I think it's a 10 year interval.
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You will need to check the recommended interval, IIRC it is usually 10years or 100,000 miles for the Focus.
I'm a lurker on www.ffoc.co.uk, and I seem to remember a number of threads a while ago about listers who had similar problems and got the repairs either fully paid for, or partly paid for by Ford.
Might be worth having a look ?
Sorry I can't give you a more definate answer.
James
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www.ffoc.co.uk/modules.php?name=News&file=article&...3 i hope this works :-)
I hope the cynics read this.
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Given they're guaranteed, he should push harder. If they're guaranteed for 10 years and 100,000 miles, then how the hell can they wriggle out of it?
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My service book and local Ford dealer seem to think that they are yes.
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Gordons Ford of Wigan. 01942 823000. I suggest that he takes his service schedule which details that the change should take place at 100,000 miles or 10 years - whichever occurs first.
I also suggest he signs up to the FFOC and asks for advice there as a lot work for Ford and may be able to guide him better.
For what it's worth, I got my cambelt changed at a local indy (a friend) and they would not let me change it at 50,000 saying it was a waste of money and that it was guaranteed for mileage and time periods I specified above.
I've heard writing to Ford HQ also gets good reponses in these kind of sitations.
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The service advisor at my previous (large) Ford dealer told me in 2003 that the shortest mileage at which they had seen a petrol Mk1 Focus cambelt fail was approx 125,000.
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If Ford can make their Focus cambelts last 100K or 10 years, then why can't other manufacturers?
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If Ford can make their Focus cambelts last 100K or 10 years, then why can't other manufacturers?
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Well, Peugeot/Citroen HDi motors specify belt change at 100,000 miles - just done mine at 70k to be on the safe side and because the waterpump had a slight weep, didn't seem much point in putting the old belt back on - but it looked brand new and I'd be happy to leave it to 100k next time if the waterpump was okay.
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If Ford can make their Focus cambelts last 100K or 10 years, then why can't other manufacturers?
They probably could, but they may prefer not to have the additional cost that it would incur.
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Having just splashed out 550 pound for a dalmatian puppy i'm in the market for a estate car.
The focus seems very popular(and i like the looks)and ive phoned my local ford about cambelt changes as they seem to be due about the same time as our money dictates(80/100000).They have stated that they need changing at 100,000 or 10years but that seems like a long time to me.It would be nice but i cant see them coughing up,if something goes wrong on say a S(98)reg with about 90000 on the clock?
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Just budget a few hundred quid to get it done when you buy it. I always have a full service done when I buy a s.h car anyway just budget accordingly.
Jim
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You don't need an Estate just becuase you've got a dog - we used to have a Labrador and it was happy in the back of many hatchbacks with the parcel shelf removed.
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You don't need an Estate just becuase you've got a dog
Very true.
Ive already got a hatchback, just thought it would be nice to have a car that that the dog can scratch the bumper as he gets in, and i can take to the tip and generally just not care about.A clean it once a year(christmas) job
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MichaelR
You should NEVER carry a dog in a hatchback. Many manufacturers state quite plainly that only their estate cars are designed and safety-assessed for this purpose.
Hatchbacks luggage areas are rarely fully trimmed and can often contain sharp and protruding pins and edges. Have you given a thought to what a shattered hard-plastic shelf support would do to the poor mutt in an accident?
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If Ford can make their Focus cambelts last 100K or 10 years, then why can't other manufacturers?
They can't. Didn't you read the first post in this thread?
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I am the owner of the 2001 Y Reg Focus 1.6 which had the cam belt tensioner fail at 52,000 miles. So far 2 letters to Ford's Customer Relationship Centre in Glasgow have had no success. It their second reply they state "we can confirm that 10 years or 100000 miles is a service recommendation to have the cam belt inspected and is no way a warranty or guarantee of the performance of the component. Also the age of the vehicle now would prevent us from considering any assistance with the costs incurred" - the latter was £1,159. Any suggestions to whom I should now write?
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The head of Ford. I can't remember who or where that is but someone on the FFOC had shocking service, wrote to him and it was all sorted.
