Dealing with Ford on a 1.0 Ecoboost, Premature Timing Belt Failure

Hey guys, I am mostly just looking for advice on dealing with Ford Customer Care with this issue. The battle with Ford is just beginning not sure if I'm going to win on this one, but it's worth a try.

It is a 2014 Fiesta SFE with the turbo 3 cylinder. There is no recommendation in the owner's manual for a time interval on the belt change, just every 150,000 miles.

Just hit 107,000 miles and the timing belt let go. The engine had an easy life; all highway miles and full synthetic oil changes every 10,000 miles.

I suspect a manufacturing defect, there's no way the belt should have failed this early. This is a "wet belt" (runs through the oil), realistically it should have gone well into the 200,000-mile range before failure.

The engine is toast with valves hitting pistons. Dealer wants $5,000 to replace the motor and the car is probably worth $5,500.

Dunno how much of a position you have if you are out of warranty.

Think this falls into the sorry but shit happens category. Good luck though.

Holy cow, the 1.0 3 cylinder turbo is almost impossible to find. The 1.6 is common as dirt. I found one that might work, depends if it is compatible. Good luck OP, I don't think Ford will step up with over 100,000 miles.

Ford Fiesta ST Complete Engine | eBay

Blk04L said:

Dunno how much of a position you have if you are out of warranty.

Think this falls into the sorry but shit happens category. Good luck though.

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Yes and No, Ford occasionally does pays for things out of warranty. It's a case by case basis from what I've seen.

Weather Man said:

Holy cow, the 1.0 3 cylinder turbo is almost impossible to find. The 1.6 is common as dirt. I found one that might work, depends if it is compatible. Good luck OP, I don't think Ford will step up with over 100,000 miles.

Ford Fiesta ST Complete Engine | eBay

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They also put them into the Focus with the 6 speed manual and it is the base engine for the Ecosport (FWD only).

They might goodwill it if you bought the car new, and have bought multiple new cars with them. I was able to get them to pay out 2k for a new steering rack in my Shelby since we had bought a new edge and a new 5.0 within a couple years before that happened. We did not buy the Shelby new though.

Have you kept on the car maintenance , regular oil changes, ect? If so you do have a chance of ford working with you to fix it.

So I get your logic OP but just because the item failed before the recommended maintenance interval, doesnt mean they are on the hook for it - especially considering the car is 6 years old with 107K miles on it.

If they say 150k for belt change and it broke at 107k, ask another dealer how much they charge to replace the timing belt and ask the dealer where the car is to subtract that amount from the cost of the engine replacement.

Had this happen on a Hondo civic in the early 90’s with less than 60k. Our saving grace was they sent us a letter changing the suggested timing belt change from 100k to 70k. Honda did a valve job however the car was never the same and shortly after that it drop a cylinder and we traded it for a Toyota.

Good luck I hope ford works something out with you.

For the first time in a long time, I am in a position to buy a 'new to me' car. Always been a Ford guy and in middle agedom, need something practical. Ive been looking at SHOs, Fusion Sports and even considered F150s....But goddamn the quality has gotten terrible.

Anything you save in fuel cost with Ecoboost seems to be spent on additional maintenance.

Kornilov said:

So I get your logic OP but just because the item failed before the recommended maintenance interval, doesnt mean they are on the hook for it - especially considering the car is 6 years old with 107K miles on it.

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I never said they were on the hook.

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gfcobra04 said:

If they say 150k for belt change and it broke at 107k, ask another dealer how much they charge to replace the timing belt and ask the dealer where the car is to subtract that amount from the cost of the engine replacement.

Had this happen on a Hondo civic in the early 90’s with less than 60k. Our saving grace was they sent us a letter changing the suggested timing belt change from 100k to 70k. Honda did a valve job however the car was never the same and shortly after that it drop a cylinder and we traded it for a Toyota.

Good luck I hope ford works something out with you.

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Thanks for the helpful advise Sir!

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me32 said:

Have you kept on the car maintenance , regular oil changes, ect? If so you do have a chance of ford working with you to fix it.

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Yes, didn't hear back from Ford customer care yet I'm sure they'll tell me to get bent

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pwrshft99 said:

For the first time in a long time, I am in a position to buy a 'new to me' car. Always been a Ford guy and in middle agedom, need something practical. Ive been looking at SHOs, Fusion Sports and even considered F150s....But goddamn the quality has gotten terrible.

Anything you save in fuel cost with Ecoboost seems to be spent on additional maintenance.

