Ford Ecoboost Engine Failure (TWICE)
Discussion
Has anyone experienced a failed engine? 1.0Ecoboost in a Focus Titanium
After 11 months and 31,000miles the engine in our car stopped and was recovered to a local ford dealer. After some discussions Ford replaced the engine, asking the dealership not to touch the engine, just replace it. With this being a newly launched engine and our car being high mileage we assumed Ford were taking the cautious route to make sure it was not an inherent problem with the engine. There cant be many cars with this high mileage.
Obviously we were pleased to have a new engine, all was fine.
However, after another 11 months and 31,000miles (Exactly the same time period) the engine has failed again. Whilst there was an obvious loss of water when the car had stopped, this all happened really quickly. As soon as the light came on, the car was pulled over and shut down.
Have we just been really unlucky? Or has anyone else suffered problems?
After 11 months and 31,000miles the engine in our car stopped and was recovered to a local ford dealer. After some discussions Ford replaced the engine, asking the dealership not to touch the engine, just replace it. With this being a newly launched engine and our car being high mileage we assumed Ford were taking the cautious route to make sure it was not an inherent problem with the engine. There cant be many cars with this high mileage.
Obviously we were pleased to have a new engine, all was fine.
However, after another 11 months and 31,000miles (Exactly the same time period) the engine has failed again. Whilst there was an obvious loss of water when the car had stopped, this all happened really quickly. As soon as the light came on, the car was pulled over and shut down.
Have we just been really unlucky? Or has anyone else suffered problems?
Car has been regularly serviced by Ford at the required intervals.
We have been told today that the failure was caused by a Coolant Hose catastrophically failing, dumping all the coolant very quickly.
The car was immediately stopped, but the engine is now u/s.
Repair bill quoted as £4,500. Not happy :-(
As it was hose, and out of warranty, we are not yet being offered any assistance towards costs.
With a fleet of cars, normally running to 80,000 miles, i have not experienced a hose failure in over 10 years. Could it be a faulty hose, or was the hose damaged when Ford replaced the engine last year??
I will keep you updated................
We have been told today that the failure was caused by a Coolant Hose catastrophically failing, dumping all the coolant very quickly.
The car was immediately stopped, but the engine is now u/s.
Repair bill quoted as £4,500. Not happy :-(
As it was hose, and out of warranty, we are not yet being offered any assistance towards costs.
With a fleet of cars, normally running to 80,000 miles, i have not experienced a hose failure in over 10 years. Could it be a faulty hose, or was the hose damaged when Ford replaced the engine last year??
I will keep you updated................
Jimboka said:
Surely the 2nd engine has a years warranty. If they blame the hose I'd pursue legally..
You would like to think so!Because the first engine was replaced at no cost, you just get the balance of the original warranty. If you make a contribution towards the repair, then you would get a 12months parts and labour warranty as expected. They do not warranty, a warranty part. This was as explained to me by the service chap. (Service desk chap has been fine, just following his policies)
Yes, we will be taking legal advice. It was mentioned as the part that failed was the hose, i.e. not part of the engine, it is definately out of warranty. I have asked why the hose wasnt replaced, but was told that it must have looked ok when the engine was changed!
Our legal team are about to get busy.
xxChrisxx said:
My spider sense is tingling! Something doesn't feel quite right about this.
How did the coolant hose fail? Was the coolant hose the cause of the 1st engine too?
Out of interest, and I understand this isn't helpful in any way, why did you buy a small 1L petrol for what is 35k miles a year, which must be dominated by motorway miles. It just seems ill suited to the task.
The car was purchased as the Co2 was low and saved the driver on his BIK car tax. How did the coolant hose fail? Was the coolant hose the cause of the 1st engine too?
Out of interest, and I understand this isn't helpful in any way, why did you buy a small 1L petrol for what is 35k miles a year, which must be dominated by motorway miles. It just seems ill suited to the task.
we have previously run a 1.0 ltr Polo which had no problems, and that used to cover 50,000 miles a year. Yes in hindsight a larger engine may be better suited, but even then you wouldn't expect a new car to fail twice like this.
The car is used on motorways, so relatively stress free. Its not driven hard. I know the drivers who do drive with a lead foot, and this chap isn't one of those.
hora said:
Two things. Is the car for commercial use i.e. rental, courier or..... learner driver school?
If you've had the car in before and its had some sort of commercial use evident then would Ford look at this?
