Hi all,

So had my focus serviced last year as per the 2 year service schedule, all ok, no issues reported.

About a month ago, it went in for convenance check & MOT.  Car failed the MOT due to a battery leaking (major), I have to say was somewhat alarmed as the car was literally just under 3 years old and just over 21k on the car, the price to replace was high but I had no choice.  They then also advised the oil was a little low so they topped it up (unsure if this was to full mark or where) and advised I monitor it.

Now, on my previous Fords I had and other marks, I've never had to check the oil and nor has the garage (always main dealers to keep full service history) ever mentioned oil being low etc so I'm somewhat surprised the car is using oil as it only does approx. 7k miles a year and mostly city driving.

So anyone know what oil I should use, manual indicates SAE 5W20 but all I can find online is 5W20 E, some hard ford and Castrol and others are just Castrol.  I only wanted to buy 1L of it as suspect this maybe all I need to add.  I'm also dubious as to whether they did actually replace the oil last year as it had gone 2 years and then oil was changed and no mention then of it being low and its doing the same type of journeys since (to work and back as that's all the PCP agreement allows mileage wise as getting close to my limit initially but now had a bit of head room and I'm likely to keep it, although I'd sooner trade it in but can't afford to do that.)

I've also noticed when car is in traffic, the fumes from the back, not sure if its normal? but looking around not many other cars are doing it so unsure why mine is, its not black fumes etc

Thanks

Kev

 

Hi Kev,

For oil, check the manual for the spec. For example the 5W-20 the Ford WSS-M2C948-B spec should be written in the manual. Probably brand is less important as long as it is a known one. I also always have 1 liter with me, but I never had to top up except when I had a leaking timing chain cover which was resealed by Ford and cost covered by the Ford Protect warranty.

Regrading the fumes, I believe what you see are water vapours and not fumes like burnt  oil / coolant. I would find it strange the engine burning so much oil you see smoke and the MOT guys to just let it pass. 

23 hours ago, kev2011 said:

Car failed the MOT due to a battery leaking (major), I have to say was somewhat alarmed as the car was literally just under 3 years old and just over 21k on the car,

 

If it was a Ford Sealer/Service garage that carried out the MOT why didn't they change the battery under warranty?

On 2/22/2025 at 7:35 PM, kev2011 said:

About a month ago, it went in for convenance check & MOT.  Car failed the MOT due to a battery leaking (major), I have to say was somewhat alarmed as the car was literally just under 3 years old

Your profile says the car is a 2021 model. Even if it was registered in December 2021 it would still have been a full 3 years old in December 2024, and out of warranty.

13 hours ago, unofix said:

Your profile says the car is a 2021 model. Even if it was registered in December 2021 it would still have been a full 3 years old in December 2024, and out of warranty.

Two months into 2025 and I'm still thinking it's 2024...  

Although reading the OP again, it doesn't make sense.  Either the MOT is off or the servicing is off.  Says it had the 2-yearly service last year, which would make this the 3rd year, which would also explain the convenience check between 2nd and 4th years.

But if that was the case then the MOT must have been done at least a month late, even if registered at the end of Dec 2021.

 

16 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Two months into 2025 and I'm still thinking it's 2024...

Don't worry - I'm struggling with what day it is! Monday? 

Anyway, I note the topic heading says 2022. So if registered early in the year it could have hit MoT "about a month ago".

11 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

 

Don't worry - I'm struggling with what day it is! Monday? 

Anyway, I note the topic heading says 2022. So if registered early in the year it could have hit MoT "about a month ago".

Good spot!  So that would mean it was still within the 3 year warranty, and the battery should have been changed under warranty as it is defective.  (Leaking, not just low SOC due to lack of use).

Hi All,

Car was ordered in Aug 2021 and was actually delivered and collected end of Jan 2022 hence the MOT was due approx. 27 Jan and I got it MOT'd 24th Jan. 2 year service was done 24th Jan 2024.

Car has service plan but they advised I needed to pay for the battery so I presume the warranty never covered that?

Car was purchased at a Ford Dealership (Gates) and also serviced/MOT'd at the same place as car is on a PCP agreement which actually ends in April and I'll need to pay the remainder to keep it.

Sorry for any confusion caused, I thought the car was a 2021 Model year but it seems to be showing as a 2022 model.

