I have seen ritualised vandalism masquerading as servicing at Ford dealerships over the years. I strongly believe that the three cylinder Ecoboost is a very fine engine but it is too delicate to be serviced by Ford.

A Ford service is little more than an oil and filter change, if you're lucky. It is money for old rope and lots of it. You will do a better job yourself.

You need a close fitting six sided thirteen millimetre 3/8 socket and a suitable  flexible jointed bar to move it, about 30cm long. Two ramps with extensions to raise the car. Two stout blocks of wood about 7x7x25cm to act as wheel chocks for when the car is on ramps and finally an oil filter wrench. The screw up kind with a steel strap are fine for this and cost around a fiver.     There is your fifty quid spent and now, for no more effort than undoing and tightening a couple of screws, you can change your own oil. Most of us who can already do so, this is for you if you have bought an Ecoboost and want it to last and, more importantly, want to know that it will last. The right oil is vital but Ford don't care about YOUR car, so they use whatever is cheapest because they can't get anything that costs less. This is why you do a better jobThe real Castrol is yours, delivered for about £26 and a genuine Ford oil filter with a new bolt won't be more than £10. That is cheap enough to do once a year, it takes less than an hour and it really requires no more skill than pouring beer.  Your engine has a far, far better chance of  being reliable, which is why you should be doing it.

So think about it.  You are reading this because you are more interested in your car than the average owner. Most people used to do this for themselves years ago. It was part of owning a car, like changing a wheel. We are being encouraged to mend our own stuff these days and if the price in terms of money doesn't encourage you to do this, then  knowing that it has been done and properly, just might.

Couldn't agree more.  I've been doing the job you describe since 1962.

I always do my own oil changes so I know it’s done right. But on my previous fiesta I stripped the thread in the sump (steel sump on 1.6tdci). I’m now more careful about not over tightening it.  But the specified torque just does not feel enough to me. 

Wise advice. ALL Ecoboost engines are very hot running as a part of the design intent. The oil is not just lubricating the rotating bits, it’s also cooling and absorbing a lot of the byproducts of combustion along with some moisture and the inevitable tiny pieces of bearing surfaces and such that are part of the wear process.

I use fully synthetic Castrol oil and Motocraft filters. I looked at the ford recommended service intervals and halved them. From most of the other Ecoboost engines that I have seen in tear down there is a lot of sludge accumulation on the back side of the intake valves and other areas are heavily varnished. Not unlike what you see on a kitchen pan that was left on the hot stove top. I am not a chemist. But, to my eyes the oil is basically being cooked in the Ecoboost engines. The general consensus is that the engine must run hot to operate cleanly. Ok. That would explain why the temperature sensors are so heavily buffered in their ability to make the distinction between the normal  “damn hot” and the abnormal “overheating and burning down”.

I also flush the coolant out annually and replace the coolant reservoir on a three year basis. The coolant reservoir on the modern Fiesta are a time bomb. Fortunately, they are not expensive or difficult to replace.

I have developed a routine for the maintenance of the numerous electrical ground connections that involves the initial cleaning, tighten and sealing the connections with plain old Vaseline petroleum jelly. It seems to work well. The overwhelming number of electrical issues that appears on the modern car where a given feature or component either fails to operate or becomes sketchy or glichy is oftentimes due to a unreliable source of current. Bad grounding connections are also responsible for many of the false MIL that people are experiencing. Because the various electrical components require a stable electrical power supply. When that supply is interrupted or reduced the system will register the issue as a failure.

that is my shared collection of wisdom on maintaining the modern Fiesta or other cars

On 1/31/2023 at 7:51 PM, Freddy42 said:

I've been doing the job you describe since 1962.

surely you must be nearly finished it by now ? 🤔

1 hour ago, unofix said:

surely you must be nearly finished it by now ? 🤔

Not quite.  These STs demand endless attention!