The origins of this engine

This engine is actually co-developed by Nissan and Renault - the engine code is K9K. It has been manufactured as a 1.5 litre engine with various power outputs since 2001, and has been fitted to a huge number of vehicles, including but not limited to the Dacia Sandero, Renault Clio, Nissan Micra, Renault Megane, Renault Kadjar, Mercedes A-Class Nissan NV200 and Mercedes Citan. This is a hugely popular engine and there are thousands and thousands of these units out there, many performing very reliably. 

DPF (diesel particulate filter) issues

Unfortunately DPF issues are a fact of life for many diesel owners. I am of the opinion that many people in the UK have bought a diesel car when they really should not have, as their type of driving does not suit a diesel engine and will cause problems that aren’t necessarily due to a design fault or manufacturing error with the engine itself. Common DPF issues you may experience on the Nissan Juke are the engine management light illuminating and the car giving a sense that it’s coughing or spluttering above around 35mph. You may also find you get other lights on the dash to inform you of a DPF problem. 

DPFs need to heat up to high temperatures every few hundred miles to clean themselves of all the soot and ash that accumulates in them. This means that the car needs to be up to temperature - all the coolant, engine oil and exhaust gas temperatures need to be high enough, which could take up to ten or fifteen miles on the Nissan Juke. Then, the car has to be travelling at a constant speed with the revs high enough for the cleaning (known as a regeneration) to take place.

Unfortunately, if you use your car around the city and it only gets a few miles per day, it’s unlikely to ever get to the required temperature to perform this cleaning. As such, the DPF gets clogged up with soot and ash and is unable to regenerate itself. Sometimes the DPF can be removed and cleaned out - other times it needs to be replaced. This is why a diesel car is the wrong choice for someone who does not drive on the motorway very often. 

If you have DPF issues you might find they get solved by taking your car on a long motorway journey. If this doesn’t solve the problem, you’ll need your car looked at by a specialist. The good news is if you take your car on a 20 minute, 40mph run every week or so, you are unlikely to experience DPF problems on your Nissan Juke.

Oil pressure relief valve failure (oil pump)

I have seen this issue once, and have heard it being a reasonably common issue by other mechanics who have worked on more Jukes than I have. What can happen with the 1.5 dCi engine is complete and total engine failure - you will find that you simply lose drive and are unable to accelerate. The engine will shut down or stall and you will need to be towed. If you open the bonnet, you will likely find engine oil all over the engine.

This happens because of the oil pressure relief valve failing.  If you remove the oil filter, you will likely find that the O ring that seals up the oil filter has been displaced - likely due to very high oil pressure. This is likely caused by an oil pressure relief valve failing inside the engine, and causing extremely high pressure which basically causes the engine to explode.

Unfortunately this can be a tricky one to diagnose and the likelihood is that you’ll need to replace the engine - the cost of which is likely to be at least £4,000 and possibly more, depending on where you’re able to source the new engine. There isn’t much you can do about this issue to be honest - it’s one that isn’t really caused by infrequent servicing or poor maintenance. 

The only thing you really can do about issues like this is just make sure the car is maintained - you should be checking your oil every month at least just to ensure it’s at the correct level, and changing the oil and filter every 9,000 miles.

Juddering or shuddering on acceleration

This is a common issue in all engines, but there are specific things that might be causing it to happen in your diesel Juke. Firstly, this could be caused by the engine being starved of air. Check the engine’s air filter and ensure it isn’t clogged up with leaves or other debris - even if you’re having your car serviced regularly, it’s possible the garage has not changed the air filter (or if you just pay for a minor service, all they’ll do is oil and filter change and won’t check the air filter.)

What can happen if the air filter is blocked is that the air filter is strangling the supply of air to the engine and therefore the engine isn’t burning fuel as efficiently as it could. What happens then is the unburnt fuel gets thrown out of the exhaust, and leaves you down on power because the air supply to the engine is too weak and the fuel can’t be burned efficiently. 

This could also be an issue with the fuel filter - if not enough fuel is passing through the fuel filter as it’s blocked, a reduced supply of fuel will be reaching the engine which can lead to juddering or shuddering when accelerating.

This could also be an issue with the mass airflow sensor (MAF) - which measures the temperature of the air coming into the engine and then controls the injectors to deliver the right amount of fuel compared to the airflow, meaning the air/fuel mixture is always perfect. A broken MAF may be allowing the wrong amount of fuel and air mixture into the engine. If there’s too much air and not enough fuel, you will be running lean, and you will find that your car judders when trying to pull away.

