Questions about Oils

[Ms_Jam]

A couple of questions about oils for my manual WS Fiesta Zetec.

At the 3,000km inspection, I accepted the dealer's offer to change the engine oil (they were making no charge for labour), specifying a mineral oil, following advice I had read in these forums.

I am coming up to 7,500 km and I am thinking of putting in Castrol Edge 5W-30. Has anyone had any problems after doing this?

Looking at Castrol's website, I notice that they recommend Syntrans 75W/85 for the transmission of the WS Fiesta. Is this worth doing too? I was wondering whether this might help with the reverse gear problem. When the car was brand new, I had no trouble engaging reverse, but since about 2000 km it has become a pain more often than not. The dealer recommended the 3-second delay, which I notice others have recommended here. But often this doesn't work either.

So I'm wondering if changing the transmission oil would help. I seem to remember reading somewhere in these forums that someone had used a Red Line (?) oil in the clutch, but I can't find the post through the search engine. What do people here suggest? The Castrol Syntrans or something else?


A further small point is this. Looking up the specification in the little service guide booklet that came with the car, I see (p. 27) that it recommends SAE 70W-90 for the manual transmission fluid. Does it make any difference, for the purposes of my warranty, that Syntrans is 75W/85? Apologies is this is a dumb question.

[dannyhilton]

I asked my dealer about transmission oil at the 3000km service and they called me and said there would be absolutely no benefit in doing so, as the transmission had a nasty habit of not going into reverse. Instead I got a short throw shifter and it works a treat, hasn't done it once since putting that baby in. Not to mention shifts are shorter, it is more fluid and much quicker meaning no over rev from the engine as with the huge truck like lever standard in the WS Fiesta. I had Castrol Edge 5W-30 put in at 3000km, and while some have said it was a silly decision, I've had no negative effects from it. Someone said I should have waited till after 6000km or something, so you should be fine. Mind you Ford had no qualms putting this synthetic oil in at 3000km? I'm making my oil intervals 10,000km as my mates a mercanic and said that would be a good period for the engine.

Hope this helps

[greenfoam]

Originally Posted by Ms_Jam

A couple of questions about oils for my manual WS Fiesta Zetec.

At the 3,000km inspection, I accepted the dealer's offer to change the engine oil (they were making no charge for labour), specifying a mineral oil, following advice I had read in these forums.

I am coming up to 7,500 km and I am thinking of putting in Castrol Edge 5W-30. Has anyone had any problems after doing this?

Looking at Castrol's website, I notice that they recommend Syntrans 75W/85 for the transmission of the WS Fiesta. Is this worth doing too? I was wondering whether this might help with the reverse gear problem. When the car was brand new, I had no trouble engaging reverse, but since about 2000 km it has become a pain more often than not. The dealer recommended the 3-second delay, which I notice others have recommended here. But often this doesn't work either.

So I'm wondering if changing the transmission oil would help. I seem to remember reading somewhere in these forums that someone had used a Red Line (?) oil in the clutch, but I can't find the post through the search engine. What do people here suggest? The Castrol Syntrans or something else?


A further small point is this. Looking up the specification in the little service guide booklet that came with the car, I see (p. 27) that it recommends SAE 70W-90 for the manual transmission fluid. Does it make any difference, for the purposes of my warranty, that Syntrans is 75W/85? Apologies is this is a dumb question.

Redline gearbox oil should fix the reverse selection problem, it's a good oil. We still have the original oil and haven't crunched reverse for a while but have learned to jam it into some other gears in the box untill you get it all the way into reverse plus it's Summer so it's less of a problem at the moment. If you need to reverse next time you start the can then just selecting reverse after you stop while the box is still warm is one way around it. Cold mornings make it much harder to get reverse.

The good news is ours must have been crunched 50 times and it still works

[Ms_Jam]

Thanks, guys.

Would this be the right Red Line oil? I'm afraid I have no idea how to tell.

http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=46&pcid=7

I have to say the reverse gear problem is quite an irritation, for me at least.

Otherwise it is truly a great little car.

[Fiesta God]

When you want to reverse, put the car in neutral and then completely take your foot off the clutch. Give it a second, fully depress the clutch and gently guide reverse in.

Works fine for me this way.

I'm going to change the gear oil in a couple of weeks at the 15,000km service ... put Castrol Edge 5W-30 in at 7500kms ... will do it again at 15,000kms when the service is done ...

[b weetman]

how do you change the oil in a 07 fiesta manual gearbox. The box isnt designed to have the oil changed and its not in the maintenance schedule but i want to replace it with PENRITE 75w/90 SYNETHIC. Do you pump the oil out through the speedo connection or what?

[vhcbm]

Originally Posted by b weetman

how do you change the oil in a 07 fiesta manual gearbox. The box isnt designed to have the oil changed and its not in the maintenance schedule but i want to replace it with PENRITE 75w/90 SYNETHIC. Do you pump the oil out through the speedo connection or what?

I assume it is the same or very similar to the 09 as they both have a IB5 gearbox. The fill and drain are under the black cover on the side of the gearbox, you just take the cover off and you will see them.

The drain nut is in there all you have to do is undo it with a socket set or shifter. The fill hole is also in there however with the 09 I didn't have the appropriate Allen key (I believe the 07 is something different so I filled it through the sensor without any issues. Just fill it until it overflows, from memory it is roughly 2 litres.

Here is some pictures as a guide, make sure you drain it well, you can always flush it with engine oil or something cheaper. Good luck.

[Birth]

With regard to the type of oil - why don't we use the oil supplied by the manufacturer? Wouldn't the oil that the car is made with be the most appropriate?

[kiwijohn42]

My dealer would put in any old **** they had lying around.
I put in Castrol Edge.

[trumpy73]

Originally Posted by Birth

With regard to the type of oil - why don't we use the oil supplied by the manufacturer? Wouldn't the oil that the car is made with be the most appropriate?

Manufacturer recommendations regarding anything (not just oils) isn't always the BEST for a vehicle. It is based on several factors and driven by commercial considerations, none of which is necessarily in the best interest of the customer.

I would go with the manufacturer's recommendation as far as grade (thickness) of oil, however something like Castrol Edge synthetic would be better than the mineral oil they use.

If you plan to sell your car in a few years it probably doesn't make too much difference.

[Ms_Jam]

Following a source recommended somewhere in these forums, I had a mineral oil put into my WS Zetec manual at 3,000k; and then Castrol Edge at 8,000, and at all subsequent services.

The Castrol Edge made a noticeable difference and quietened the engine.

I have just done 60,000 km. The engine runs brilliantly and has lost none of its power (I have used only BP Ultimate 98). These days Castrol Edge is not inexpensive. But I have never had to top up the oil between services. That's a saving.

I figure I might have done something right!