Also- I was under the impression that every part fitted to your car post-car purchase had its own 12month warranty. Otherwise if the car was say 23months old when the engine was replaced it'd only come with 1month? For such a major item I bet theres something caselaw at least on the net.
Its a company car. 1 driver since new, and a steady one at that.If you've had the car in before and its had some sort of commercial use evident then would Ford look at this?
Also- I was under the impression that every part fitted to your car post-car purchase had its own 12month warranty. Otherwise if the car was say 23months old when the engine was replaced it'd only come with 1month? For such a major item I bet theres something caselaw at least on the net.
We have purchased lots of cars in the past through the dealer, so we are known to them.
As mentioned above, the new parts fitted under warranty DO NOT have 12 months warranty.
If you pay or contribute towards the cost, then they do get 12 months!
We argued this at the first replacement, and will do so even more forcefully now!
djfaulkner said:
Just to clarify - The hose had failed which caused the first engine to go, but they didn't change it when replacing the engine?
Or have I got it wrong?
I've got an Ford Ecoboost currently around the 19,000 mile mark.
The hose is the reason the second engine failed.Or have I got it wrong?
I've got an Ford Ecoboost currently around the 19,000 mile mark.
The first engine was similar, in that the engine made a horrible noise, engine management light came on, immediately followed by temp light, and then engine was stopped.
First engine went whilst being driven on the motorway, 2nd engine was traveling at 40mph whilst chap drove home. No motorways involved in the journey.
blade7 said:
Company car, small engine with big output, 3 times average mileage, one blow up already, perhaps OP should have extended the warranty ?
2000 miles out of warranty, serviced 3000 miles ago. Assumed we were just unlucky with the first engine, maybe its a deeper problem.......xxChrisxx said:
What I find curious is, two engines going pop after the same mileage and same time period, driven by the same user. It's either massively unlucky and a coincidence, or it's the type of usage that's contributing to a failure.
This is our concern. General driving, some motorway,some A road. you cant really cane these engines, they dont have any oomph to start with.xxChrisxx said:
edit: could be the OPs driver pretending he's part of the Ford World Rally Team at the weekends.
The only part of the WRC team he would be in is the catering section :-)Edited by xxChrisxx on Tuesday 23 September 15:44
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.
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.
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???
SV8Predator said:
Yes, there are a few changes to the pipes and hoses, but the one you show above is an even smaller bore than the original. That would only cause even more problems.
The Technician implied that the hose I pointed to was the new replacement one, so that will be the basis of my complaint and appeal to Ford.
UPDATE
Ford Motor Co are now talking to me, not their customer care line.
They have asked for all the service invoices for the car, obviously to show it has been maintained according to schedule.
Interestingly, the main dealer has indicated they used 5w-30 oil on the invoices. This is the wrong oil.
More to follow.
Ford Motor Co are now talking to me, not their customer care line.
They have asked for all the service invoices for the car, obviously to show it has been maintained according to schedule.
Interestingly, the main dealer has indicated they used 5w-30 oil on the invoices. This is the wrong oil.
More to follow.
KTF said:
Ok. Irrelevant given that the host burst but I guess Ford just stick to a script to tick all the boxes. Could use it as leverage I guess?
When the first engine failed the car had been serviced by an independent dealer, who had used and 5W20 oil and this was on the invoice.It was made very clear to us that if the wrong oil had been shown on the invoice the warranty would have been void, regardless of the failure cause. i.e. not maintained as per schedule.
After the new engine was fitted we made sure the car only went to Ford for servicing. We have two service invoices, which we now note both show the wrong oil used.
If they insist on other service agent using / recording the correct oil, then they must do the same and warrant the consequences.
More to follow.
BACK ON TRACK - UPDATE
Ford are replacing the engine for free.
They did make mention that whilst the service invoice showed 5W30 it 'probably' had the correct 5W20 oil added, and it 'may' have been a typo on the service desk.
Either way, NEW ENGINE IS BEING INSTALLED. FREE
When we get the car back i will also check to see if a new header tank and re routed pipework has been fitted.
Ford are replacing the engine for free.
They did make mention that whilst the service invoice showed 5W30 it 'probably' had the correct 5W20 oil added, and it 'may' have been a typo on the service desk.
Either way, NEW ENGINE IS BEING INSTALLED. FREE
Edited by 53catalina on Monday 29th September 14:40
When we get the car back i will also check to see if a new header tank and re routed pipework has been fitted.
Edited by 53catalina on Monday 29th September 14:42
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