Hope that clears up any confusion, thanks.

Any advise re the oil to purchase? I'm seeing a few 5w20 E but no 5w20 as advised in manual? but the 5W20 E does say meets WSS-M2C948-B so slight confusion.  As said some pics show Ford and Castrol on the bottle so to me means a good sign but some are just castrol on it's own. I see Amazon have a 5L bottle but I only want 1L bottle as I'm hoping to not be out there putting in 1L every 3 or 4 months, I'm hoping 1L will do for a year or more.

Kev

I've received a email regarding a customer survey and they are keen for me to reply with 5/5 so I've just replied asking if the battery should of been covered under warranty and if so, how do I get a refund, waiting to hear back.

Will let you know if I hear anything back.

Kev

On 2/23/2025 at 3:30 PM, RaduF86 said:

Hi Kev,

For oil, check the manual for the spec. For example the 5W-20 the Ford WSS-M2C948-B spec should be written in the manual. Probably brand is less important as long as it is a known one. I also always have 1 litre with me, but I never had to top up except when I had a leaking timing chain cover which was resealed by Ford and cost covered by the Ford Protect warranty.

Regrading the fumes, I believe what you see are water vapours and not fumes like burnt  oil / coolant. I would find it strange the engine burning so much oil you see smoke and the MOT guys to just let it pass. 

Thanks manual say SAE 5W20 Ford WSS-M2C948-B but the oils I'm seeing show 5W20 E, not sure what the E is and if that's ok or not? Hope so as seems to be a lot at different times.  Mainly when ideal i see the fumes and can be what seems a lot then it does down and when i move and stop say in traffic I see it again... and looking at other cars, I only maybe see 1 or 2 others doing it, most are not so rather curious why, is it pointing to a future issue that hasn't got bad enough yet? I don't believe its black smoke or at least I cannot see it if it is. Car passed MOT but I did notice I think it was lamda is 1.01 (whatever that means and it needs to be between 0.97-1.03) so not sure if this is normal or if mine is on the high side?

Fast Idle:
CO2 = 0.0% (needs to be below 0.2%)
HC =85ppm (needs be below 200ppm)
Lamda 1.01 (needs to be between 0.97-1.03)

Natural idle:
CO 0.0% (needs to be below 0.3%

No other mentions so I presume readings are all fine as passed, only slightly concern figure was the lamda maybe?

With the battery & oil etc, I'm kind of tempted to change the car but financially will be tough to make it work so trying to convince myself to just keep it for another year or two and then change...

Kev

8 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Good spot!  So that would mean it was still within the 3 year warranty, and the battery should have been changed under warranty as it is defective.  (Leaking, not just low SOC due to lack of use).

Thanks, I've sent them a email to find out so will see if get reply.

Kev

That lambda reading is ok.  It's very slightly lean (more air than fuel) but really not a concern.

85ppm of HCs is a lot though.  HCs are effectively burning oil so that could be part of the issue.  They can also be unburnt petrol.  The spark plugs and air filter are due at the 4th year service but you could change those early just to make sure it's burning as cleanly as possible if desired. 

Your car does have a GPF, petrol equivalent to a DPF, so that might be regenerating (burning the soot) when you see the exhaust fumes.

As for the oil, we have seen some signs that Ford are changing from 5w20 to 0w20, but for now I would stick to 5w20.  The Castrol stuff will be fine as long as it states the Ford spec, some of them have a Ford logo or a stop/start symbol just as branding on the bottle.

28 minutes ago, kev2011 said:

not sure what the E

Suitable for use in EcoBoom engines. It's supposed to help customers easily identify the oil for petrol engines with wet belts.

8 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

That lambda reading is ok.  It's very slightly lean (more air than fuel) but really not a concern.

85ppm of HCs is a lot though.  HCs are effectively burning oil so that could be part of the issue.  They can also be unburnt petrol.  The spark plugs and air filter are due at the 4th year service but you could change those early just to make sure it's burning as cleanly as possible if desired. 

Your car does have a GPF, petrol equivalent to a DPF, so that might be regenerating (burning the soot) when you see the exhaust fumes.

As for the oil, we have seen some signs that Ford are changing from 5w20 to 0w20, but for now I would stick to 5w20.  The Castrol stuff will be fine as long as it states the Ford spec, some of them have a Ford logo or a stop/start symbol just as branding on the bottle.