Injector problems

The fuel injectors on the 1.5 dCi engine are made by a French company called Delphi and they’re known for being a little bit fragile. If the fuel injectors are bad, they can be causing juddering when accelerating - again because the engine is getting too little fuel and too much air. Your injectors could also be over-supplying fuel, which you would probably notice as a strong smell of fuel when trying to start the car.

Additionally if the car struggles to start from cold, you may find yourself cranking the engine for a long period of time before the car starts. This is indicative of an injector problem. You may also experience a lumpy idle, or the car hunting (revving up and down on it’s own) - all of these are characteristic of fuel injector problems.

Fuel injection problems are expensive to solve - if one has gone bad, it’s usually good practice to replace them all. For the Nissan Juke you’re probably looking at least £500 to have the injectors replaced, and that’s if you use remanufactured injectors - new injectors will likely be more expensive.

Broken EGR valve

Common points of failure on this engine include the EGR valve. EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) is where the exhaust gas is recirculated back into the engine. This changes the chemical composition of the air entering your engine and lowers the temperature, meaning for a cleaner fuel burn and more efficient exhaust system. However, these EGR valves can clog up, stick open or stick closed, and as a result, can cause issues with poor fuel economy, inconsistent acceleration or even cause the engine to stall.

If you suspect this is your issue you may just need a new EGR valve, which most garages will easily be able to fit for you.

Poor fuel economy

This can be caused by a number of reasons, but often it’s due to the configuration of your car. For example, an auto will often get poorer fuel economy than a manual. Additionally it could be to do with your driving style - if you drive your diesel around town, you will almost certainly get poorer fuel economy than if you drove it on the motorway. The opposite is true for a petrol car.

As much as this might sound a bit strange, how you use your gears can impact how fuel efficient your engine is. With a diesel, especially if you’ve not driven one before, you actually have to drive it a little bit differently to how you would a petrol, especially around town. 

You are better off from a fuel economy perspective staying in a lower gear and keeping the revs up - don’t thrash it, but also don’t change up as soon as you’re able to because this will cause the engine to labour. For example, you are better off at 30mph staying in third gear at about 2000 revs, than changing up to fourth gear, because when you go to accelerate up to 40mph, the engine will use more fuel trying to pull in 4th gear (as it’s more difficult for the engine) than it will trying to pull in 3rd gear. As counterintuitive as this sounds, it is the case for a modern diesel.

Hopefully this article gives you some direction as to what to expect from your 1.5 dCi diesel engine - they are largely quite reliable engines, but like any engine they experience some common problems. Check out some more of our articles on the Nissan Juke! 

Your Nissan Juke’s engine

Engine oil does two things - it lubricates all the moving parts of your engine, and also provides a cooling function by taking heat away from these moving parts (although largely this is handled by the engine’s cooling system.) A good quality, fresh engine oil is therefore necessary to keep your engine running optimally.

A contaminated oil won’t lubricate properly. Additionally, over time and with use, engine oil becomes viscous and sludgy, and there comes a point where it won’t be able to adequately lubricate the internals of your engine and your engine will suffer from premature wear and heat damage. This is why it’s not just important to ensure your engine has enough oil in it - too much or too little can also cause damage - it’s also important to change out your oil when it gets worn out and contaminated.

Grade and Brand

The Juke generally takes a 5W-30 oil in petrol, diesel and hybrid versions. Nissan recommends a premium oil made by Total - for diesel engines however I would always use a Mobil oil. Fundamentally, it doesn’t make a massive difference - premium oils are formulated to help promote longer engine life, but generally it’s unlikely you’ll notice a material difference between using a cheap oil versus a premium oil. 

5W-30 refers to how thick the oil is - you shouldn’t worry about what this means too much other than making sure that you always buy a 5W-30 oil. You shouldn’t buy any other grade of oil as it will be either too thick or too thin for your engine.

The best oil for your Nissan Juke

Since it was first manufactured, the Juke has been fitted with a variety of petrol, diesel and hybrid powertrains. They all take the same type of oil - a 5W-30. However, generally there are slightly different recommended brands depending on the engine. The Juke shares a lot of it’s powertrains with Renault models - particularly the 1.5 dCi diesel engine, which is a Renault unit.

Let's look at the recommended grades and brands for the engine in your Nissan Juke. If you're not sure exactly which engine you have, you should be able to find this information in your owner's manual. If not, you can call your local Nissan dealer and they will be able to tell you which engine is fitted to your car.

