wet belts - honda civic and ford focus
Discussion
Brother is looking at buying Civic 1.0 VTEC Turbo 126 SR 5dr or Focus 1.0 EcoBoost ST-Line X 5dr.
I understand both these models have the wet cam belt which can be 'problematic' / cause complete engine failure
Safe to get one with full main dealer service history (correct oils used / cam belt changed at correct intervals) or avoid completely ?
Thoughts ?
I understand both these models have the wet cam belt which can be 'problematic' / cause complete engine failure
Safe to get one with full main dealer service history (correct oils used / cam belt changed at correct intervals) or avoid completely ?
Thoughts ?
There are literally thousands of them on the roads in the UK, we had a 1.0 Ecoboost Focus for 8 years and had zero trouble with it, Dad has one amd has had zero trouble with it.
A lot of the youtube stuff shows most people don't know oil needs changing.............
A lot of the youtube stuff shows most people don't know oil needs changing.............
Edited by 2fast748 on Tuesday 24th September 20:02
semisane said:
Wow a damming assessment- anyone got anything positive to say or alternate cars to consider ?
It may sound over the top but they're a type of engine I'd personally tell people to avoid, or if they really want that drivetrain they budget to get the belt changed (unless there's proof of it being done recently) not a cheap job but it'll add a lot of peace of mind & avoid the the chance of failure.semisane said:
Wow a damming assessment- anyone got anything positive to say or alternate cars to consider ?
You're unlikely to find anyone in or around the motor trade to have a good word to say about them, might get the odd "Mine was fine" but that's a sample of 1 Vs someone in the trade that will come across tens if not hundreds of units of them, with a large percentage of them being knackered.As someone of the later, absolutely positively avoid. Last 1.0T civic I worked on needed a turbo AND belt due to the welt belt breaking up and blocking the oil pick up - 25k and 4 years old. Colleague at another site had the same issue on another.
As for eco booms? Bahahahaha. Utterly awful, I worked at a busy site but would come across 5-10 units each and every week with everything from knocking bottom ends, no compression, seized, head gasket failures and everything in between.
Peugeot with a wet belt were marginally less bad, but still nothing id advise anyone to buy.
Another vote here for the Mazda 2 or 3, really sweet little engine... Petrol of course unless you want to hear more horror stories (the 2.2d is another pile of junk)
TheWokeBlob said:
You're unlikely to find anyone in or around the motor trade to have a good word to say about them, might get the odd "Mine was fine" but that's a sample of 1 Vs someone in the trade that will come across tens if not hundreds of units of them, with a large percentage of them being knackered.
As someone of the later, absolutely positively avoid. Last 1.0T civic I worked on needed a turbo AND belt due to the welt belt breaking up and blocking the oil pick up - 25k and 4 years old. Colleague at another site had the same issue on another.
As for eco booms? Bahahahaha. Utterly awful, I worked at a busy site but would come across 5-10 units each and every week with everything from knocking bottom ends, no compression, seized, head gasket failures and everything in between.
Peugeot with a wet belt were marginally less bad, but still nothing id advise anyone to buy.
Another vote here for the Mazda 2 or 3, really sweet little engine... Petrol of course unless you want to hear more horror stories (the 2.2d is another pile of junk)
Our Mazda 6 2.2d is over 130k now and no issues. As someone of the later, absolutely positively avoid. Last 1.0T civic I worked on needed a turbo AND belt due to the welt belt breaking up and blocking the oil pick up - 25k and 4 years old. Colleague at another site had the same issue on another.
As for eco booms? Bahahahaha. Utterly awful, I worked at a busy site but would come across 5-10 units each and every week with everything from knocking bottom ends, no compression, seized, head gasket failures and everything in between.
Peugeot with a wet belt were marginally less bad, but still nothing id advise anyone to buy.
Another vote here for the Mazda 2 or 3, really sweet little engine... Petrol of course unless you want to hear more horror stories (the 2.2d is another pile of junk)
Regular oil changes and a rather expensive cam chain replacement at 120k. Other than that, no issues
Another perspective is that a Ford wet belt change is around £1k at an independent garage. It’s only £100 / year or every 10k (I was recommended 10 years or 100k miles interval]. Given the 1.0 ecoboost is low / free tax, it’s not an unreasonable cost.
I know a fair few people with the 1.0 ecoboost and none have had an issue - I appreciate this is a small sample. The key seems to be changing the oil on time with the correct grade.
