NHTSA Complaint #11622963 — 2018 FORD FOCUS

This complaint is related to an existing recall for the 1.0L Ecoboost engine in 2016-2018 Ford Focus models. As stated in Recall 23V-905 , "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. A loss of engine oil pressure can result in engine damage or seizure, which can result in a loss of motive power and a loss of the mechanical vacuum pump required to provide power braking assist, increasing the risk of a crash. The oil pump drive belt tensioner arm retention caulking joint is not robust to the vibration experienced by the component over time, which can cause arm separation. The tensioner arm can contact the engine balancer shaft, which can cause the tensioner arm to fracture. A greater than expected load on the oil pump drive belt may result in belt degradation. Ford’s engine design verification testing did not adequately represent the load on the oil pump tensioner system experienced in the vehicle." This recall is written to apply only to 2016-2018 Ford Focus with the 1.0L Ecoboost paired to the automatic transmission - exempting the same car equipped with the manual transmission, even though it has the same faulty engine with faulty oil pump drive belt tensioner. It seems like a miss to not include the manual transmission variant of the same vehicle & engine combination, as the same safety hazards resulting from an oil pump tensioner failure exist! This cause of catastrophic engine failure should be corrected for both the manual and automatic transmission variants of the 2016-2018 Ford Focus 1.0L Ecoboost.