Nissan Juke petrol engines

1.0 DIG-T I3 Turbo

Grade: 5W-30

Brand: Total Energies Quartz Ineo 5W-30 Engine Oil 

1.2L DIG-T 

Grade: 5W-30

Brand: Total Energies Quartz Ineo 5W-30 Engine Oil 

1.6L I4

Grade: 5W-30

Brand: Total Energies Quartz Ineo 5W-30 Engine Oil 

1.6L I4 Turbo

Grade: 5W-30

Brand: Total Energies Quartz Ineo 5W-30 Engine Oil 

1.6L I4 Petrol Hybrid

Grade: 5W-30

Brand: Total Energies Quartz Ineo 5W-30 Engine Oil 

Nissan Juke diesel engines

1.5L dCi Renault I4

Grade: 5W-30

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

Frequently Asked Questions

What brand of oil does Nissan recommend?

Nissan dealerships will generally use Total oil. Nissan also sell their own oils, fluids and coolants - but these are all designed and manufactured by Total. It’s possible that some dealers will use Mobil oil as well. 

How often does a Nissan Juke need an oil change?

Nissan recommend an oil and filter change every 9,000 miles or twelve months. This is quite a short interval - many manufacturers recommend double this. A general rule is to change your oil every 10,000 miles - and while I’d never normally recommend exceeding the manufacturer’s oil change interval, in this case, I would say you’re unlikely to have any problems if you stick to a 10,000 mile, 12 month service interval. 

If your car is used as a taxi or a delivery vehicle, or you have lots of journeys where you don’t get the engine up to temperature, you might want to service more often.

Does it matter what oil I put in my car?

This could be framed a few different ways - firstly, does it matter what grade of oil you put in your car? Yes, absolutely. For example if you bought a 20W-50 oil and put it into your Juke you are likely going to cause some damage - because this oil will be so thick it won’t be able to lubricate engine parts properly. Only ever use the grade of oil recommended for your vehicle. There’s no need to use a thinner oil in summer or a thicker oil in winter - stick to the recommended oil year-round - and for your Juke, this is going to be a 5W-30 oil.

As regards to whether it matters what brand of oil you put in your car, then the answer to this is sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. For best performance, you should use the manufacturer’s recommended brand. However, if you use a cheap oil instead of the recommended premium oil, you aren’t going to cause any damage. 

Can I add oil to my car, or do I need an oil change?

It depends. Obviously, you should be regularly checking your oil level to make sure you’re not running your car short of oil. If you check your dipstick and find that the oil is between the minimum and maximum levels, and you’re not due a service, you don’t need to do anything. If your oil is below the minimum level, then you should top up with a little bit of the recommended brand of oil we’ve listed above.

However, if you’ve done over 10,000 miles or it’s been one year since your last oil change, you shouldn’t be topping your oil off - it needs to be changed, and you should either take it to your local garage or change out your oil yourself.

How many miles can a Nissan Juke go without an oil change?

This is really two different questions. How many miles could your Juke go, and how many miles it should go, are two different things. Realistically if you never change the oil in your Juke, you’ll probably get about 35,000 miles out of it before the oil is so sludgy that it can’t effectively lubricate the engine, and the engine will overheat and die. 

However, if you don’t want to completely ruin your car, you shouldn’t let your Juke go more than 10,000 miles without having the oil and filter changed. This applies for both petrol, diesel and hybrid models.

Check out some more of our content on the Nissan Juke!

Your engine

Engine oil lubricates the internal parts of the engine. It also serves to take some of the heat away from the moving parts (although this is mostly done by the cooling system). Therefore, a fresh, good quality oil free of contaminants is essential to keep your engine running smoothly.

For the Peugeot 107, the diesel and petrol variants take different grades of oil. We’ll touch on what this means exactly in a moment, but you need to understand which one you have to ensure you purchase the correct oil - putting the wrong grade of oil into your engine can cause damage (although the grades on the 107 are so similar it’s unlikely to do any real harm.)

Engine oil becomes contaminated over time just by driving the car - so it’s important to change it out every 12,000 miles because contaminated, used oil does a poorer job of lubricating the engine’s moving parts than fresh oil. In fact, leave it too long and the oil can even stop lubricating the engine’s moving parts completely, turning into a thick, viscous sludge.

Grade and brand of oil - does it matter?

The grade matters, but generally the brand doesn’t. There’s a lot made of premium oils, and most of it is marketing fluff. Generally you won’t notice any material impact on your car’s performance by using a more expensive oil. However, if you really care about your car and want it to last as long as possible, it could be worth investing in a premium oil.

