A guide to the best oil for your Ford Fiesta

Engine oil can be a tricky subject to navigate. There are so many different grades and brands out there that it can be difficult to determine what’s right to put in your engine. Additionally you need to consider whether you’ve got a petrol or diesel, what kind of engine your car has, as well as whether you should be forking out more money for a more expensive brand.

In this article, we’re going to go through everything you need to know about choosing the right kind of oil for your Ford Fiesta. We’ll look at which engine you might have, whether you should be spending more money on premium oil, and more importantly, how often you should be changing your oil to ensure your car lasts as long as it should.

A bit about me if you don't already know - I'm Marcus and I've been a mechanic for over ten years. I've done more oil changes on the Fiesta than I can count, and my brother owns one that I look after. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to Ford Fiesta engine oil!

Knowing which engine you have 

The engine you have fitted to your car is more important than the car itself when it comes to choosing your engine oil. Different generations of the Fiesta were fitted with different types of engine, so you need to ensure that you know which engine you have in order to choose the right oil. It’s not enough to say for example “I have a 2015 Fiesta, so it needs this kind of oil” - you need to know which engine you have, irrespective of the car or model year.

Let’s look at why we need engine oil and why we need to change it. Engine oil serves two purposes. Mainly, your engine oil lubricates parts inside your engine. If it didn’t, the valves and pistons would expand due to the heat and friction generated by their movement and your engine would weld itself together. Engine oil also takes some of the heat away from the moving parts as well as providing lubrication (although this process is largely taken care of by your cooling system.)

Engine oil over time becomes contaminated with impurities, which can reduce its ability to lubricate the moving parts in your engine. Leave it too long before an oil change and you’ll find the oil has turned to a thick, viscous sludge. This is why it’s important to change out your oil on a regular basis - generally every 10,000 miles or every year.   

Grade and Brand

A lot is made of oil brands, and most of it is marketing jargon. For example, certain oils claim they have cleaning agents or are formulated to provide extra protection to the inside of your engine. This may well be the case, but in terms of any impact you might actually notice on your car’s performance, this is likely to be negligible.

As a mechanic of over ten years who’s had to do some well overdue oil changes on customer’s cars, I would say that it’s far better to use a cheap oil and change it out more frequently than it is to use expensive oil and not change it as often. If you want to protect the internals of your engine better, then it may make sense to use a premium oil like Shell, Castrol or Mobil, but irrespective of how good the oil you’ve used is, it still needs to be changed at regular intervals.

The grade of oil you need to use in your car is also very important. The grade refers to how thick or viscous the oil is. You will see figures such as 5W-30 - you don’t really need to know exactly what this means in order to change your oil, just that it’s thicker than an 0W-20 oil and thinner than a 10W-40 oil. In all honesty don’t worry too much about this - just make absolutely sure you match the oil grade your car needs to the oil you buy - if your car needs 5W-30, then buy 5W-30 - don’t put anything else in your car.

The correct oil for your Ford Fiesta

In this section we’ve gone through every engine fitted to the Mk7 and Mk8 Ford Fiesta. If you don’t know what engine you have, you should look in your owner’s manual. If you can’t find any information on this in your owner’s manual, call your local Ford dealer and give them your registration - they will be able to tell you which engine you have.

Very important - we’re only talking here about engines fitted to the Mk7 Fiesta and later. We have not covered the Mk6 Fiesta, or any Fiesta prior to 2008. For absolute clarity, the two cars we refer to here look like this:

If your Fiesta looks anything like this, it’s not covered here. However, a similar engine may be fitted to it, so make sure you check your owner’s manual for the type of oil you need. If, for example, you need 5W-30, any of the recommendations for 5W-30 oil here will be fine.

Petrol - 2009 onwards

1.0L Duratec I3 (2013 - onwards) 

Grade: 5W-20

Recommended Brand: Castrol MAGNATEC Professional 5W-20 Engine Oil

1.0L EcoBoost (2013 - onwards) 

Grade: 5W-20

Recommended Brand: Castrol MAGNATEC Professional 5W-20 Engine Oil

1.5L Duratec (2013 - onwards) 

Grade: 5W-20

Recommended Brand: Castrol MAGNATEC Professional 5W-20 Engine Oil

1.6L EcoBoost (2013 - onwards) 

Grade: 5W-20

Recommended Brand: Castrol MAGNATEC Professional 5W-20 Engine Oil

1.25L Duratec (2008 - onwards) 

Grade: 5W-30

Recommended Brand: Castrol MAGNATEC Professional A5 5W-30 Motor Oil

1.4L Duratec (2008 - onwards) 

Grade: 5W-30

Recommended Brand: Castrol MAGNATEC Professional A5 5W-30 Motor Oil

1.6L Duratec (2010 - onwards) 

Grade: 5W-30

Recommended Brand: Castrol Magnatec Professional A5 5W-30 Motor Oil

Diesel - 2009 onwards

1.5L Duratorq TDCi (2013 - onwards) 

Grade: 0W-30

Recommended Brand: Shell Helix Ultra ECT C2 C3 0W-30 Engine Oil

1.4L Duratorq TDCi (2008 - onwards) 

Grade: 5W-30

Recommended Brand: Mobil Super 3000 X1 Formula FE 5W-30 Engine Oil

1.6L Duratorq TDCi (2008 - onwards) 

Grade: 5W-30

Recommended Brand: Mobil Super 3000 X1 Formula FE 5W-30 Engine Oil

Frequently asked questions about Ford Fiesta engine oil

Will the wrong oil damage my engine?

The answer to this is really that it depends. If you put 5W-30 in instead of 5W-20, it’s highly unlikely to cause any lasting damage. However, if you put an oil that’s far too thin or too thick for your car, you are likely to cause some damage - interior metal parts of the engine may shear, which can cause additional noise and may also leave metal shavings in the oil, which can cause additional damage as they move around the engine with the oil.

Ultimately the problem is one of lubrication - and if the engine is not lubricated properly, it will likely overheat. If the oil is too thin or too thick, it won’t lubricate properly and won’t be able to regulate temperature inside the engine, causing damage.

Always follow the manufacturer’s specifications and put the right oil in your car - don’t be tempted to put the wrong grade just because you have it lying around. In the grand scheme of things, oil isn’t expensive - the oil for your Fiesta is unlikely to cost you more than £50 for a bottle of the correct stuff.

How much engine oil does the Ford Fiesta take?

Generally the Ford Fiesta takes between four and five litres, depending on the type of engine you have fitted to your car. I would suggest that you not really worry about this too much and just check that the level on the dipstick is between the minimum and maximum. A 5L bottle of oil will be more than enough for you to perform a full oil change on your Ford Fiesta.

What is the Ford Fiesta oil service interval?

Generally your Ford Fiesta should have an oil and filter change every 10,000 miles or twelve months, whichever is sooner. This applies in either circumstance - for example, if you’ve done 10,000 miles in six months, you shouldn't wait until 12 months before you get a service. You’ve hit 10,000 miles, so you should get your car serviced. Likewise, if it’s been twelve months since your last service and you haven’t hit 10,000 miles, you should still get your car serviced.

Some of the later engines, such as the 1L EcoBoost or 1.5L Duratorq diesel have extended service intervals of up to two years or 18,000 miles. I would strongly recommend servicing more often than this to extend the life of your engine. Make sure you check your owner’s manual for your car’s recommended service interval.

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