Ford EcoSport going strong even after 1.87L km; Ownership experience

I am thinking of giving some cosmetic updates to the car. Let’s see how that pans out.

BHPian ABHI_1512 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

1,87,000 Update :

Baahon is gleefully munching miles without any fuss. Just that the clutch assembly needed its second replacement after running close to a lakh kilometres. The Earth 1 tyres were almost at the end of their cycle and needed replacement as well. So in came Continental UC 6 as replacement and I am driving with more comfort as well as silence these days. Wet grip is very good and is confidence inspiring. The tyres costed me ₹7,800 a piece.

So the clutch replacement job included replacing the clutch assembly and the slave cylinder. The brake fluid and transmission oil was also replaced as per protocol. The whole exercise costed around ₹14k including labour charges.

But one strange thing happened in the Ford ASC while the clutch replacement work was taking place and which I would like to share here. All thanks to BHPian dip27in and his technical expertise that something of this sort came to light while I was having a telephonic conversation with him.

According to the Ford Ecosport manual, the transmission oil should be of SAE 75W-85 grade for a manual transmission car. The specification mentioned in the manual clearly stated this. BHPian dip27in casually asked me about the transmission oil grade and I happily told him that it is the SAE 75W-85 since that is what was mentioned in the manual as well.

But while the work was going on, I had a good look at the oil they were replacing and it clearly stated FE 75W !! Stopped them from using the oil until I was convinced. Asked for the technical service head and he promptly told me that the oil is recommended by Ford only and there is no discrepancy as such. I showed them the manual and that confused them a little too. They then went back to their own manual and rechecked the whole thing. To my surprise, the grade was changed and the specification was altered.

The specification mentioned in the above picture matches with the one provided in the manual of the ASC, which is reproduced below.

The Ford Ecosport Customer Service manual though says otherwise but then according to this the specification should be for an automatic transmission and not manual transmission. The bottle clearly states that it is to be used a manual transmission car but the specification matches with the one used for an automatic !!

According to my Ecosport service manual, the oil used by them was meant for cars with Automatic transmission but somehow, the service center manual showed the same to be used for manual cars. The ASC guys were pretty sure that they were only using what was recommended by Ford to them. After much deliberation, I finally relented and agreed to the oil change but only after going through their manual myself and only after the ASC guys took full responsibility. Now, I if anything, I know Ford guys will have to take the blame, should something goes amiss.

I am not experiencing anything just yet. The gear shifts are smooth and nothing that is bothering me currently and I hope it stays this way. But this alteration does sowed some seeds of doubts in my mind. Took two long weekend trips after the change and everything is okay, as of now.

Baahon is now nearing into its next service and with no major work pending, I am thinking of giving some cosmetic updates to the car. Let’s see how that pans out. Until the next update, happy driving.

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