I wanted to do an oil change on both (2003 mk1 Focus 1.6 petrol manual), the handbook says gearbox spec is (type A) EDS-M2C 186A and power steering is WSA-M2C 195-A but I'm struggling to find oils that mention those specs. I put the reg details into Castrol's oil finder search engine and it came up with the below

Gearbox - Castrol TRANSMAX Manual Multivehicle 75W-90

Steering - Castrol TRANSMAX ATF Z

Just wanted to confirm these are decent choices to go with. Also, gearbox data says 2.3l capacity but I can't find a capacity for power steering, any idea how much I need to buy to flush that out?

Thanks.

I don't know about your requirements specifically, I haven't looked into them, but the specs do sometimes get replaced with newer versions, which may be why you're having trouble. For instance the engine oil spec for my 2008 Focus is WSS-M2C913-B according to the Haynes manual, but at some point they came out with WSS-M2C913-C which is backwards compatible and essentially has replaced it, and then now WSS-M2C913-D.

Right, is there anywhere to see updated standards do you know?

As far as I know, the Mk1 1.6 Petrol gearbox has no drain plug.

The Mk2 1.6 Petrol IB5 box doesn't. It was intended to be filled at the factory for the life of the car. It has to be drained using a suction tube through the filler hole or by removing one of the drive shafts.

It does have a bolt that looks like a drain plug that is actually holds part of the gearbox internals in place. Removing it can apparently dislodge part of the box internally. If this happens, the box will have to be removed and taken apart to put it right.

Something worth being aware of if you didn't already know.

Oh Christ, that's good to know....do you know what they consider 'for life' mileage to be?  is it worth the hassle of changing if there isn't an issue?

50 minutes ago, Loofer said:

Oh Christ, that's good to know....do you know what they consider 'for life' mileage to be?  is it worth the hassle of changing if there isn't an issue?

I doubt they were expecting them to last over 20 years... 

However, most will have had a clutch or driveshaft fail in that time, so the gearbox will have been either partially or fully drained and refilled for those jobs anyway.

Personally I wouldn't change the oil on this particular gearbox unless there is a noticeable issue.

Regarding current specs, only Ford have access to those.  So you would need to ask someone who works for Ford.

Ok, thanks for the info.

On 6/19/2024 at 10:07 AM, Loofer said:

do you know what they consider 'for life' mileage to be?

I am sure I once read that car manufacturers define useful life as 10 years old or 100k miles.

It is still worth removing the gearbox filler plug with the car on a level surface and checking the gearbox oil level.

 

As for your earlier question about the power steering fluid, in my opinion the easiest way to do that is a gradual flush.

Buy 1l of fresh fluid. Empty car's steering fluid reservoir with syringe and tube. Fill with fresh fluid to correct level. Drive the car as normal for a week or two.

Repeat this until the litre of fresh fluid is gone.

I seem to remember the reservoir holds around 160ml. You will get around 6 full refills from a 1l bottle of new fluid.

You can do another litre if it still looks dirty.

This means that none of the steering system hose connections have to be removed if not leaking. They can start to leak once removed and replaced.