Ecoboost v TSI v PURETECH v TCE

[magno]

Ignore they stupidly long oil change intervals and don´t use stop/start and they seem to be lasting ok. Loads of Taxi´s in Spain using this engine and some on 300,000kms with no issues.

[DashDriver]

Ford

The Ecobeast from what I have seen are not long lasting engines, certainly early gens of them be it 1.6 or 1.0.

Still see 3-5 year fiesta st's with issues but the owners tend to have fiddle with them and probably thrash them from cold and switch them off straight after a good hammering. Coolant failures seem common. The older models had a plastic tank or something that would fail dump coolant and the engines overheat fast.


TSI

Is just turbo stratified injection, just VAG for Direct Injection forced induction. I have driven the 1.5 TSI EVO and found it great and we had some at work in Octavia and Tiguan (150bhp) the 130 was slow. I like the 4 cylinder models I have a 2.0 TSI in my fleet now and doesn't use much if any oil.

PureTech 1.2 130bhp

Did have a 3008 on hire with that engine very pingy and tin like engine.

[Whataguy]

I own a 1.5TSi in a golf and it's a great engine, low down torque and gets within 10% of the mpg I get in a full hybrid or diesel on the motorway.

I did consider a 308 with the 1.2 puretech. That's a good engine to drive, though not as good as the TSi. I've had the engine in various Vauxhall hire cars. The only thing that put me off was the maintenance issues with the wet belt disintegrating.

I don't have any experience with the ecoboost or tce, but Dacia seems to be fairly reliable and I like their new cars.

So if I had £10k to spend it would likely be the TSi followed by the puretech, then the TCE.

Nothing against Ford, it's just that I haven't driven many of them.

Edited by Whataguy on Friday 31st March 10:59

[Didge3]

I had a Renault Twingo GT with a 1.2 (1149cc so barely) TCE, I think it was the first TCE engine. Ran it up to 120k miles, zero engine faults in that time, sold it because the clutch started to slip and I was bored of it by then

[DashDriver]

Didge3 said:

I had a Renault Twingo GT with a 1.2 (1149cc so barely) TCE, I think it was the first TCE engine. Ran it up to 120k miles, zero engine faults in that time, sold it because the clutch started to slip and I was bored of it by then

120k, what was maintenance like? Good servicing I guess, what about cambelt water pumps? That's what killed my friends Renault they needed doing quite often and Renault parts aren't cheap and his water pump starting leaking after 14 months and needed the whole job doing again for about £400.


The tried and tested TCE engines seem ok, in the DACIA (uses older gen Renault engines) they seem to have good reliability.


Also note Mercedes now fit TCE engines in A Class!!!!!

[aka_kerrly]

georgeyboy12345 said:

Yeah, it depends.

Ecoboost
1.0 and 1.5 - wet cambelt design puts me off
The 1.6's pre 2017 had that overheating issue, but should have been recalled
The 2.0 is based on the Mazda L engine and is pretty solid
The 2.3s had problems with leaky head gaskets and warped blocks, again I think these were recalled and fixed after 2018
Don't know about larger engine sizes.


TSI engines
General rule, avoid anything pre 2013.
The 1.8 and 2.0 litres (EA888) gen 1 and 2 pre 2013 had issues with timing chain guides and were direct injection. After this for the gen 3 they switched to multipoint fuel injection and made the timing chain guides from something better than plastic.
The 1.0, 1.2 and 1.4 litres pre 2013 (EA111) also had timing chain issues and a load of other problems. Post 2013 the EA211 did away with the troublesome chain and switched to belts and addressed the other issues too.
The later 1.5 EVO engine had some jerkiness issues which should have been addressed, but also is a bit off putting.
I'm not too familiar with the larger engines like the 3.0 and 4.2, etc, but I think the same avoid pre-2013 rule holds true.


PureTech
The 1.2s have the wet cambelt design, so that puts me off.
The 1.6s are a newer version of the Prince engine that has had weaknesses with timing chain and fuel pump sorted post 2018 I think (basically the Euro 6 ones)


TCe
As far as I'm aware, most of these are pretty reliable with only some niggly problems.

Bloody hell dude you really are full of doom and gloom!!!!

A very quick check of Autotrader will show literally 1000s of 2007-2013 VW TSI, Ford Ecoboost, Pugs/Citreons/Vauxhalls, Alfas, FIats with 70-150K on them.

Yes it is always wise to look at the reliability records of cars of interest but to have such a negative attitude towards pretty much every mainstream manufacture is just bonkers. What in your experience CAN you buy that is guaranteed to be 100% reliable needing nothing more than service items?