The grade of oil refers to how thick the oil is - this is when you start to see figures like 5W-40 and 5W-30. Don’t worry too much about exactly what this means (although I have explained it in other articles if you’re interested) - just know that the grade your car needs is the grade you need to buy - don’t buy anything else.

The correct oil for your Peugeot 107

We’re covering the entire production run of the Peugeot 107 here - from 2005 to 2014.

As we’ve mentioned, the Peugeot 107 is effectively the same car as the Toyota Aygo and the Citroen C1. As such, the engine choices in all three models are very similar. You have the 998cc, 68hp petrol engine which is a Toyota unit and is very reliable - or you have the much rarer 1.4HDi 54hp diesel engine which is a PSA unit - also very reliable engines. I actually don’t believe the Toyota Aygo was ever fitted with the diesel engine - so diesel models are limited to Peugeot and Citroen examples.

Because the engines are the same, the oil they take is also the same. However, you will need different grades of oil for petrol and diesel models. Below we’ve outlined both types of Peugeot 107 engine and which oil they take. It’s worth mentioning that we’ve recommended a brand of oil based on what the manufacturer usually recommends - for example, Toyota dealers tend to use Mobil oil, so that’s what we’ve recommended for petrol models - additionally, Peugeot dealers tend to use Total oil so that’s what we’ve recommended for diesel models.

You don’t have to go by our suggestion - any matching grade oil will be fine.

Petrol - 1.0L 12V

Grade: 5W-40

Recommended Brand: Mobil Super 3000 X1 5W-40 Premium Fully Synthetic Engine Oil

Diesel - 1.4 HDi

Grade: 5W-30

Recommended Brand: Total Quartz Ineo ECS 5W-30 Advanced Synthetic Engine Oil

Frequently Asked Questions

How much oil should you put in your Peugeot 107?

The petrol engine takes 3 litres exactly. The diesel engine takes 3.8 litres. A 5L bottle of oil will be fine for one oil change - but in all honesty don’t worry about putting an exact amount of oil in when you change your oil. There will always be some residual oil left in the system that you won’t get out simply by draining the oil out. Always put in a smaller amount, and check the dipstick. If you’re between the minimum and maximum mark, you are fine and you don’t need to put in any more oil, even if you’ve put in less than the full oil capacity.

Is it OK to add oil between oil changes?

There is usually no need to top up your oil, unless it’s below the minimum mark. Neither engine fitted to the Peugeot 107 is known for burning excessive oil (it isn’t fitted with those terrible PureTech engines that other Peugeots are fitted with that burn oil like they burn petrol) so I wouldn’t worry too much about this - check the dipstick every two weeks and ensure the level is between the minimum and maximum. If it is, don’t worry about topping it up. 

You may find that as your engine runs over 100,000 miles it does start to burn a little bit of oil. In this case, just top it up with a bit of oil as and when you check the dipstick and find it below the minimum mark.

How often should a Peugeot 107 be serviced?

Generally both engines fitted to the Peugeot 107 are very reliable. The diesel is a little bit more sensitive to poor servicing but the Toyota engine is pretty bulletproof. That being said, both engines need servicing at around the 12,000 mile mark, or one year - whichever is sooner. If you do a lot of miles, or your car is susceptible to what’s considered arduous conditions - lots of short journeys where the engine doesn’t get up to temperature, or a dusty environment or poor quality fuel, you may want to service every 6,000 miles or six months instead to ensure your car remains in excellent mechanical order.

What colour should oil be on the dipstick?

This depends on the engine you have, and also how many miles it’s done. For example, you’ll notice that even if you put fresh oil in a diesel engine, as soon as you run the engine the oil will instantly go from a healthy tan or caramel colour to a dirty black. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had customers come back and say “you didn’t change my oil because it’s black” when in fact we did, it’s just that because of the carbon inside a diesel engine, it causes oil to go black pretty much immediately.

In a petrol engine however, an oil will go from being a tan colour when it’s fresh, to being a dirty brown colour when it’s used. When you dip the oil and rub it on a piece of tissue paper, if it’s tan it’s probably fine, and if it’s a dark brown or even black colour, it’s time for an oil change. However, I wouldn’t base your oil changes on the colour of your oil - base your oil changes and servicing on the miles your car has done since your last service. If it’s been 2 years since you last serviced your Peugeot 107 and the oil is a tan colour, you should still get it changed.

