Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Thu 1 Apr 2021 21:28
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - danielle2016

I've reached 151,000 miles in my 2013 ford fiesta ecoboost, i've had it serviced religiously but now need to look to get the cam belt changed. I've read it's an involved, long job and have been quoted £1100 by ford. I'm trying to weigh up whether it's worth it, or whether to start looking for a new car. I've chatted to the mechanic who's serviced it over the 8 years i've had the car and he says, one done, it might do another 100,000 miles with only wear and tear costs (break pads, possibly clutch etc).

Has anyone bitten the bullet and had it changed? Was it worth it for you? Did anything else go wrong? My mileage has come right down so have gone from 100 miles a day 5 days a week to 60miles a day 3x a week....

Thanks in advance, Dan

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 1 Apr 2021 22:47
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - elekie&a/c doctor
You’re right , this is a massive job . In some cases it’s actually cheaper in the long run to fit a new engine , as it’s not that much more money . It may be an economic proposition to not change the belt , and run the engine until it dies .
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 3 Apr 2021 00:22
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - danielle2016

Many thanks, yes I have certainly considered that. Not sure i'm comfortable taking the risk though, esp not on a 'smart' motorway, or with the dog in the car..

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 2 Apr 2021 08:56
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - craig-pd130

As Elekie&ACdoc said, this is one of those occasional stupidly complex and costly jobs in the car world.

When Ford launched this engine, the cambelt was supposed to last the 'life of the car,' but then this was changed to replacing the belt every 10 years / 150K miles.

The price Ford quoted you is correct, apparently the job takes at least 10 to 12 hours labour plus parts, and requires expensive special tools too. As the Doc pointed out, you could just run the engine until it dies and then fit a good used replacement engine for about £1,500.

It is a gamble, it depends how much you like the car and want to keep it running

My 10 pence worth is, if you do decide to change the belt, it is one of those jobs that it's worth paying a main dealer to do, as they are more likely to have the special tools needed, and the main dealer price probably isn't going to be THAT much more expensive than having an independent mechanic do it. .

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 2 Apr 2021 09:21
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - Xileno

The problem with leaving it is that it's going to fail at some point and it will obviously be when the engine is running - highly inconvenient.

On my Focus it's about a three hour job to change the cambelt including the waterpump, every eight years or 100,000 miles.

Another reason why this engine will not be under the bonnet of any car I own.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 2 Apr 2021 10:02
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - John F

Interesting. The BIO in our Peugeot 2008 looks fairly easy to change from what I've seen on u-tube. Ford's 'belt for life' really means that most cars will be scrapped before the belt need be changed and you would be very unlucky to have a failure in the first 150,000 miles. The cambelt apparatus on our old 1.6 Zetec Focus was designed to last 150,000 miles, so Ford issued precautionary 'change at 100,000/ten years' advice. Our (now my son's) old Focus is over twenty years old and has just passed the 150,000 mile mark. Are we still feeling lucky? Yes.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 2 Apr 2021 10:51
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - galileo

I changed the cambelt on my 1978 2 litre Princess in less than 2 hours.

10 to 12 hours needing special tools is, I suppose, a perfect instance of how cars are now designed to discourage maintenance anywhere except franchised dealers.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 8 Apr 2021 12:54
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - jc2

I changed the cambelt on my 1978 2 litre Princess in less than 2 hours.

10 to 12 hours needing special tools is, I suppose, a perfect instance of how cars are now designed to discourage maintenance anywhere except franchised dealers.

The Ford OHC(T88-called Pinto by some-only the 2.3-not sold in Europe was actually the Pinto)could have it's belt changed in about 30 mins.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 9 Apr 2021 10:53
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - Big John

Another reason why this engine will not be under the bonnet of any car I own.

Likewise I won't be buying a car with this engine fitted - a shame really as I quite like the latest Ford Puma.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 6 Jul 2022 05:32
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - Dominic Eaton

One thing is though, free tax. In ten years that's £500-1500 saved towards the cam belt!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 3 Apr 2021 00:24
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - danielle2016

Many thanks that's really helpful and echoes' the advice given by my main garage. They haven't changed any of these cam belts yet and haven't invested in the kit...yet.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 8 Apr 2021 10:32
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - madf

Many thanks that's really helpful and echoes' the advice given by my main garage. They haven't changed any of these cam belts yet and haven't invested in the kit...yet.

You don't want to be their guinea pig?

Seriously, they have never done it before so they could very well screw it up.