Thanks, so its 5W20 E ok to buy or stay away from the E?

My car is mainly used to drive to work each day so does 15mile trip each way and also sits in traffic so maybe the GPF doesn't get time to regen? At most it gets up to maybe 50 or 60 for 10-20mins tops and that's only if traffic is good and clear, rest of the time its 30/40 or 5-10mph if in slow moving traffic etc interesting, I thought 85pp wasn't too bad as said had to be below 200 so thought plenty of head room 🙂

Kev

"E" it is suitable for use in EcoBoost engines.

14 hours ago, kev2011 said:

Thanks, so its 5W20 E ok to buy or stay away from the E?

My car is mainly used to drive to work each day so does 15mile trip each way and also sits in traffic so maybe the GPF doesn't get time to regen? At most it gets up to maybe 50 or 60 for 10-20mins tops and that's only if traffic is good and clear, rest of the time its 30/40 or 5-10mph if in slow moving traffic etc interesting, I thought 85pp wasn't too bad as said had to be below 200 so thought plenty of head room 🙂

Kev

GPF regen works slightly differently to DPF regen.  They need frequent deceleration from high to low RPM to leave enough spare oxygen in the exhaust to burn the soot.  So it's not really about long motorway trips with these, they should regen better in variable speed traffic, as long as it's not all slow moving.

85ppm is obviously fine in terms of passing MOT, but that 200ppm limit is the same for all petrol cars since 1992...  So a 30 year old 3.0 petrol engine would also have to be below 200ppm, which makes your 3 year old 1.0 not look so good!  I wouldn't really expect to see any more than about 20/25 on a car of this age and engine.

HC's will be variable though, it's possible that the engine was just cold when the MOT was done (not best practice), but when we see fairly high HC's along with the suggestion of a low oil level that does raise some suspicion for me at least.

8 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

GPF regen works slightly differently to DPF regen.  They need frequent deceleration from high to low RPM to leave enough spare oxygen in the exhaust to burn the soot.  So it's not really about long motorway trips with these, they should regen better in variable speed traffic, as long as it's not all slow moving.

85ppm is obviously fine in terms of passing MOT, but that 200ppm limit is the same for all petrol cars since 1992...  So a 30 year old 3.0 petrol engine would also have to be below 200ppm, which makes your 3 year old 1.0 not look so good!  I wouldn't really expect to see any more than about 20/25 on a car of this age and engine.

HC's will be variable though, it's possible that the engine was just cold when the MOT was done (not best practice), but when we see fairly high HC's along with the suggestion of a low oil level that does raise some suspicion for me at least.

Thanks, I presume there isn't much i can do, I don't have a way of measuring HC myself so i can't tell if it was in regen phase or not, it was done towards end of Jan and was cold morning, not sure what time they did the MOT, but first one failed and then it passed after i agreed to battery so must of been maybe mid morning so prob not as cold then.

I guess will wait and see if next years MOT is different, assuming the service it first then do the MOT as opposed to do MOT and service as I will get them done at the same time so I'm hoping they service it, fix any issues and then put through MOT but who knows.  I know they used to do it that way but maybe it's changed as I've not had a Ford for about 6 or 7 years as i switched to a different make but that started to get expensive once service plan ran out and by sheer luck, used card prices were going up so i traded mine in whilst prices were going up.  Previous car was also a Diesel and there was growing rumours Diesels were going to be hit and as i am now driving into the city, I didn't want to be stung with a additional cost etc so traded and switch to petrol.

Kev

Just had a look on Fords site and see they do a extended warranty, went through it, seems they want £523.20 for it, with £300 excess.  Worth doing or not? I get gold coverage, mot insurance, aa road side assistance and multimedia.  I never took ford extended warranty's before but just wondering if worth it on ecoboost engines?

Kev

 

56 minutes ago, kev2011 said:

I get gold coverage, mot insurance, aa road side assistance and multimedia.

That's a lot of words but what does £523.20 actually provide, and for how long ?

• Gold Coverage, means exactly what ? Is it jus a fancy way of listing the 3 items below ?
• MOT insurance ?
• AA road side assistance, that's quite straight forward and easy to understand.
• Multimedia ?

