Tag Archives: wetbelt failure

What caused this Vacuum pump to fail?

This Ford Fiesta Ecoboost was recovered into us after the customer noticed his oil warning light was staying on whilst the car was still running.

When we got the car into the workshop we always like to give them a quick start just to see if there are any other faults we need to look at whilst stripping it down.

In this case we noticed there was no vacuum assistance for the brakes and after a quick look at the vacuum pump i t became apparent there was a problem.

So, what caused this Vacuum pump to fail?

The rubber debris from the failing wetbelt had traveled through the oil galleries and managed to block the little gauze filter going into the vacuum pump causing it to starve itself of oil.

The engine oil in this particular engine had not been changed regularly and possibly not even been the correct specification oil.

Once we had carried out our wetbelt replacement process which in this case included a new oil pump and replaced the vacuum pump the car ran perfect.

We have recommended the customer has another oil change within 2000 miles just to ensure any rubber particles which we couldn’t remove will be flushed through the system and then removed.

Aarons Autos car service garage.

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.

Is the 2018 onwards EcoBoost any different?

The early EcoBoost engine has definitely got a following but probably for the wrong reason so is the later EcoBoost engine any better?

Well, yes and no, Ford have made a few changes to the engine the main one being a new oil pump.

The new oil pump is a bigger unit which incorporates a balance shaft to reduce vibration.

And the oil pump drive belt now has a tensioner instead of being a push fit.

Are they more reliable?

Again like the earlier engines if they are well serviced using the correct oil they are fine.

If on the other hand you miss your service intervals or use the incorrect oil you will have problems!

Ford haven’t really done anything to prevent the rubber debris caused by the degrading belts from blocking the oil pump and starving the engines of oil.

This particular 2018 Fiesta Ecoboost with only 30,000 miles on it was brought into us because of a lack of power and the engine being noisy.

As you can see the wetbelt is in very poor condition and was breaking up.

Because bits of rubber had blocked the oil pump it caused the turbo to fail due to oil starvation.

Once all necessary parts had been replaced the car ran as sweet as a nut.

These problems could have been avoided if the car had been serviced properly and the correct oil had been used.

Click the video

For more information on Ford EcoBoost wetbelt replacements please call us on 01332 205070 or email us at info@aaronsautos.co.uk

Aarons Autos car service garage.

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.

Another EcoBoost having its wet belt replaced just in time!

The Ford 1.0 EcoBoost engine fitted to the Fiesta, Focus, B Max and some Ford Connect vans is ran by a wet belt (runs inside the engine) and Ford recommend it should be replaced at 150,000 miles or 10 years.

This Fiesta was 8 years old and had only done 80,000 miles and you can see by the pictures the condition of the belt and the debris inside the oil pump pick up caused by the failing belt.

Replacing the wetbelt and oil pump belt is a time consuming job, you have to remove about 90% of the engines ancillaries to be able to access the wet belt and to be able to fit the timing kit which ensures the new belt goes on in exactly the right place.

Wetbelt strip down process

Remove coil packs, fuel rail and rocker cover
Remove AC compressor, AC pipes, alternator and catalytic converter
Drain engine oil, drain coolant, remove drive shaft, starter motor and sump
Remove water pump and aux belt tensioner
Rotate engine to TDC and fit crank timing tools and flywheel locking tool
Fit camshaft timing tools
Remove crank pulley using a Torque Multiplier
Remove front engine cover
Remove wetbelt, oil pump belt and oil pump and inspect

Normally we can just clean out the oil pump pick up but in this case we decided it would be a good idea to replace the oil pump whilst it was stripped down because it was so bad.

There are several other seals and washers we replace when rebuilding the engine such as the block to front cover seal behind the water pump and the crank bolt friction washer (Ford advise fitting this due to early problems of crank slip).

Wetbelts are becoming a big problem in all makes and models of vehicles and we advise you get yours replaced well before the recommended interval to reduce the chance of failure.

Aarons Autos car service garage.

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.