Edited by aka_kerrly on Friday 31st March 13:05

[Didge3]

DashDriver said:

120k, what was maintenance like? Good servicing I guess, what about cambelt water pumps? That's what killed my friends Renault they needed doing quite often and Renault parts aren't cheap and his water pump starting leaking after 14 months and needed the whole job doing again for about £400.

I was the second owner and it was only 4 years old and at 80k when I purchased it. Renault had serviced it exclusively, just annual oil & filters really. The timing belt was done at ~75k by Renault although I don't remember the cost to the previous owner.
The 40k I put on it I just carried on with oil and filter changes, did the coolant at about 100k as it started to run hot in stop/start traffic. If it had been more enjoyable to drive and worth anything at all I might've got the clutch done but I'd gotten bored of it and worth about £1000 max with a clutch costing about £350 or so iirc

Edited by Didge3 on Friday 31st March 12:33

[DashDriver]

aka_kerrly said:

Bloody hell dude you really are full of doom and gloom!!!!

A very quick check of Autotrader will show literally 100s of 2007-2013 VW TSI, Ford Ecoboost, Pugs/Citreons/Vauxhalls, Alfas, FIats with 70-150K on them.

Yes it is always wise to look at the reliability records of cars of interest but to have such a negative attitude towards pretty much every mainstream manufacture is just bonkers. What in your experience CAN you buy that is guaranteed to be 100% reliable needing nothing more than service items?

they are all basically the same or similar Direct Injection Turbos 4/3 cylinder.

Basically what petrol are you going to be otherwise!

[RVB]

blueST said:

RVB said:

I think Renault still use port injection in their 1.0TCe engine without PPF/GPF compared to the direct injection in the TSI and Ecoboost engines with PPF/GPF so I would think the TCe has a better chance of giving trouble-free motoring in the longer term.

My TCe's got a GPF, but I've no idea what type of fuel injection.

Is yours the 0.9 or 1.0 TCe ?
Some of the larger TCe engines have direct injection and consequently probably need a GPF.

[lemonslap]

magno said:

1.0 TCE engine is chain drive also. None of that wet belt nonsense.

So is the 1.0 Ecoboost now, although it still oddly uses a wet belt for the oil pump drive. I have a fiesta 155 MEHV and it's a fantastic lump, economical on the motorway (52mpg), makes a decent noise and turn of pace when I need it.

Would I buy the previous wet belt version? Not sure I would tbh.

[georgeyboy12345]

aka_kerrly said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

Yeah, it depends.

Ecoboost
1.0 and 1.5 - wet cambelt design puts me off
The 1.6's pre 2017 had that overheating issue, but should have been recalled
The 2.0 is based on the Mazda L engine and is pretty solid
The 2.3s had problems with leaky head gaskets and warped blocks, again I think these were recalled and fixed after 2018
Don't know about larger engine sizes.


TSI engines
General rule, avoid anything pre 2013.
The 1.8 and 2.0 litres (EA888) gen 1 and 2 pre 2013 had issues with timing chain guides and were direct injection. After this for the gen 3 they switched to multipoint fuel injection and made the timing chain guides from something better than plastic.
The 1.0, 1.2 and 1.4 litres pre 2013 (EA111) also had timing chain issues and a load of other problems. Post 2013 the EA211 did away with the troublesome chain and switched to belts and addressed the other issues too.
The later 1.5 EVO engine had some jerkiness issues which should have been addressed, but also is a bit off putting.
I'm not too familiar with the larger engines like the 3.0 and 4.2, etc, but I think the same avoid pre-2013 rule holds true.


PureTech
The 1.2s have the wet cambelt design, so that puts me off.
The 1.6s are a newer version of the Prince engine that has had weaknesses with timing chain and fuel pump sorted post 2018 I think (basically the Euro 6 ones)


TCe
As far as I'm aware, most of these are pretty reliable with only some niggly problems.

Bloody hell dude you really are full of doom and gloom!!!!

A very quick check of Autotrader will show literally 1000s of 2007-2013 VW TSI, Ford Ecoboost, Pugs/Citreons/Vauxhalls, Alfas, FIats with 70-150K on them.

Yes it is always wise to look at the reliability records of cars of interest but to have such a negative attitude towards pretty much every mainstream manufacture is just bonkers. What in your experience CAN you buy that is guaranteed to be 100% reliable needing nothing more than service items?

Edited by aka_kerrly on Friday 31st March 13:05

You’ve probably not read my post properly. I have listed in my post which engines are the good choices. I’m willing to bet you probably own a car with one of the bad engines I listed and don’t like what you are reading.

[MC Bodge]

lemonslap said:

So is the 1.0 Ecoboost now, although it still oddly uses a wet belt for the oil pump drive. I have a fiesta 155 MEHV and it's a fantastic lump, economical on the motorway (52mpg), makes a decent noise and turn of pace when I need it.