For most cars, the wet belt change is a once in a lifetime event given the 10 year / 100k interval.
I know a fair few people with the 1.0 ecoboost and none have had an issue - I appreciate this is a small sample. The key seems to be changing the oil on time with the correct grade.
For most cars, the wet belt change is a once in a lifetime event given the 10 year / 100k interval.
Edited by Simon_GH on Tuesday 24th September 21:49
Djtemeka said:
Our Mazda 6 2.2d is over 130k now and no issues.
Regular oil changes and a rather expensive cam chain replacement at 120k. Other than that, no issues
Good to hear. Regular oil changes and a rather expensive cam chain replacement at 120k. Other than that, no issues
I've professionally had nothing but problems with them either carboning up the intake and diluting the oil and causing bottom end issues (on top of the aforementioned timing chain issues)... Glad yours hasn't been too much of a bother but when you start seeing the same issues repeating over and over on a particular car/engine its very hard to recommend them.
The newer eco boost runs a chain and wet belt for the oil pump, why they cannot create a retro fit kit like they did with the old 1.8 tdci oil pump I’ll never know.
With the eco boost of the ones we have done those with a good service history have shown very little degrading of the belt. The ones with patchy history are the ones very close to failure.
With the eco boost of the ones we have done those with a good service history have shown very little degrading of the belt. The ones with patchy history are the ones very close to failure.
Simon_GH said:
Another perspective is that a Ford wet belt change is around £1k at an independent garage. It’s only £100 / year or every 10k (I was recommended 10 years or 100k miles interval]. Given the 1.0 ecoboost is low / free tax, it’s not an unreasonable cost.
I know a fair few people with the 1.0 ecoboost and none have had an issue - I appreciate this is a small sample. The key seems to be changing the oil on time with the correct grade.
For most cars, the wet belt change is a once in a lifetime event given the 10 year / 100k interval.
But then £1K is probably about 50% of the value of a 100K mile 10 year old Ford Ecobang, so by then it doesn't seem to make financial sense. I know a fair few people with the 1.0 ecoboost and none have had an issue - I appreciate this is a small sample. The key seems to be changing the oil on time with the correct grade.
For most cars, the wet belt change is a once in a lifetime event given the 10 year / 100k interval.
Edited by Simon_GH on Tuesday 24th September 21:49
I'll just stick to my 2005 BMW 330i with a cam-chain.
Ford 1.0 ecoboost Wet belt change which is a right pain should be every 6/7 years, if you wait 10 years it’s too risky.
Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat/Vauxhall 1.2 puretech wet belt which is a lot easier to diagnose and replace compared to the Ford should be done every 5 years.
ecoboost belt change done properly likely to cost £1.2k.
Puretech belt change dome properly likely to cost £450-£550.
Puretech suffers with additional issues beyond the belt, piston and cylinder wear a big issue, if it starts to drink oil, sell it. Cases of people putting in a litre of oil every 500 miles when it gets bad.
Ecoboost now has main drive cam drive as a chain but retains a wet belt for oil pump , which is daft and hideously difficult out to access. Ford say 10 year change on oil pump drive belt, risky.
Puretech is now a chain.
If buying a 2023 or newer model, check it has the EB gen3 1.2 puretech which is a chain.
Some 23 and 73 plates are the belt system from using up old supply, some are chain.
By 2024 there should not have been any slow selling stock with the belt version still unregistered but always best to check.
Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat/Vauxhall 1.2 puretech wet belt which is a lot easier to diagnose and replace compared to the Ford should be done every 5 years.
ecoboost belt change done properly likely to cost £1.2k.
Puretech belt change dome properly likely to cost £450-£550.
Puretech suffers with additional issues beyond the belt, piston and cylinder wear a big issue, if it starts to drink oil, sell it. Cases of people putting in a litre of oil every 500 miles when it gets bad.
Ecoboost now has main drive cam drive as a chain but retains a wet belt for oil pump , which is daft and hideously difficult out to access. Ford say 10 year change on oil pump drive belt, risky.
Puretech is now a chain.
If buying a 2023 or newer model, check it has the EB gen3 1.2 puretech which is a chain.
Some 23 and 73 plates are the belt system from using up old supply, some are chain.
By 2024 there should not have been any slow selling stock with the belt version still unregistered but always best to check.
Edited by ACCYSTAN on Wednesday 25th September 06:41
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