‘I’m a used car expert – avoid any model with this | Tech News

A high motoring expert has taken to YouTube to warn used car consumers to avoid any model fitted with two varieties of engine that might end in costly restore payments.

While used car consumers have a tendency to contemplate a selection of components when shopping for their subsequent model, together with fuel economic system, boot space, and options, reliability remains to be a main concern for a lot of.

In a common video on his YouTube channel Scottish Car Clan, motoring expert Grant warned that drivers on the lookout for a dependable used model avoid pre-owned Fords that have been made earlier than 2019 and have a 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine.

He warned: “I’ve spoken about the 1.0-litre EcoBoost quite a bit in the past, but to give you a really high-level overview, essentially, the rubber timing belt is buried within the engine, and it runs through the hot engine oil. Rubber belt, hot engine oil.

“That rubber timing belt begins to interrupt up into little items, which discover their means into the oil. That will get caught within the oil pickups and oil strains, and makes a proper outdated mess inside the engine, presumably resulting in oil hunger and demanding harm.”

Launched in 2012, Ford’s 1.0-litre EcoBoost was widely praised for its compact size and found itself fitted to a wide range of products made by the brand, including the Fiesta, Focus, and EcoSport.

One way in which the company made the engine so compact was by running the timing belt through the sump. However, some owners have found that the belt’s constant exposure to hot engine oil resulted in particles of rubber flaking off and clogging the oil pickups – preventing the engine from being properly lubricated.

Whilst Ford claims that the timing belt should be changed after 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first, the bad experiences some drivers have faced has led to some motoring experts warning that it should be changed every eight years or 80,000 miles.

Nevertheless, later in the video, Grant highlighted that Ford addressed the issue in 2019, launching a revised version of the 1.0-litre EcoBoost which uses a stronger chain.

He continued: “Now, there are two variations of this engine and I do not hear many people speaking about this. There’s an older model of the EcoBoost which is known as the Fox. Now, this is the worst engine, and you will usually discover this in pre-2019 vehicles, however some snuck into later-year vehicles.

“The later EcoBoost is Ford’s way of recognising the problem and trying to fix it, as they shifted back to using a much more robust and much more conventional timing chain. They’re much better, but it does still use a wet belt to run the oil pump. These engines are proving to be less problematic, but time is going to tell on this.”

Grant additionally urged used car consumers to assume twice earlier than shopping for a Stellantis product, akin to a Citroen, Peugeot, or Vauxhall, from earlier than 2023 that makes use of a 1.2 PureTech engine, which has the identical moist belt design.

He defined: “The other engine to worry about here, and it suffers the same fate as the EcoBoost engine, is the 1.2 PureTech. Now, this is an engine produced by Stellantis Group, so you’re going to find it in Peugeots, Citroens – you’ll even find it in Vauxhalls, given that they’re a part of the Stellantis family as well.

“Again, this is a moist belt engine, it is bought that timing belt working via the recent engine oil. It breaks up, blocks the oil feed, blocks the oil pickups, and causes a actual mess inside the engine.”

To rectify the problem, Stellantis launched a new model of the 1.2 PureTech engine in 2023 which options a a lot more strong timing chain, with the company additionally offering a conversion equipment for prior fashions.