1.5 Ecoboost engines - yay or nay?

[peterbredde]

Hello guys. I own a small business and have been offered a bunch of Focus's (Foci?) from a main dealer with the 1.5 Ecoboost engine. All cars are 2017 and have around 40k miles. Been reading scare stories about these units and just caught wind of the class action lawsuits in the US. What's your view? Any help welcomed. Thank you

Edited by peterbredde on Thursday 25th March 05:45

[anonymous-user]

They are engines that are fitted to millions of cars so parts supply is plentiful and well priced.

Like all engines there will be common issues but generally these are good engines.

[Baldchap]

I thought the class action lawsuit was regarding the automatic gearboxes, rather than the engines.

[peterbredde]

Baldchap said:

I thought the class action lawsuit was regarding the automatic gearboxes, rather than the engines.

There is one for transmissions, but thats NZ I think. The US lawsuit is for the Ecoboost engines, but not sure if the 1.5 is an issue

[Krikkit]

peterbredde said:

The US lawsuit is for the Ecoboost engines, but not sure if the 1.5 is an issue

What aspect in particular? Is it something there's an easy fix for?

Following the cooling pipe issue on the 1.0 a few years ago (which should have all been sorted now) I haven't heard anything bad about these, only good things which are well deserved.

[peterbredde]

Krikkit said:

What aspect in particular? Is it something there's an easy fix for?

Following the cooling pipe issue on the 1.0 a few years ago (which should have all been sorted now) I haven't heard anything bad about these, only good things which are well deserved.

Cracking cylinder heads leaking coolant into chambers causing overheating, and in some instances, fire. Just to be clear, I'm not for one minute suggesting that I'm concerned that the cars will become moving fireballs, just wanted to know if there was a general issue with the engine that members had any thoughts about.

[peterbredde]

[quote=MC Bodge]

Are they 4 cylinder Ecoboosts? Very different to the 1.0 3 cylinder, which has/had a cooling pipe problem.

Yes, 4 cylinder. I think I'll go for them. It seems others share your view of the lack of low end grunt. Might not be such a bad thing if it stops my guys from ripping the tyres off them.

Useful feedback - thank you

[MC Bodge]

peterbredde said:

Yes, 4 cylinder. I think I'll go for them. It seems others share your view of the lack of low end grunt. Might not be such a bad thing if it stops my guys from ripping the tyres off them.

Useful feedback - thank you

If you look at it like that, it could be an advantage as a fleet owner -there is no danger of ripping the tyres off my car, even if it does pull reasonably well above The Ton

[peterbredde]

MC Bodge said:

If you look at it like that, it could be an advantage as a fleet owner -there is no danger of ripping the tyres off my car, even if it does pull reasonably well above The Ton

Yep, if they get carried away at motorway speeds then its very much their problem

[jonwm]

Pre Covid I was looking at Kugas with this engine for the wife, lots of people said the mpg was poor and was quite sluggish. It didn't matter massively for me as it was going to be used by the wife but never got one as circumstances changed.

[ZX10R NIN]

The 1.5T is a good robust reliable engine the downside is that because Ford limit's the torque in the first two gears you find yourself working a bit harder than you'd expect, on a run the fuel will be similar to other 1.4/1.5's but around town the fuel economy is a bit worse.

[MC Bodge]

The restricted torque is a bit irritating, especially as the gearing is high.

It drives like an n/a 2.3 rather than a turbocharged engine.


On a run, my Octavia was about 10mpg better. The Ford does an impressive trick of slurping a lot more fuel for very little extra speed too.

Edited by MC Bodge on Thursday 25th March 15:46

[teeCup]

The other half has a Kuga with this engine in it and the comments about it being a little gutless in 1st and 2nd gear and being sensitive to ambient temps are all true, in our experience.

35mpg is about par for the course in mixed driving conditions.

I quite like the engine, once rolling it has a usable power band and is par more pleasant to drive than the diesel model the in laws have.

For what we want it for, its a good compromise of economy (for the size of the car), performance and noise.

[stanglish]

Disappointed to hear less than glowing reviews of these.

I had a 140bhp 1.0 Ecoboost 3-cyl Fiesta a few years back and we were looking around for a Focus-sized vehicle with the same sort of engine characteristics.

I had a cursory look around and was disappointed they are flogging the Focus with that 1.0 Ecoboost in 100 & 125 tunes. It feels like the extra mass and less power (and presumably torque) wouldn't be what I'm looking for really.

