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Ford Focus - 2003 Ford Focus TDCi - Oil - jimbo_the_jetset

Recently had a service at a local chain of garages.

Upon questioning the details on the invoice which showed the wrong type of oil, I was told that they had actually used Castrol Edge 5W40 oil. After a bit of internet research I have found out that this oil does not meet the required Ford specification and is classified as ACEA B4 which also does not meet the requirements as detailed in the owners manual.

Ford require either Ford oil, or that which meets the Ford specification or ACEA A1/B1 or A3/B3.

The garage say that they have serviced many makes and model of cars with this and have never had any problems and the EDGE oil is much better than say the 5W30 Magnatec that does meet the Ford spec and is recommended by Castrol when you put the vehicle details into their website.

Should I worry about having EDGE 5W40 in my car? Will it cause damage? Will it affect fuel ecomony (thicker at running temp = engine working harder)? Should I request that they put in oil which meets the specification or am I getting too fussy?

Ford Focus - 2003 Ford Focus TDCi - Oil - Collos25

Its better than the Ford oil whats your problem.

Ford Focus - 2003 Ford Focus TDCi - Oil - gordonbennet
This copied from Castrol's own site.


Q. I notice EDGE 5W-30 – can I use this for Ford engines?

A. No – Most Ford engines specify a 5W-30 Fuel efficient oil meeting WSS-M2C-913B/C and we recommend the use of Magnatec 5W-30 only. The exceptions are the Galaxy with the VW PD engine, and the latest Ford KA which should have Edge Turbo Diesel 5W-40 (VW 505.01 / FRD 917A specification.) and the latest Focus RS (refer to dealer)


Infortunately they don't give exact reasons why.

In theory the edge being fully synthetic is a better oil, it has the cold protection of 5W as does the specified oil.
There's no DPF to worry about on your car is there?

I'd like to see some expert answers to this one.