Remember if you do have to make a claim, you have to pay out £300 first.

 

2 hours ago, unofix said:

That's a lot of words but what does £523.20 actually provide, and for how long ?

• Gold Coverage, means exactly what ? Is it jus a fancy way of listing the 3 items below ?
• MOT insurance ?
• AA road side assistance, that's quite straight forward and easy to understand.
• Multimedia ?

Remember if you do have to make a claim, you have to pay out £300 first.

 

Here is the page: https://www.myfordprotect.co.uk/product-benefits.html

Lists components covered

MOT Insurance - looks to be they cover and repair/replace whatever caused the MOT failure so that it then passes.

Multimedia - Looks to the audio, satnav, ford sync screen (list shows on the website link above all the bits)

I can see it being worth it if a major issue happens and say wants a 2k repair bill but chances of that? unclear.  It doesn't specifically say Wet Belt but it does say Timing belt so maybe timing belt covers wet belt? Not sure on chances of that going but I have heard of some going at sub 30k miles so slightly worrying but not expecting mine to go but who knows... I wasn't expecting the HC to be on high side as mentioned above. I guess would give peace of mind but the excess is a little high but if i lower it to say £150 excess, then the cost jumps to £690... I know on some makes of cars, the extended warranty is a no brainer due to the cost of labour and the parts, it's worth doing but unsure on Fords as has been a while since I had one so unsure how much the labour etc has gone up now. I know I was surprised at the £360 battery charge to replace mine (although as I got service plan i got a small discount on the price), I was expecting maybe £250 tops but clearly not.

Kev

So as I kind of suspected, listing 'MOT insurance' and 'Multimedia' is in fact counting the same cover twice as both would be included under the Gold Coverage as part of the normal extended warranty. So the question you have to ask yourself is: During the warranty period do you expect to have repairs that exceed £823.20 ?

If yes, then take out the warranty.

If no, then save the £823.20 (that includes your excess) put in a piggy bank and keep it to pay towards future repairs.

11 hours ago, kev2011 said:

I know I was surprised at the £360 battery charge to replace mine (although as I got service plan i got a small discount on the price), I was expecting maybe £250 tops but clearly not.

You need to buy yourself a 10mm spanner.

My battery change (which was a better battery) cost me just under £120 and took less than 30 minutes to fit.

22 minutes ago, unofix said:

You need to buy yourself a 10mm spanner.

My battery change (which was a better battery) cost me just under £120 and took less than 30 minutes to fit.

Got mine done at Halfords for about £120. Halfords membership gives you free fitting and discounts on products (including batteries, tyres, etc)

UK Ford labour rates seem to be around £120-£180 on average.  They vary across the country so you would have to check with yours specifically.

Personally I've never taken out any warranty, doesn't seem like good value to me, though I used to do my own work and knew the cheapest ways to have things repaired.  However, with things like expensive LED headlights, Powershift gearboxes and panoramic rooves on recent cars, the warranty could be worth the risk in some cases.  As you have the chain driven engine, there is only a small wetbelt for the oil-pump.  We have seen a few of these fail, but really not many, and certainly not enough for me to think that there's a high chance of failure within the extended warranty period.  My opinion is that you'd be better off putting the money into a savings account, and adding the cost of one excess for each year that you don't need any repairs.  That way you've got it if you need it, but haven't lost it if you don't.

Thanks all.

I could of done myself but on a different make, I needed one and they said it need to be "programmed" with the car so had to pay as needed specific equipment to do it plus was more expensive as its start/stop battery (AGM?), on a much older car, I remember buy one one for about £90 and fitting it and then entering in the code for the radio and that was it, however on these new "high tech" cars, it seems more involved, plus as it was leaking and a MOT failure, I'd not be able to drive it back to take elsewhere so I didn't have much choice as needed the MOT to remain legal.

I'm tempted to give it a miss, mine is the 1.0 1.23bhp engine with auto gear box (they have stopped doing this engine size on the current model, its now only 155 auto. Not sure why, maybe they realised issues or not worth it? or just to reduce number of offerings as I believe they are phasing out the Focus now and this current one that is out now, will be the last iteration?  My dad changed his car recently for the newer shape one.  Also auto but he has the leaver to put in drive/park etc, I have the round rotary dial.

Kev