I looked on Honest John and real world MPG of the 1.5 looked good though obviously a pinch of salt needed. I was thinking positive and hoping being less stressed was helping it achieve some economy - https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/ford/focus-20...

Ah well, will keep looking. Keen to know more from people who have driven this 1.5 in 150 & 182 tunes.

[MC Bodge]

stanglish said:

Ah well, will keep looking. Keen to know more from people who have driven this 1.5 in 150 & 182 tunes.

I've not driven the 150 or 182, but they (and the 160 in the Mondeo) are apparently have the same torque curves at lower rpm, but the 182 pulls harder higher up the rpm, so for most driving, not noticeably different.

Edited by MC Bodge on Thursday 25th March 19:35

[ZX10R NIN]

stanglish said:

Disappointed to hear less than glowing reviews of these.

I had a 140bhp 1.0 Ecoboost 3-cyl Fiesta a few years back and we were looking around for a Focus-sized vehicle with the same sort of engine characteristics.

I had a cursory look around and was disappointed they are flogging the Focus with that 1.0 Ecoboost in 100 & 125 tunes. It feels like the extra mass and less power (and presumably torque) wouldn't be what I'm looking for really.

I looked on Honest John and real world MPG of the 1.5 looked good though obviously a pinch of salt needed. I was thinking positive and hoping being less stressed was helping it achieve some economy - https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/ford/focus-20...

Ah well, will keep looking. Keen to know more from people who have driven this 1.5 in 150 & 182 tunes.

The engine itself is fine but the 182 is the pick the extra torque & bhp make motorway work a breeze with the long gearing, but they're hard to find depending on your budget.

A credible alternative that's easier to find is the 1.6T 180/200bhp Vauxhall Astra.

[LightningBlue]

peterbredde said:

Cracking cylinder heads leaking coolant into chambers causing overheating, and in some instances, fire. Just to be clear, I'm not for one minute suggesting that I'm concerned that the cars will become moving fireballs, just wanted to know if there was a general issue with the engine that members had any thoughts about.

That was the 1.6 version that was in various Fords and brands they owned at the time. I’ve got the 180bhp version in my Volvo S60 but it’s not let me down yet and is 9 years old now. Ford recalled their vehicles and I think fitted a coolant level sensor and temperature gauge. When I asked Volvo if they were going to do that they didn’t have a clue what I was talking about and never recalled them, but by that point Volvo had stopped using Ford parts and it had been fitted to very few cars. I don’t think the known faults are relevant to the 1.5 that replaced it though.

[MC Bodge]

LightningBlue said:

peterbredde said:

Cracking cylinder heads leaking coolant into chambers causing overheating, and in some instances, fire. Just to be clear, I'm not for one minute suggesting that I'm concerned that the cars will become moving fireballs, just wanted to know if there was a general issue with the engine that members had any thoughts about.

That was the 1.6 version that was in various Fords and brands they owned at the time. I’ve got the 180bhp version in my Volvo S60 but it’s not let me down yet and is 9 years old now. Ford recalled their vehicles and I think fitted a coolant level sensor and temperature gauge. When I asked Volvo if they were going to do that they didn’t have a clue what I was talking about and never recalled them, but by that point Volvo had stopped using Ford parts and it had been fitted to very few cars. I don’t think the known faults are relevant to the 1.5 that replaced it though.

Do you mean the 1.0 3 cylinder?

The 1.5 4 cylinder doesn't appear to have many problems. The torque restriction presumably preserves an under-engineered clutch/transmission.

[MC Bodge]

ZX10R NIN said:

The engine itself is fine but the 182 is the pick the extra torque & bhp make motorway work a breeze with the long gearing, but they're hard to find depending on your budget.

A credible alternative that's easier to find is the 1.6T 180/200bhp Vauxhall Astra.

The same low rpm/gear torque limit is presumably present in the 182 too, if they have the same weak(?) clutch/transmission that may be the reason for it.

[LightningBlue]

MC Bodge said:

Do you mean the 1.0 3 cylinder?

The 1.5 4 cylinder doesn't appear to have many problems. The torque restriction presumably preserves an under-engineered clutch/transmission.

The 1.0 had some separate issues. As I said I don’t think the problems with the 1.6 are relevant to the 1.5 that replaced it.