If you own a Ford Focus or EcoSport from between model years 2016 and 2022, you may want to head to the dealership. Ford has issued a new recall over models equipped with the brand’s signature EcoBoost engine. The recall affects the 2016-2018 Ford Focus and the 2018-2022 Ford EcoSport equipped with the 1.0-liter EcoBoost inline-3 and 6F15 automatic transmission.
According to the release put out by the NHTSA, the problem is a defect with the tensioner arm for the oil pump drive belt:
The engine oil pump drive belt tensioner arm may fracture, separate from the tensioner backing plate, and/or the oil pump drive belt material may degrade and lose teeth, resulting in a loss of engine oil pressure.
If the engine loses oil pressure because of this, the engine could seize up and lead to everything from a loss of power to catastrophic damage, or worse, a vehicle wreck. NHTSA says approximately 139,730 Focus and EcoSport models are affected. The fix for the affected cars will come in the form of a replacement drive pump belt that will “have updated material properties to prevent the drive belt material from degrading or losing teeth.”
Once parts become available Ford will start to notify owners by mail, giving them the go-ahead to take their vehicle to the dealer for the fix. Until then, if you own one of these things, the NHTSA says look out for the warning signs of failure: oil or check engine light, loss of engine power or, of course, loud noises coming from the engine.
This comes nearly two years after Ford recalled more than 345,000 cars equipped with the 1.5-liter EcoBoost for a defect that caused at least 8 fires. Additionally, in October NHTSA expanded an existing probe into more than 700,000 EcoBoost-equipped Ford and Lincoln models over “catastrophic engine failure.”