Personally I would invest a little of the saved money in the best Breakdown Cover I could find and just run it till it goes bang.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 3 Apr 2021 00:27
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - danielle2016

Many thanks really appreciate your opinion and advice. Leaning on getting the work done, i do still like the car, i've had it serviced religiously and don't think I'm ready to give it up yet!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 7 Apr 2021 22:49
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - Paulsxf

A normal local mechanic will not do these due to the tools needed and time the job takes. There are, however, some companies who specialise in these. EcoPro near Lincoln or Kong Performance near Liverpool are 2 I know of (but have no personal experiance). A company that specialise in these will probably have more experiance than your local dealer and will be a lot less. May be worth investigating? I am looking myself as my daughter's car will be due soon.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 8 Apr 2021 11:08
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - Galaxy

Might be cheaper to get someone to fit a Zetec engine into it.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 8 Apr 2021 12:11
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - madf

Might be cheaper to get someone to fit a Zetec engine into it.

I doubt it. Emissions control and MOT tests would be problematic.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 8 Apr 2021 21:46
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - focussed

Some information on what is involved and the tooling.

www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/118176-10-ecob.../

From an engineering point of view, all that was needed to avoid this nonsense was a woodruff keyway in the crankshaft and a keyway broached in the pulley and a crank pulley bolt at normal torque.

P1llocks!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 8 Apr 2021 21:59
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - Xileno

Years ago I used to have a MK2 Polo, I could change the cambelt in about an hour including the water pump.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 8 Apr 2021 22:13
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - Rerepo

I read these were designed never to be changed and then dropped to a change interval later - probably to cover themselves knowing some cars would get a hammering and so fail early. I'd take a chance on it - it will probably go another 5 or more years..

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 9 Apr 2021 11:47
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - skidpan

From an engineering point of view, all that was needed to avoid this nonsense was a woodruff keyway in the crankshaft and a keyway broached in the pulley and a crank pulley bolt at normal torque.

P1llocks!

None of the Zetecs have had keyways/dowels in the cams and never heard of an issue with this, certainly makes adjusting the cam timing easy without the need for expensive verniers or a selection of offset keys/dowels.

The Zetec Silvertop had a key on the crank pulley but this was deleted with the introduction of the Blacktop. But in reality it made no difference to doing a belt change, procedure is still the same and is really simple, on the Caterham takes about 30 minutes and plenty of plasters.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 9 Apr 2021 15:55
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - Galaxy

Perhaps, with the passage of time, people will find more simple ways of changing the Ecoboost 1.0 cambelt which don't involve using all the special tools that Ford say you currently need to do the job.

I agree with what another poster has said in that this engine will never be under the bonnet of any car I own.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 9 Apr 2021 18:35
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - focussed

If everything is keyed there is no need for any special tooling on any engine, just timing marks.

Typical too-clever-by-half production engineering to save a few pennies on engine build time.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 6 Jul 2021 13:22
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - ArranG
Sorry to but in on this thread. I have been given a quote by Marshall Ford in Kings Lynn of £762.44 to change the cambelt, water pump and auxiliary belts on my 2015 1.0 ecoboost
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 6 Jul 2021 15:06
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - elekie&a/c doctor
That sounds very reasonable for a main dealer . Think it’s about an 8 hr job .
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 9 Sep 2021 12:00
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - supermal

Been looking into this as have 2013 Fiesta and considering whether to punt or have the cambelt changed as the 10 year anniversary comes closer, my independant mechanic wouldn't touch it and has been informed its a 12 hour job (his son was apprentice with Ford and they just seemed to swap out ecoboost engines).

I phoned Peoples Ford out of curiosity giving my reg so they had all the info on my car, verbal quote of £600-£700, 4-5 hour job, I would get this in writting before proceeding as I am more inclined to believe the >£1000 i've seen elsewhere .

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Sep 2021 21:19
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - Xileno

Interesting that both the Ford dealer quotes are very similar and a lot less than others. Maybe there are some tricks they know about the speed the job up. Still a silly amount of money though, I think I will continue to give this Ford engine a wide berth.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Sep 2021 23:52
Ford Fiesta Ecoboost - Ford Fiesta Ecoboost 1L cam belt change - sammy1

Never been overly keen on any Ford engine. I have always found them to be bad on petrol consumption. BMW Peugeot and VW group would knock spots of them on this aspect alone

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.

The Good Garage Guide

From which small car to buy at which price point to the best UK-built cars, our Top 10s have the lot. Click now for your shortlist.

Unsure of what to buy? Our Top 10s are here to help you....