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Well anything with turbos is gonna require more maintenance. The quality is not terrible. In fact i think in general the quality is better than the competition. Just make sure you do your research on anything you buy. Know the strong points and weak points. Good luck on your search.

dynasty_v6 said:

Yes, didn't hear back from Ford customer care yet I'm sure they'll tell me to get bent

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Dont think that way. You may not get the answer you are looking for on the 1st go around. Do not stop there. As suggested find out what the actual cost from ford dealerships to do a timing belt on the car. I have seen where ford does work with there customers. They may even cover part of the cost of the replacement motor, they may offer you a deal to buy a new car. Just be polite but firm.

Good luck with that. Ford refused to change leaking oil pan on my f150 while it was UNDER warranty. Then refused to offer any help with a blown head gasket on the same vehicle being 1180 miles out of warranty. Ford Corp offered zero help in both of those situations other than offering to make an appointment for me to bring it in for a $5k repair.

pwrshft99 said:

For the first time in a long time, I am in a position to buy a 'new to me' car. Always been a Ford guy and in middle agedom, need something practical. Ive been looking at SHOs, Fusion Sports and even considered F150s....But goddamn the quality has gotten terrible.

Anything you save in fuel cost with Ecoboost seems to be spent on additional maintenance.

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I would not suggest you buy a new Ford. Former 18' 5.0 F150 owner here

I doubt they will touch it at over 100k miles. Most likely a massive engineering flaw that pretty much guarantees it grenades at 100k+, which Ford knows, so if they start fixing any out of good will it could come back to bite them.

IronSnake said:

I would not suggest you buy a new Ford. Former 18' 5.0 F150 owner here

I doubt they will touch it at over 100k miles. Most likely a massive engineering flaw that pretty much guarantees it grenades at 100k+, which Ford knows, so if they start fixing any out of good will it could come back to bite them.

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Very frustrating being a Ford guy at times. 97-04 F150 are my favorite body style, won't touch them because they are short on power and rust if you look at them funny. I am a fan of the 04+ refresh, but will not take the chance on a 100k mile 3V. Newer than that, trucks are still pretty pricey. An affordable Coyote will have some real mileage and the timing chain/water pump issues on the 3.5 Ecoboost have turned me off.

Really like the SHO Taurus but same 3.5 issues, along with throttle body failures and PTUs that fail randomly.

The Fusion Sport was going to be what I went with but still hesitant. The 2.7 seems fun but there were more than a couple exploded 2017s from what I read. It still has a PTU with undersized fluid capacity.

These issues, along with the Focus ST head gasket issue and Ford purposely shipping defective transmissions really have me second guessing if I want a car payment again.

pwrshft99 said:

Very frustrating being a Ford guy at times. 97-04 F150 are my favorite body style, won't touch them because they are short on power and rust if you look at them funny. I am a fan of the 04+ refresh, but will not take the chance on a 100k mile 3V. Newer than that, trucks are still pretty pricey. An affordable Coyote will have some real mileage and the timing chain/water pump issues on the 3.5 Ecoboost have turned me off.

Really like the SHO Taurus but same 3.5 issues, along with throttle body failures and PTUs that fail randomly.

The Fusion Sport was going to be what I went with but still hesitant. The 2.7 seems fun but there were more than a couple exploded 2017s from what I read. It still has a PTU with undersized fluid capacity.

These issues, along with the Focus ST head gasket issue and Ford purposely shipping defective transmissions really have me second guessing if I want a car payment again.

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My truck at 10k

Failed firewall seal created a truck full of white mold with 5k miles on it
Failed something caused the motor to eat 3 quarts of oil per oil change and need a longblock.

40k dollar truck that wasn't as reliable as my 20 year old 184k 2v GT. Kind of made it hard to bother keeping, so I traded it in and got the wife a new Honda. I bought an old Tundra TRD First gen with 272k on it and it hasn't used a dropped of oil. All in all it's been a better truck to me than the Ford ever was. Sucks but is what it is.

I'll be buying a new Tundra at some point. May be boring but at least it's reliable

If your dealer is 'good', I'd say there's an 80% chance this gets handled up the chain from you.

5.0 Hatch said:

Good luck with that. Ford refused to change leaking oil pan on my f150 while it was UNDER warranty. Then refused to offer any help with a blown head gasket on the same vehicle being 1180 miles out of warranty. Ford Corp offered zero help in both of those situations other than offering to make an appointment for me to bring it in for a $5k repair.

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That's an example of a poor dealer, or you being an asshole and them not wanting to help you. Just saying lol