they aren't replacing the engine?

[53catalina]

St John Smythe said:

Must be a pretty large business. Have Ford said they aren't replacing the engine?

Ford Customer Care have yet to respond the case which was opened with them yesterday.
I will be calling them in the morning if nothing is heard from them today.

[Devil2575]

53catalina said:

St John Smythe said:

Must be a pretty large business. Have Ford said they aren't replacing the engine?

Ford Customer Care have yet to respond the case which was opened with them yesterday.
I will be calling them in the morning if nothing is heard from them today.

I predict you will get a favorable result in the end.

[morgrp]

Looks like a clear design and manufacturing faulty to me, So you have every right to claim against Ford for the cost of a new engine - Come to expect this of Ford these days - Pipe looks too short, the new one is clearly reshaped and longer, typically I doubt Ford will recall the engines for modification but then they been doing this since the days of the Ford Pinto

[clowesy]

My parents car had the exact same hose fail on their 1.0 ecoboost Focus. Luckily my old man noticed a small puddle on the floor, found the source to be said rogue coolant hose and took the car straight to the dealership who ordered a replacement. I will be interested to have a look when I get chance to see whether or not they have replaced it with this updated part. I certainly hope you get a good outcome, OP.

[226bhp]

xxChrisxx said:

EDIT: This is not taking into account exact levels of BIK vs fuel cost. Just the one I'd go for the amount of driving. I suspect it'd be close financially.

Edited by xxChrisxx on Wednesday 24th September 14:17

Correct! There is 19p per gal difference between petrol and diesel at the moment btw. Your car cost £1400 more and is 1.7 secs slower to 60. Then factor in the cost of going into London if you happen to live or work there....
The reasons for buying a diesel have dwindled to nothing.

[Herman Toothrot]

MC Bodge said:

....A set of sillicone hoses and a temp gauge and alarm sounder to give early warning of head gasket failure might be a good investment.

Edited by MC Bodge on Wednesday 24th September 13:56

Sounds like old recommendations for the crap (in reliability terms) K Series.

[teabagger]

Looks like the plastic pipe breaks due to fatigue as one end of pipe is connected to the engine (which moves on its mounts) and other end connected to the fixed header tank.

Shocking that they are refusing this repair under warranty. Especially as the part has been reengineered!

[AndySpecD]

Surely this should be a recall if they have felt the need to re-engineer the part.

But then, this is Ford we're talking about...

Online resource regarding Ford Pinto recall said:

Although the cars had been on the market for years, the actual recall did not take place until 1978, when Ford finally acknowledged that the Pinto’s gas tanks would rupture and burst into flames when a rear-end collision occurred. While the company knew of the problem, they decided it was too expensive to redesign the fuel tank than pay settlements for injuries and deaths caused by fires. Eventually, Ford ended up recalling more than 1 million Pintos and the identical Mercury Bobcat to adjust the gas tanks. The recall cost the company millions in settlements.

[M4cruiser]

panholio said:

But this engine is only 31,000 miles old.

Unfortunately that's the way warranties usually work, i.e. a replacement part doesn't reset the clock back to 0 for that part, you just get the unexpired amount even on the new bits. So just over half way is the worst point to have a failure ...

[SV8Predator]

53catalina said:

UPDATE

Just been to view the car and looked at the offending PLASTIC PIPE that burst. It was incredibly brittle. See below.




I then went into the showroom, open the bonnet of a new EcoBoost car and found the plastic pipe has been replaced by a RUBBER HOSE See Below.




Whilst talking to the technicians it seems this is a common problem. Last week they changed a similar engine, and currently have a car needing a new cylinder head, and another fully stripped down for investigation.

I am still waiting for the Ford Customer Care line to call me back.

I will keep you updated.

bks!