Specified oil for zetec Engines on the US market

[shDK]

Hi all.

Does annonce here know what oil Ford specified in the old zetec Engines on the US market?

The reason i ask is that i am currious, if it was also Thin Oils for the US market, and thick for the European market back Then. I Will use the knowledge when deciding what to use in my 2000 1.8 zetec with 232.000 km on the clock.

I know there where some differences between the US versions and the EU versions. For instanse the EU is a interference engine. The US Engines is not.

Thanks a lot.
Søren

 

[badtlc]

what is thin? I'd assume it was spec'd for 5W-30 in the USA.

 

[shDK]

Thin could be 5-20. Here it was specified for 5w-30 too.

 

[Klutch9]

The 1.8L Zetec was never sold in the US. The 2.0L Zetec was sold here in the Focus, Escort ZX2, Cougar, and Contour. But keep in mind that the 'Zetec' name is not applied the same way to engine families around the world. For instance, the new(er) Ford Fiesta has the same 1.6L gas motor here and in Europe. In Europe, it has the Zetec designation, whereas in the US it does not.

 

[javacontour]

I believe the 2.0L Zetec called for 5W30. It was used in the Contour/Mystique, new Cougar, Escort, Focus, and the Tribute/Escape. I had a 1996 Contour with the Zetec and always used 5W30.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

We only got the 2.0 Zetec in the US, and it called for 5w20 in the Focus, Cougar, and Escape/Tribute/Mariner, and 5w30 in the Contour/Mystique.

However, Ford later back-spec'd 5w20 in all Zetecs.

I know for a fact that Ford was using 5w20 by 2001, as it says 5w20 on the cap of a 2002 Focus.

Don't forget that you can even use 0w20 anywhere that calls for 5w20.

 

[delasueno]

I used to have an old Ford contour with the 2.0 Zetec motor. That is the only engine I ever owned that I actually felt a difference going from regular to synthetic, more specifically Castrol syntec. The engine would spin up easier. Even the wife noticed.

 

[Nick1994]

My mom had a 2003 Focus with the 2.0L Zetec and it said 5w20 on the oil cap.

 

[Whimsey]

My 1996 Contour, which I still have, with the 2.0L Zetec calls for 5W-30 in the owner's manual. In my "pre BITOG" days I use to think that "thicker is better" so I ran various synthetic 5W-50 oils. Needless to say while it ran with the 5W-50 oils it suffered with loss of gas mileage and seat of the pants feel. I went back to 5W-30 and got my gas mileage back and it definitely felt a lot more peppy. To this day at over 100,000 miles it does not use any measurable oil, even with 8,800 OCI's.

Whimsey

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
My mom had a 2003 Focus with the 2.0L Zetec and it said 5w20 on the oil cap.
Here's out of the owners manual

 

[qdeezie]

I have a 2003 Zetec and it is spec'd for 5w-20.

 

[fdcg27]

Our '01 Focus has 5W-20 recommended.
Having written that, I've also used 5W-30 and 10W-30 in it and it makes no difference I can see.
I don't think that these engines are picky about oil grade, but then most aren't.