A Ford dealer lied to me. They gave me the excuse that it was out of warranty when the boot rusted. Little did I know at the time it's covered for either 6 or 12 (can't remember which) years with an anti-perforation warranty.
The only possible problem I can see with your issue is that the tensioner failed rather than the belt but I imagine it would all be covered.
You could always try ringing other Ford dealers and asking them (pretend it hasn't snapped) what the interval is.
You could also take it to the next level and pretend you're buying a Focus and ask what the the service interval is and is it guaranteed. That would be interesting.
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Am I correct that the 100k recommended interval applies only to the 1.8 and 2.0 and that the 1.4 and 1.6 have a shorter change interval?
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Sorry - typo - it is a 1.8 engine.
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Am I correct that the 100k recommended interval applies only to the 1.8 and 2.0 and that the 1.4 and 1.6 have a shorter change interval?
When I asked about cam belt changes my dealer said that for "black top" engines (which my 2.0 was) the interval was 100k or 10 years, so you may well be right about other engines being different.
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This blame culture knows no end.
In my opinion , life is fairly simple. if you buy a car outside of warranty and it breaks down its up to you to fix it.
If Motor companies have to fix every 5 year old car that has problems either
- they all go bust
- car prices go through the roof
- they recommend ridiculously short life ecpectancy to cover their backs, and 1000s of people waste 100s of pounds replacing things that don't need replacing, we get more landfill, more global warming and our grankids' grandkids die
You own a car , it broke down. I'm sorry , but that's life.
Better luck with the next one.
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That's a very good point Cheddar.
Truth is, I don't know. Given the wording of Ford's reply to eyton though....
I dunno. Needs checking though.
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10 years or 100k for the Yamaha engined Puma. Garage was vauge when I took a relative's car in but they checked the book.
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Must be the same for both types of engine then. Personally I would not take a cambelt beyond 50 to 60k or 5 years whatever the manufacturer says, it is just not worth the risk.
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There are thousands of non-mechanically minded Motorists who rely on the manufacturer recommendation for servicing , cambelts etc, Surely if the Manufacturer states 100,00 miles or 10 years then that should mean 100,000 miles or 10 years? yours is a rather simplistic view in my opinion?
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I'm no mechanical expert myself, but it is obvious to me that the 100,000 miles can only be a guide.
Someone could let rev the engine to the redline 24 hours a day without engaging gear or taking the handbrake off.
Someone could use wrong oil / fuel.
Someone could spend all their time driving up and down alpine passes in the wrong gear.
Someone could do their own 'maintenance'.
I don't see how we can expect Ford or anyone else to sort out all these problems.
They could say , recommended 50,000 miles but then the vast majority would change unnecessarilly.
The generally accepted 3 year warranty seems reasonable to me.
In a free society we have a choice, pay top dollar and have the reassurance of a warranty, or take our chances with an older car.
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This blame culture knows no end. In my opinion , life is fairly simple. if you buy a car outside of warranty and it breaks down its up to you to fix it. If Motor companies have to fix every 5 year old car that has problems either - they all go bust - car prices go through the roof - they recommend ridiculously short life ecpectancy to cover their backs, and 1000s of people waste 100s of pounds replacing things that don't need replacing, we get more landfill, more global warming and our grankids' grandkids die You own a car , it broke down. I'm sorry , but that's life. Better luck with the next one.
Load of old cobblers.
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> Load of old cobblers.
Good to know the art of debate and considered argument is alive and well.
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> Load of old cobblers. Good to know the art of debate and considered argument is alive and well.
looking4car - I agree with you, 100%.
As you say, if they quote a ridiculously short interval, we'd be wasting fortunes on early changes!
Things have a design life, and a warranty. They don't have a warranty as long as their design life - seems fair enough to me!
Neil
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Too tired, but everyone is entitled to my opinion. ;-)
If they say it doesn't need changing before the intervals shown, it should last that long. There is no intermediary stage, it either does it's job or not. It is either still functional after 99,999 miles or 9.999 years or it isn't. They set the 10 year/100k miles limit, after all. It's just an arbitary figure, not written in stone.
