XR4 Gearbox warning

[oemdenied]

We as a performance Ford workshop get asked quite often why the Fiesta XR4 gearbox fails if driven hard or if the engine has been mildly tuned.

The answer is because of its oil.
The gearbox is designed to be "fill for life" just like the Focus XR5/RS 6 speed gearbox. But unlike the Focus gearbox the fiesta does not have a drain plug so in 99% of cases the oil never gets changed.
If you own an XR4 the best thing you can do for your car is change the oil!!
The only way to do this without removing the entire gearbox is to remove a driveshaft, and suck as much oil out as you can through the driveshaft seal opening and through the fill plug.
The fill plug is located behind the plastic trim which cover the gear cable connections at the front of the gearbox. It is a 8mm allen key bung.

The most recent one we did was on an XR4 that had been driven normally its whole life by a young girl. Her father bought the car off her and brought it to us for power upgrades to the engine. We inspected the gearbox oil before we started modifying the engine and at a mere 96000km the oil was heavily burnt and if left would have caused failure very shortly when combined with the increased power. Now its been changed and is getting a serious workout by the owner.....still going strong

Hopefully we have saved a few gearboxes by sharing

[Pursya]

We'll done guys.
Is there any way to retro fit a plug so changing the oil can become part of scheduled servicing?

[oemdenied]

Originally Posted by Pursya

We'll done guys.
Is there any way to retro fit a plug so changing the oil can become part of scheduled servicing?

Not unless you were to drill and tap the casing but that would require removal and full strip down to ensure no swarf remains inside :(
Gearbox removal & refit book time on an XR4 is 3.6 hours. Don't have a book time for strip down and re assembly but id estimate at around the 2 hour mark. If you were replacing the clutch because that had worn out then itd be worth it but otherwise cheaper to just pay a workshop the half labour to pull the drive shaft and suck it out every few services.

We have also started putting in a product that we back called SMT as a preventative measure. Out of all the reps we have had come in trying to sell us additives only one was happy to come back with a test rig and test all the oils we had on the shelf then restest with his additive. Takes a fair bit to impress us and we were impressed. If you are hard on the car and it sees track use we recommend Mainlube for the gearbox and engine. Its not cheap but we have been running it in our demo Focus RS (400+bhp) that sees the track often and have yet to have a failure

[zabatron]

Having owned a 2008 Xr4 since new,I can confirm from my own personal experience that the above statements regarding burnt oil in the gearbox are 100 per cent correct.Mine developed hard shifting at @ 38000km,and when I drained out the factory fill(for life!) gearbox oil(at around 39000km)it was thick, smelly and black,and very much burnt.Mine is now at 73000km,and having had 3 gearbox oil changes to try to find an oil that works well,is now shifting perfectly with Castrol syntrans 75w85.Most of the oil can also be drained by removing the selector interlock,just make sure gear selector is in neutral before removing,and apply suitable sealant to the thread when re-fitting.....And no i do not drive it gently.