We've written loads of articles on the Peugeot 107/Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo - so if you're thinking of buying one, check out some of our other content. 

Engine Servicing

An engine service consists of at least an oil and oil filter change. This is referred to as a minor service. If you go for a full service or a major service (which you should be doing every two years) it consists of a fuel filter, air filter and pollen filter change. You’ll also have your spark plugs changed if you run a petrol Fiesta.

In this article we look at the servicing intervals for each engine part, when they should be changed and (if applicable) at what mileage. However, be aware that the part is due a service irrespective of which milestone you hit. For example, if the service interval for a particular part is 10,000 miles or one year, and after a year you’ve only done 5,000 miles, you still need to change that part - the guidance is whichever is soonest, not when you hit both.

Petrol engines

Item	Service interval
Engine oil and filter	Every 12,500 miles or one year
Fuel filter	Every 25,000 miles or two years
Spark plugs	Every 35,000 miles or three years
Pollen filter	Every 25,000 miles or two years
Air filter	Every 12,500 miles or one year
Coolant	Renew every 70,000 miles. Subsequently inspect every 12,500 miles or one year.
Auxiliary drive belt	Renew every 70,000 miles

Diesel engines

Item	Service interval
Engine oil and filter	Every 12,500 miles or one year
Fuel filter	Every 25,000 miles or two years
Pollen filter	Every 25,000 miles or two years
Air filter	Every 12,500 miles or one year
Coolant	Renew every 70,000 miles. Subsequently inspect every 12,500 miles or one year.
Auxiliary drive belt	Renew every 70,000 miles

Later models of Fiesta (2017+) may be on a two-year servicing schedule, which means you should extend the relevant interval from 12,500 miles to 18,000 miles and one year to two years.

It’s worth mentioning that if your Fiesta is subject to what’s called “abnormal conditions” you must have your car serviced more often. If any of the following apply to you, you must halve the service intervals above - so 12,000 miles becomes 6,000 miles and one year becomes six months:

• If your vehicle is used as a taxi, driving school or delivery vehicle

• If you live in a country where fuel quality is poor

• If you live in a country that has a dusty environment

• Constant slow speed driving under 12mph

• Start-stop driving and short journeys where the engine does not warm up fully

Timing belt 

To my knowledge all modern Fiestas are fitted with a timing belt. Irrespective of whether you drive a petrol or a diesel, the timing belt interval given by Ford is the same - 144,000 miles or ten years. Most of these engines have dry timing belts - meaning that they don’t run in oil. I know of only one engine fitted to the Fiesta that has a wet timing belt that runs in engine oil, and that is the 1.0L EcoBoost engine. 

I really think that a wet timing belt is a terrible idea and I’ve had a lot of experience replacing these on Peugeot petrol engines, where a wet belt is a significant issue because the engine oil causes the belt to disintegrate and then block up the oil pickup, which can starve the engine of oil. The 1.0L EcoBoost is no exception to this - and I would highly suggest that if you have this engine and want to maintain your car, you get the belt changed at half the recommended interval - 72,000 miles or five years.

When you get the belt changed is ultimately down to you and your financial situation - just be aware that a timing belt change is likely to cost you at least £500, but the cost of a new engine will be much greater. All Ford Fiestas are fitted with interference engines so if the timing belt breaks, it will cause damage (likely terminal) to your engine, and you will need to replace the engine in your car.

Personally, if it was my car, I’d be replacing any wet timing belt at a maximum of 72,000 miles and any dry timing belt at a maximum of 100,000 miles.

Brakes

Servicing the brakes on a Ford Fiesta has no set service interval - you change them when they need changing. When your brakes need changing is largely dependent on your driving style - if you’re often braking harshly and aggressively you will find you get less wear out of a set of pads and discs than if you use lots of engine braking and you drive more gently.

Pads and discs

I would say you’re likely to get between 30,000 to 40,000 miles out of a set of brake pads on a Ford Fiesta, depending on how you drive. You’ll notice when it’s time for a new set of pads because you’ll hear the metal grinding against the front discs - this is a sign that all the friction material has worn away, and your pads need to be replaced.

Brake discs should last you between 50,000 to 60,000 miles. The Fiesta is fitted with brake discs at the front on all models, and only on some at the back - some of the lower trim models have brake drums at the back. These very rarely need replacing and will usually just need servicing at a similar interval as if you’d change brake discs. I’d suggest you plan for a brake service at around 60,000 miles if you want to keep your brakes in tip-top condition. 