Still, they do a better job with belts than most other brands, from what I've read.
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Manufacturers recommend servicing a car every 10K (or whatever) miles, but that doesn't mean they guarantee it for that period between services. Nor can having it serviced regularly guarantee the engine will last absolutely for ever. It's simply a recommendation, nothing more. Sometimes it may fail in between services, as nothing can be 100% reliable, unless they build-in such over-engineered components as to be uneconomic.
When I worked for SKF bearings, the standard design load of the bearing was for 90% reliability. If you wanted a 95% reliability factor, the bearing would need to be about 4 times the size. For 99% reliability it was simply huge. Therefore, everyone we specced bearings for understood quite cleary that for something like a timing belt tensioner pulley to last 100K miles, 10% would fail early.
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Therefore, everyone we specced bearings for understood quite cleary that for something like a timing belt tensioner pulley to last 100K miles, 10% would fail early.
Indeed, as soon as you specifiy a rolling element bearing, typically specifying an L10 life, you are admitting the possibility of early failure in a proportion of the components you build - as Dave N says, there isn't a lot you can do about it. Some of the failures will be **very** early in the life of the part.
As the fatigue damage happens initially below the surface of the bearing races, sudden failure can happen with relatively little aforewarning.
Number_Cruncher
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I can sort of see your point - but my double glazed units were guaranteed for five years - I'd be very upset if they failed before they were ten, but I wouldn't expect free replacements if it was outside the guarantee. Likewise, I'd expect a well-driven, well-maintained diesel engine to last 250k miles at least, but although I'd expect that, if it puts a rod through the block after 4 years and 100k, it would be unreasonable, surely, to expect the manufacturer to contribute? the guarantee being 3 yrs, 60k? Likewise, spark plugs - the later sort with 60k change intervals. If one goes dead after 4 years and 50k, do you expect the maker to replace it, as it's under its stated service life, or not, because its out of warranty? I know what I'd expect, but maybe I'm being pessimistic?
Interesting!
I suspect if we insist they guarantee the service life, we'll be paying main dealers to change them every 24k - like on Pintos at one stage!
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Good points there, I guess you're right.
I was just thinking, they designed and built the things, not the owners. I was going to put something in about informed consent or something, but I'm far too tired to think up a way of making it appropriate. Maybe someone will see what I mean though!
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I've taken on board the recommendations on this site, and taken my 1999 75,000 mile Focus 1.6 to Ford Rapid Fit to have the belt changed today. I was told a tensioner did not come with the belt kit for this model, but they changed it anyway. The total cost was £200. Bearing in mind the official Ford belt and tensioner were used, I think at this price it isn't worth risking going to a non-Ford garage, and never quite knowing what parts have been used.
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The Ford Cambelt Kit DOES come with the tensioner and the two pulley wheels as well. Sounds like your Rapid Fit just used a separate cambelt and separate tensioner.
I do sincerely hope that they changed the pulley wheels too, because, from what I've read on this and other forums, they're the things that fail, rather than the belt and tensioner!
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>>I think atthis price it isn't worth risking going to a non-Ford garage, and never quite knowing what parts have been used.
And it's not worth buying Bosch wiper blades (those I bought have turned out to be rubbish) when you can get genuine Ford wiper blades for the same price. I've only just found out about the Ford price ~ if only I'd known before I bought the Bosch .....
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My Focus engine recently suffered a broken cambelt tensioner. To date the overall cost as a result of this item breaking before it's 10,000 mile warranty is £5500. The local Ford main dealer has confirmed this mileage in writing. If they have warranted it I see absolutely nothing wrong in expecting them to honour it! Otherwise whats the point of guarantees and warranties?
Does anyone know which address of Ford Motor Company would be the best to contact? They seem extremely cagey about advertising addresses and it's important to use the right one to contact them on.
{Some wording amended in this post. The author has been notified of these changes. DD}
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FORD MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED
EAGLE WAY,
BRENTWOOD,
ESSEX,
CM13 3BW
Have a look on the Companies House website.
Chris M
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