Would I buy the previous wet belt version? Not sure I would tbh.

I wonder how many people are payingthe £££s to have the 1.0 Ecoboost belt changed?

I saw a YouTube video of a man doing it. Quite involved!

[blueST]

RVB said:

blueST said:

RVB said:

I think Renault still use port injection in their 1.0TCe engine without PPF/GPF compared to the direct injection in the TSI and Ecoboost engines with PPF/GPF so I would think the TCe has a better chance of giving trouble-free motoring in the longer term.

My TCe's got a GPF, but I've no idea what type of fuel injection.

Is yours the 0.9 or 1.0 TCe ?
Some of the larger TCe engines have direct injection and consequently probably need a GPF.

It’s a 1.0. It a bi-fuel so has 2 sets of injectors.

[stevemcs]

Out of those i would say the TCE is the most reliable and the Puretech the least. If the TSi is anything like the bigger 2.0 then it will carbon up in no time. The Ecoboost is a nice engine, it just needs servicing on time with the right oil, yes the belt job is stupidly expensive but I think the oil pump getting blocked will kill them before the belt snaps.

Ford seem to replace the engines under warranty regardless of age and the engine is usually cheap to buy, last time I looked a genuine engine was cheaper than a rebuilt aftermarket

The Puretech we have had a couple we have passed on, again PSA are covering some under warranty.

[DashDriver]

stevemcs said:

Out of those i would say the TCE is the most reliable and the Puretech the least. If the TSi is anything like the bigger 2.0 then it will carbon up in no time. The Ecoboost is a nice engine, it just needs servicing on time with the right oil, yes the belt job is stupidly expensive but I think the oil pump getting blocked will kill them before the belt snaps.

Ford seem to replace the engines under warranty regardless of age and the engine is usually cheap to buy, last time I looked a genuine engine was cheaper than a rebuilt aftermarket

The Puretech we have had a couple we have passed on, again PSA are covering some under warranty.

1.3 Renault TCE MB257 Merc lumps suffer with carbon build up and high oil consumption, its much of a muchness.

I have a 2.0 TSI Gen 3B know many on over 100k without major issues, good fuel and regular maintenance. Water pump leaks are the most common issue. I also have 1.5 TSI evo with 70k no issues.

Mines 2.0 E888 is on 37k and not suffer so far but have owned from 11k and its run on super unleaded with VW SPEC oil changes at 7.5k.

GDIs

The all inherently work the same way, PCV back flows oil vapor into the combustion camber but with the direct injection not in front of the valves nothing really washes them off. If your that bothered get a catch can and empty it, solves carbon build up from what I have seen.

[stevemcs]

We did the waterpump on a TT today, the valves were a mess and it hadn't done may miles, 30k or so

[Fade_Away]

clockworks said:

I've got that engine (in slightly detuned form) in my current Picanto GT S. I had another one a couple of years ago. Punchy little thing, boost comes in at lower revs than the 1.2 Puretech, so less gear changing needed. The Kia will happily pull from 1500rpm, the Citroen needs to be kept above 2000rpm if there's any hint of a hill.
Not had any problems. I've not seen any reports of common problems on the Kia forums, unlike the 1.6 mild hybrid used in the Sportage - aux belt tensioner failing, despite multiple revisions.

I had a 1.0 Stonic as a courtesy car a couple of years ago, went surprisingly well.

Thank you, it's helpful. I believe mostly issue I see on internet re with Kona (US) models. May be manufactured in different facility.

[georgeyboy12345]

I think those Kappa engines used in the 1.0 - 1.6 T-GDi Kias and Hyundais can suffer radiator damage and subsequent overheating in some models. Not too much of a big deal as it's a relatively easy fix, as long as the engine doesn't overheat too much.

[MK1RS Bruce]

I have a 2015 Fiesta ST with the 1.6 litre Ecoboost engine - In 108k miles all it has required is a throttle control valve, think this was a freak failure as occurred at around 50k miles.

I change the oil and filter every 10k and spark plugs every 30k do between 12-15k per year.

My wife has a 2016 0.9TCE clio, its been flawless in almost 90k miles. Again I change the oil and filter every 10k miles

Can't comment on any other engines but these two have both been excellent, I think keeping the oil clean is key to keeping any engine healthy and its not a major expense to maintain that.

[A500leroy]

Well. for those of you who have stalked my posts, you will know ive pulled the trigger on a tce Clio ( nice car just wish id brought a better example) Anyway wondered if anyone knew why these small turbo petrol engines are limited to rev to the same amount as a turbo diesel (6k) as normal petrols go much higher?