Ford Fiesta cam belt

D

David Sarbutts

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Hi, I have a 2015 Ford Fiesta and the mileage is 50k. Can anyone pleas tell me, if my cam belt needs replacing and approx cost.
Kind regards Dave
 
I assume you are talking about the Ecoboost wet belt?

I think this mainly affects the 1.2 ecoboost.

There is a lot of literature in forums about this, as well as youtube vidoes.

To put it simply, some manufacturers moved to a "wet cam belt" design. Where the belt is sumbmerged in oil in the engine. However, the longevity of this design, or the quality of the belt has proved to be very unreliable. The belt material basically perishes much earlier then expected and the rubber mush clogs the sump filter and starves the engine of oil.

It also affects the 1.2 puretech engines by stellantis.

In anycase, the engine has coined the nickname of "ecoboom" as the first people know about the issue is the oil pressure light, and unless the car is stopped immediately, it can often lead to terminal damage.

So, the current advice is to ensure the belt is checked visually at each service by a mechanic that knows what to look for. The original service interval was 10 years / 100,000 but I think ford now suggest 60,000 and 6-8years. You can usually see the belt by removing the oil cap and having a look inside, you can see the top of the belt.

In terms of maintenance, it seems to be vital that the correct oil be used, specifically that recommended by the manufacturer, and perhaps oil changes to be made more often to reduce the chance of early failure of the belt.

I think ballpark cost is usually £900 (main dealers over £1000) for a belt change, but, it must be done if required as the cost of not doing it will be a new car.

A normal cambelt change should be much cheaper £300-£600+ ish, and replacement interval will be in your service manual.

But....

Having said all that, you need to identify your engine, model. Check for any recalls, etc.
 
Last edited:
dishman said:
I assume you are talking about the Ecoboost wet belt?

I think this mainly affects the 1.2 ecoboost.

There is a lot of literature in forums about this, as well as youtube vidoes.

To put it simply, some manufacturers moved to a "wet cam belt" design. Where the belt is sumbmerged in oil in the engine. However, the longevity of this design, or the quality of the belt has proved to be very unreliable. The belt material basically perishes much earlier then expected and the rubber mush clogs the sump filter and starves the engine of oil.

It also affects the 1.2 puretech engines by stellantis.

In anycase, the engine has coined the nickname of "ecoboom" as the first people know about the issue is the oil pressure light, and unless the car is stopped immediately, it can often lead to terminal damage.

So, the current advice is to ensure the belt is checked visually at each service by a mechanic that knows what to look for. The original service interval was 10 years / 100,000 but I think ford now suggest 60,000 and 6-8years. You can usually see the belt by removing the oil cap and having a look inside, you can see the top of the belt.

In terms of maintenance, it seems to be vital that the correct oil be used, specifically that recommended by the manufacturer, and perhaps oil changes to be made more often to reduce the chance of early failure of the belt.

I think ballpark cost is usually £900 (main dealers over £1000) for a belt change, but, it must be done if required as the cost of not doing it will be a new car.

A normal cambelt change should be much cheaper £300-£600+ ish, and replacement interval will be in your service manual.

But....

Having said all that, you need to identify your engine, model. Check for any recalls, etc.
Click to expand...
£900 is a good price. A very good price

Ford dealer near me is £1500 including the vat.
 
dishman said:
think ballpark cost is usually £900 (main dealers over £1000) for a belt change,
Click to expand...

:oops::oops::oops:

Nine year old car? Jeez!

Years ago we had perfectly adequate and reliable chains. Manus thought up a great wheeze to use what is basically a glorified rubber band to be all there is between an engine, poss costing thousands, ending up as an oily mess by the roadside or not. Then they thought of an even better and more profitable wheeze to make the 'band' poss weaker or more flawed. They're having a laugh!
 
Got rid of my mum's fiesta after finding out about this. I believe Ford have been forced to cough up in America when the engine goes but in UK there's just a bit of goodwill. There's a feature on BBC Watchdog about it.

Yours is high risk (low mileage for age) like my mum's (27k 64 plate). The official interval is now 10 years so we got a decent part ex despite a few dealers asking if we'd had it done (I think over £6K). Personally I'm not keen on continuing to own a car that's had its engine extensively dismantled and put back together again to replace a part that wasn't designed to be replaced (there's no mention of a replacement interval in the original document we had).
 
cdbe said:
Got rid of my mum's fiesta after finding out about this. I believe Ford have been forced to cough up in America when the engine goes but in UK there's just a bit of goodwill. There's a feature on BBC Watchdog about it.

Yours is high risk (low mileage for age) like my mum's (27k 64 plate). The official interval is now 10 years so we got a decent part ex despite a few dealers asking if we'd had it done (I think over £6K). Personally I'm not keen on continuing to own a car that's had its engine extensively dismantled and put back together again to replace a part that wasn't designed to be replaced (there's no mention of a replacement interval in the original document we had).
Click to expand...
I think it has been reduced to 6 years, 60,000
 
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