I'm starting to hear via trade contacts of independent mechanics / garages refusing to do service or wet belt replacements on Ecoboost & Puretech powered vehicles as they don't want to risk the liability.

You clearly have scant knowledge of wet belt technology. I'm a professional engineer in the motor industry

That should mean you have a Mech Eng degree. If not, your opinions will be much the same weight as mine.

Unfortunately there were almost immediate problems with wet belts, including fibre shedding, depolymerisation and delamination of the belts etc etc. The solution has been to dispense with the belt....

The solution was to use better spec oil and a better belt, e.g. Continental CT1228

I recently looked at a torn-down Stellantis 1.2 that had covered 92k mi. with the revised belt and the belt was on its last legs....

...with what history? What sort of oil? How often changed? What exactly was the 'revised belt'? Anecdotes like this are meaningless without detail. Motor forums used to be full of horror stories of perfectly good original belts being replaced by belts of possibly inferior quality and failing a few tens of thousands of miles later. Good quality modern belts designed for oil immersion aren't cheap.

Bit of a "counsels of perfection" vibe about the above.

Even IF it were true that IF everything is done perfectly, it will be fine, (and it may well not be true) you have to factor in the significant possibility that everything will NOT be done perfectly.

This probably applies especially acutely here in Taiwan, whether you are a (unique) DIYer or get things done by the pros

For example, it is impossible to find proper brake greases here, so I'd say there is a very high probability that the pros just use (rubber incompatible) general purpose grease on brakes, though alarmingly I have also experienced this with my 4 ton truck in the UK.

I'd say a job requiring a special oil and a special belt is quite likely not to get it from the pros, and these may not be easy to locate as a DIYer either.

They also, as you say, wont be cheap. I suppose if the used market price of these cars is discounted to account for their disposable design, they might still make sense as a used purchase, otherwise there seems no reason to volunteer for these costs.

I have some Taiwanese friends with one of these engines (Ecobust in a Kuga, IIRC). I havnt bothered being "The voice of doom" since they would not understand, and treat cars as disposable anyway, so probably wont be especially affected.

Edited by edlithgow on 14/05/2024 at 05:11

You clearly have scant knowledge of wet belt technology. I'm a professional engineer in the motor industry

That should mean you have a Mech Eng degree. If not, your opinions will be much the same weight as mine.

Unfortunately there were almost immediate problems with wet belts, including fibre shedding, depolymerisation and delamination of the belts etc etc. The solution has been to dispense with the belt....

The solution was to use better spec oil and a better belt, e.g. Continental CT1228

I recently looked at a torn-down Stellantis 1.2 that had covered 92k mi. with the revised belt and the belt was on its last legs....

...with what history? What sort of oil? How often changed? What exactly was the 'revised belt'? Anecdotes like this are meaningless without detail. Motor forums used to be full of horror stories of perfectly good original belts being replaced by belts of possibly inferior quality and failing a few tens of thousands of miles later. Good quality modern belts designed for oil immersion aren't cheap.

John F

I'm not going to bore everyone with every detail of my 35+ years in the motor industry - but in brief... Double First in Physics, MSc in Advanced Engineering. PhD in ICE combustion & emissions (sponsored by Ford). Worked for Ford, Rover, Aston Martin, JLR, BMW, plus a few others. SAIC-GM PATAC in Shanghai and GM ATC Shanghai (where I am now). 178+ technical publications and two books published by SAE. You did ask ;-)

The PureTech is recognised throughout the industry as a design that looks great on paper but the realisation had been a disaster. Its not just the cambelt. Its oil consumption (piston ring design and poor materials), injector problems etc etc. Almost every component of the engine is sub-par. There were supposed to be manufacturing changes made in late 2020/early 21. We'll see how they pan out.

The PureTech does drive well and its a nice engine when running properly. But with so many shortcomings why would you choose to buy one?

If you are unfortunate enough to own one of these engines the saving grace is that (unlike EcoBoost) the belt is fairly easy and cheap to replace - rather similar to a dry cambelt in fact. Removing the oil filler cap will enable you to see the belt condition. Tools are available to check belt condition with the belt in situ (belt swelling check) and lock the drive to change the belt (check out Ebay - £30-40). I would suggest a belt change every 50k miles. Change oil at twice the interval recommended by Stellantis (poor piston sealing on these engines means the oil becomes contaminated quickly and the contaminants attack the elastomer in the belt). Dayco are the originator of the BIO drive used by Stellantis (licenced to Gates and Continental). A Peugeot-supplied belt will be re-packaged Dayco. They have gone through at least three revisions in the last few years. Dayco-branded aftermarket belt kits are actually very reasonably priced.

Or you could just buy a Toyota and get on with life.....

Edited by Rerepo on 15/05/2024 at 07:26