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Why I don’t do car engine maintenance any more

I too am from a generation that did points gapping/cleaning spark plugs oil changes etc etc but recently I had to change an air filter in a Peugeot but found myself using You Tube to see how to get to it!
 
My Ford truck has the 3.2L 5-cylinder diesel engine and my wife's Ford Mustang has the 2.3L 4-cylinder EcoBoost engine. I no longer bother with doing any of the maintenance myself.

Andy, if the motor is the 1.5L EcoBoost, you should do some research on it before buying. My neighbor bought a 2025 Ford Focus with this engine, and the car was at the dealer more than it was in his garage for various recurring engine issues. I didn't bother to ask what the issues were, but eventually, the dealer took the car back and he bought a BMW.
 
That looks like it should be bolted onto something at Cape Canaveral.

Years ago a guy at work had a Toyota Supra and was tinkering with it at lunchbreak,he dropped a socket down into the engine bay and it was never seen again.
By contrast the old Morris 1000 I was clattering around in had an engine bay that you could almost climb into and stroll around.
I replaced the cambelt on my Citroen last year which took only around two minutes.
Plus of course the half day it took to access it.
 
Mike said:
My Ford truck has the 3.2L 5-cylinder diesel engine and my wife's Ford Mustang has the 2.3L 4-cylinder EcoBoost engine. I no longer bother with doing any of the maintenance myself.

Andy, if the motor is the 1.5L EcoBoost, you should do some research on it before buying. My neighbor bought a 2025 Ford Focus with this engine, and the car was at the dealer more than it was in his garage for various recurring engine issues. I didn't bother to ask what the issues were, but eventually, the dealer took the car back and he bought a BMW.
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Thanks Mike, it is an ecoboost, 3 cylinder, 1 litre turbo, 125 bhp (ch here).
yes there are some less than favourable reviews out there. With our list of requirements the alternatives are non existent. More and more manufacturers no longer making petrol engine variants. I'd have another VW Caddy but they no longer do a suitable variant with opening rear windows and missus is against diesel.
There is always a risk of getting a "Friday" car as we used to call them.
 
What are these engine things. Spark plugs? What are these things you speak of? There is a frunk in the space you mention. I moved to electric 8 years ago. No maintenance needed.
However they still do Friday cars. My current Audi is a nightmare. But so far the problems have been human error related not technology such as parts wired the wrong way around.
 
AndyP said:
I can’t even find the spark plugs. There are 3 of them in there somewhere
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They use coil on plugs, remove the coils and down a deep hole you find the spark plug.

I would run a mile from a three cylinder ecoboost engine, they are a small capacity engine producing a lot of power for it's size and so are always working hard. The 1500cc is better than the 1000cc but they also have a wet belt to drive the cams which is itself a disaster, who runs a rubber belt in hot engine oil and I believe that some later models have reverted back to a chain. Do a search for what you are looking at buying and see what people are saying, there is a lot of garages giving good feedback.
 
Is that the EcoBoom, with the wet timing belt which degrades and clogs the oil pick-up? I would steer clear, if so.

Post crossed with Spectric saying the same thing.
 
As said Andy the Ford wet belt system gets some terrible reviews.

My daughter has exactly that engine in her 70 plate Fiesta and it's the mild hybrid. It's pretty nippy for a small engine and she loves it and to date has had no issues. I don't know what her petrol consumption is but most be ok 'cos she doesn't complain about it.
 
From what I have read the wet belt system has been replaced by chain now on the ecoboost engines for a few years now.
Edit… since 2018
Reports I have read suggest that regular servicing, especially correct oil change, should prevent a lot of the earlier reported problems.
Without wishing to start a flame war on the merits of electric vs ICE I am not ready to move away from ICE yet.
Our needs for a spacious boot; interior height greater than 105cm in a vehicle where overall height is less than 185cm restricts our options somewhat.
MrsP does not want diesel and wants proper opening windows in the back. The ford Torneo Courier is the only one (I have spent weeks searching) to fit the bill.
Horror stories on the interweb will always out weigh the satisfied customers.
I am no petrol head; speed, acceleration, performance are of little interest.
As for buying a pre 2004 banger; I would like a reasonable expectation of reliable fault free motoring for at least another 10 years by which time my requirements would have changed and electric will have improved enough to meet my needs.
I could keep my 2012 VW Caddy Maxi and run it into the ground but I no longer need a 7 seater and bits are beginning to fail.
Buying a new car is always a risk, what ever make .

Back in day FORD was an acronym for either Found On Road, Dead, or Ffing Old Rubbish from Dagenham. I think they have improved a lot since then.
 
We have a 125 bhp 3 cylinder 1l ecoboost in a Ford focus, and a 125bhp 750cc 4 cylinder in a Kawasaki.

The correct oil regularly is the key with the ecoboost.

Pete
 
The four plugs in my Yamaha 1900cc v twin were such a pig to to get to I changed them for iridium ones, they last longer and don't soot up.
 

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AndyP said:
.....

