USEFUL DATA

Service intervals The official figure from Ford is every 12,500 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first, but for optimum performance and component life it is recommended that these intervals are halved.

Cambelt (internally located within the engine) The official recommendation is to renew it every 125,000 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first, but it is strongly advised that renewal should be carried out twice as frequently as this.

Engine oil The official Ford recommendation is to change the oil and filter every 12,500 miles/annually. However, this is a very high-performance engine for its size and changing the oil and filter every 6000 miles/six months is recommended.

Oil type A special oil is used for these engines: fully-synthetic SAE 5W-20, not 5W-30 as commonly used in earlier Ford models; if 5W-30 oil is used, it can cause catastrophic engine failure. It is also ESSENTIAL to ensure that the oil used is specifically stated as being suitable for engines incorporating stop-start systems.

Oil capacity 4.6 litres.

Air filter and spark plugs These should be renewed every 37,500 miles or three years. NOTE: NGK develop spark plugs specifically for this engine, reference SILZNAR8C7H. We strongly advise that cheap, inferior spark plugs should NOT be used. Incorrect plugs can cause a tiny misfire that may result in higher temperatures within the cylinders, causing extreme damage to the engine.