Ford EcoBoost engine issues

[Gazzzaa]

Some, if not all, of you will be aware of the information here. Bear with me as I correlate the facts and hopefully give you all some useful information. Please note that this information is for petrol engines and NOT diesel engines.

Most of my information is based in the 1.5 litre 4 cylinder EcoBoost, as fitted to the LZ Focus in Australia from about June 2016. This is the car that I drive and was the primary reason for my research. However, my research on the net has also picked up similar problems with the 1.0 litre, 1.6 litre and 2.0 litre engines, the latter 2 being 4 cylinder engines. Anecdotally, the problems may also occur with the 2.3 litre EcoBoost, but I have not researched this personally. I encourage anyone with this engine to do their own research.

As you are aware, Ford EcoBoost Turbo engines have problems, many related to a design fault that allows coolant to leak into (usually) No.1 cylinder. There are temporary fixes for this problem such as head gasket replacement (in my instance) or Ford USA Technical Service Bulletin 19-2139 from November 2019, which is quite comprehensive (7 pages) but is ultimately a fix only. The only permanent solution is an engine replacement with a new engine incorporating a design adjustment to fix the original design fault.

Because these engines sold well overseas, there have been class actions against Ford in the US (see ClassAction.org) the UK (see FordAuthority.com) and only last week in Canada. These engines sold poorly in Australia, so there are not the numbers to really do anything much in Australia.

The problem has existed since approximately 2010 and was finally fixed with the release of newly designed engines in April-May-June of 2019. For example, any 2.0 litre turbo sold in Australia and built on or before 16 May 2019 (Mondeo, Escape, Focus ST) will eventually succumb to this problem.

Ford Australia know that the problem exists but are hoping that it quietly goes away. Let's face it, their marketing efforts were so appalling that they sold relatively few of these engines anyway.

My experience is as follows. In early Feb 2023 it began with a slight 'miss' when accelerating and the engine was running on 3 cylinders within a week. The RACV patrolman picked up no faults with his OBD2 tool, but he suspected a cylinder was out and diagnosed the presence of water in cylinder 1. My local Ford Dealer had been experiencing staffing issues for some time and a lack of mechanics meant that it took two weeks to repair. I was charged $260 for the head gasket to be replaced.

Fast forward to early June and the engine began to 'miss' again. I hadn't driven the car for the entire month of April because I was overseas on holiday. This time I researched the problem extensively on the internet and arrived at the local Ford dealer, armed with an extensive folio of printed material that backed up my assertions. I left the car there on 08 June. I called on 13 June because I had heard nothing and was told that Ford had agreed to replace my engine with a new 'updated' engine as a 'goodwill' gesture. The car was out of warranty but their 'goodwill' extended to 7 years from the build date. I was one month short of this, thankfully.

The next 5 weeks was full of phone calls, visits, emails, text messages etc, all initiated by me, because no-one at the dealership or Ford Australia was updating me on anything. In the middle of this, I suffered a family bereavement, and to top it off, my wife's Ford Kuga broke down with a DPF problem that the dealer could not look at for 4 weeks. We were borrowing cars to get around and still not getting any answers from anyone and, eventually, I blew a fuse. I marched into the Ford dealership, asked to see either the service manager or the dealer principal on 11 June and said that I wasn't leaving until I knew when I was getting my car back.

Long story short, a local diesel specialist fixed the Kuga and he will now get my future business. The original Ford service manager had 'left' in June and his replacement was true to her work and my Focus was back with me, with a new donk, on 18 June.

The total cost to me was $560 for a new manifold and oil/water separator. The $260 from February 2023 was refunded by Ford Australia. At no stage did anyone argue with me about the extent of the problem. Ford Australia and their dealers are aware. Bear in mind the quoted 7 year 'goodwill' period and if you have an affected vehicle, gather as much information as you can and approach your dealer with confidence.