Back in day FORD was an acronym for either Found On Road, Dead, or Ffing Old Rubbish from Dagenham. I think they have improved a lot since then.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of the airline acronyms

BA Bloody Awful
Sabena Such A Bad Experience Never Again
SAS Same As Sabena

:)
 
I had an epiphany last night. For weeks I have been looking for a car that we can fit a few objects in the boot as we do now.
A folding wheelchair for example is not easy for the missus to lay down and place in a conventional boot. Holding the weight while moving it forward requires some strength. Much easier if it is folded but remains upright. Now if said wheelchair is folded and laid on its back rather than upright it is just as easy to move but is 10cms less tall.
Daughter also rides ponies and needs a specific saddle rather than the ones available at the pony club. Trolley I made some time back to transport the saddle and other tack is tall but I have thought of a way to redesign it.
All this means we can look again at what the missus wanted in the first place. A more normal and refined car rather than a converted van.
VW Touran, which we viewed and dismissed, is now back in range. More conventional engine too.
 
AndyP said:
From what I have read the wet belt system has been replaced by chain now on the ecoboost engines for a few years now.
Edit… since 2018
Click to expand...
Good. The other problem is, the oil pump drive was also a wet belt, so it may be worth checking they altered that, too.
 
AndyP said:
Back in day FORD was an acronym for either Found On Road, Dead, or Ffing Old Rubbish from Dagenham. I think they have improved a lot since then.
Click to expand...
We used to say "Fix Or Repair Daily" and they have improved in some areas but they look better now because many others have dropped down the league table to there level. The problems were annoying but not costly and could be fixed easily, now you get very costly and often only fixed by specialised garges and main dealers.

The wet belts are still found in certain models, but I think they are on the way out because someone realised that it was a really stupid idea.
 
AndyP said:
I had an epiphany last night. For weeks I have been looking for a car that we can fit a few objects in the boot as we do now.
A folding wheelchair for example is not easy for the missus to lay down and place in a conventional boot. Holding the weight while moving it forward requires some strength. Much easier if it is folded but remains upright. Now if said wheelchair is folded and laid on its back rather than upright it is just as easy to move but is 10cms less tall.
Daughter also rides ponies and needs a specific saddle rather than the ones available at the pony club. Trolley I made some time back to transport the saddle and other tack is tall but I have thought of a way to redesign it.
All this means we can look again at what the missus wanted in the first place. A more normal and refined car rather than a converted van.
VW Touran, which we viewed and dismissed, is now back in range. More conventional engine too.
Click to expand...
Can recommend a VW Touran, we have a Diesel and it’s a good reliable workhorse, it’s the second one we’ve had,the first was rolled 5 times by my wife, all the airbags went off every panel crumpled, a builders bag of bits collected from across the slope she went down BUT she climbed out the passenger window with barely a bruise. Typical Pam she asked the people who stopped to help if they could help to put it back on its wheels so she could drive away. Paramedic persuaded her to get a hotel room.
Can’t quite get an 8x4 in the back but it certainly can carry a lot.

IMG_3637.jpegIMG_3636.jpegIMG_3633.jpeg
 
Wow Ian that must have exciting. I do still want the space the Touran offers although no need for the 7 seater anymore. The Touran also offers 80kg nose weight on the tow bar, useful for the bike rack and 3 bikes.
 
I know they don't make them anymore, but if you can find a low mileage model, a Skoda Yeti might suit. It has an OK boot, but with the back seats down, it's huge. The seats even then roll forward giving more room, and then they can even come out! And the boot floor is level with the opening when you open the tailgate. I recently got a friends walker in and out for a week, without the seats down. I've done over 120k miles in ours. I would recommend diesel, the 2.0l, because it gives me 60mpg on long runs and not much less with mixed journeys. But friends also recommend the petrol.


Yeti
 
Malc2098 said:
but if you can find a low mileage model, a Skoda Yeti might suit. It has an OK boot,
Click to expand...
Just avoid the 4x4 as they can be a nightmare when they go wrong. EGR on 2WD is straightforward but on the 4x4 it is a time consuming job with complications that result in big bills.
 
2 years in, I can recommend the 2018 Volvo V40 T3 petrol that I found for the wife, after many debacles with a Discovery 3 and 4.

The criteria were:
Easy to work on (I do all the maintenance/repairs).
Low mileage.
Petrol.
Not from the North of Scotland (rust). Ours was shipped up from Birmingham.

Sadly, no more diesels for me. The emissions stuff they now bolt on seriously reduces their reliability. In contrast, my older Td5 Defender diesel, which doesn’t have any of that, is the most reliable car I’ve ever owned (17 years and counting).
 
AndyP said:
I had an epiphany last night. For weeks I have been looking for a car that we can fit a few objects in the boot as we do now.
A folding wheelchair for example is not easy for the missus to lay down and place in a conventional boot. Holding the weight while moving it forward requires some strength. Much easier if it is folded but remains upright. Now if said wheelchair is folded and laid on its back rather than upright it is just as easy to move but is 10cms less tall.
Daughter also rides ponies and needs a specific saddle rather than the ones available at the pony club. Trolley I made some time back to transport the saddle and other tack is tall but I have thought of a way to redesign it.
All this means we can look again at what the missus wanted in the first place. A more normal and refined car rather than a converted van.
VW Touran, which we viewed and dismissed, is now back in range. More conventional engine too.
Click to expand...
1.6 or 2.0 TDI are good.
1.4t petrol good also..
 
Sheffield Tony said:
Mine's a very late 2018 Focus, it has a timing chain, but still a wet belt for the oil pump. I suppose you get a few more seconds before catastrophe.
Click to expand...
I would get that changed, which I think would require removing the timing chain. At the very least, I’d be dropping the sump to inspect and clean the oil pump pick-up strainer.
 
Off to see the Touran again on Friday. petrol version is now 1.5tsi, we’ve made do with the 1.2tsi in the Caddy for 12 years,
 
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