Owners take it to the media!

A member contacted me to say they have taken the engine issue into their own hands and submitted details to the media in the hope that Ford do something about it.

Engine failures tarnish Ford’s Focus RS halo hatchback

A rash of engine failures is causing anxiety amongst owners of the Ford Focus RS, a halo performance car in Ford’s model line-up introduced in South Africa in July 2016.

To date, AutoTrader has learned of at least seven South African-domiciled Focus RSs that have needed engine replacement, due to sudden loss of engine coolant and a misfire on engine start-up.

And the engine failures are not restricted to South Africa. On world-wide Focus RS owners forums, this problem has been a “hot” topic for some months. Focus RS owners in the USA, Germany and the UK, have reported similar problems.

Ford is “aware of the problem”

A Ford South Africa spokesperson said the following in reply to a detailed e-mail sent to its communications department, requiring answers to various aspects of these engine blow-ups:

“We’re aware of a small number of engine issues related to the Focus RS. We’re investigating currently and working to understand more about the issue.”

cylinder-head gaskets and cylinder block issues

The problem that has surfaced in number of RS engines seems to be in the areas of cylinder-head gaskets that are failing, and in some cases, cracks in the cylinder block. In both cases this allowed coolant to enter the combustion areas of the engine, causing coolant loss and potential damage to the internals of the engine. And this problem has occurred in some cases with the cars having covered less than 5 000 km!

It appears as if Ford, globally, are aware of a fundamental problem in at least certain batches of the 2,3-litre EcoBoost engine, which has been highly-tuned for its application in the very special and expensive Ford Focus RS.

Ford has replaced engines under warranty

Speaking to local RS owners who have had this problem, it appears that after a Ford representative has consulted with dealers where this fault has been reported, and the engines have been replaced with no intensive discussion between owners and Ford representatives.

Richards Bay RS owner, Siva Pillay, had his RS engine replaced having covered just over 4 000 km. Mr Pillay was satisfied with the accommodating attitude of the Ford representatives, who replaced the engine under warranty. But he was annoyed that he was told he would need to pay for a replacement clutch, as this was a “wear-and-tear item, not covered under the standard Focus RS 4 year/120 000 km warranty.”

“I refused to do this, as I argued that it was ridiculous to suggest that a clutch plate should only last 4 000 km. I asked that the original clutch be reinstalled with the new, replacement engine.  This in fact happened. Now the clutch has started to slip badly, which I feel is not acceptable. This car was sold specifically as a performance car. At the launch, specific mention was made about its suitability as a track-day car!”

Another owner who needed an engine replacement on his RS after covering just 14 500 km, was Gauteng-based Norman Koekemoer, who runs a large transport business.

“The car started misfiring on start-up, and it lost engine coolant. I took the car in to Basil Green Ford in Edenvale, and after consultation with a Ford service manager, the engine was replaced under warranty. It was also requested that I replace the clutch on my car at my own cost at this stage, but I refused. I measured the clutch plate and proved that there had been only five per cent ware on the plate, so the same clutch was reinstalled.”

Full artcile can be seen at: http://www.autotrader.co.za