Brake fluid

This should be replaced every two years as part of a full service regardless of mileage. This is because brake fluid is hygroscopic (it absorbs water) and therefore becomes less effective over time.

Battery

A battery ought to be changed out when required and not at any kind of set interval but you should get at least four years out of a battery. If you have a start-stop model of Fiesta you may need a higher-powered battery, so just double check you’re buying the right one. 

Clutch

A clutch, again, has no set service interval. It depends entirely on how you drive your car. You may get anywhere from 30,000 miles to 100,000 miles out of a clutch depending on how you drive. You might even get more if you do a lot of motorway driving. My advice with the clutch is to change it as soon as you notice any kind of problems with it - a burning smell, slipping clutch, problems selecting gear, etc. Don’t leave it to chance or you could end up on the side of the road with no drive.

Another thing you can do to extend the life of your clutch is to ensure that you take your foot off the clutch when stationary in traffic - put your car into neutral and take your foot completely off the pedal. Keeping the clutch in puts excessive wear on your release bearing and if this shatters, you will be left with no drive.

Injectors

Fuel injection on the Fiesta tends to be pretty reliable - I’m not aware of any notorious fuel injection problems affecting any of the engines. Again, this depends on the quality of the fuel you use, the kind of driving you do and how often the car has been serviced. I would not expect a normal Fiesta owner to see fuel injection problems until well past the 100,000 mile mark. The thing about injectors is that when one fails, you often have to replace all the injectors at once - which could mean a big bill, as fuel injectors are not cheap.

Tyres

Tyre servicing depends again on the kind of driving you do and the brand you buy. Cheaper models of tyre like Landsail may only last up to 12,000 miles before they need to be replaced, whereas good tyres like Dunlop or Goodyear might last up to 30,000 miles.

Additionally the type of driving you do influences this - lots of motorway driving makes for even wear, and if you rotate your tyres, you’ll get even longer out of them. I would strongly suggest buying the best tyres you can afford. Tyres are the only thing that separate you from the road, and therefore it makes sense to spend as much money on them as you can afford.

Change your tyres when there’s around 3mm of tread left and check your tyres regularly for cuts, punctures or bulges. Check the pressures regularly to make sure they are correct. Here’s how to check your Fiesta tyre pressures.

We’ve written a number of articles on the Ford Fiesta - so if you’re looking at buying one, or you’re having problems with your car, check out some of the other articles we’ve written. 

Blown fuse

This is the first thing you should check when facing any kind of electrical problem in your car. The fuse for the heater blower in the Ford Fiesta is fuse F4 and this is a 30A fuse. Generally a fuse blowing could happen for a number of reasons, but fundamentally a fuse blows when the component it handles draws a stronger current than it is designed to. The fuse is a failsafe to ensure that the wiring doesn’t melt.

The Fiesta has two fuseboxes - one in the glove compartment and one in the engine bay, to the right hand side near the battery. The blower motor fuse is in the engine bay fusebox and not the passenger fusebox. You can find a fusebox diagram in your Haynes manual, or various places online. Make sure you’re replacing the right fuse with one of the same amperage.

Sometimes a fuse can fail and visually look OK - so whether it looks good or not, you should replace this fuse as a first step. They can be had very cheaply on Amazon, so I would recommend replacing it first without doing any more fault-finding. If it doesn’t fix your problem, you can move on to other possibilities.

Don’t renew a fuse more than once. What this means is that if you replace the fuse and it fixes your problem, and then the heater blower fails again, don’t just keep replacing fuses. If this happens it means there’s something wrong with your electrical system and you’ll need to have your car looked at by an auto electrician.

Heater resistor pack broken

If you replace the fuse and your heater blower is still broken, then this is most likely your problem. This is a really common fault not just on the Fiesta but on other cars as well. Typically, the fault people complain of is that the blower motor actually does work, but it only works on full power. It’s either on, or it’s off, and any of the lower settings don’t work at all. 

The reason for this is that the heater resistor pack has burnt out. The heater resistor pack controls the current provided to the fan. If you set your heater or air con to low, the resistor adds resistance to the circuit to stop the fan spinning too fast. If you turn the air con up, the resistor reduces the amount of resistance in the circuit to allow the fan to spin faster.

The reason the blower still works on full is because in this case there’s no resistance being added to the circuit - the full amount of current is being provided to the fan and therefore it doesn’t matter whether the resistor pack works or not. This is why your air con or heater will work on full speed, but not any of the lower settings.

The heater resistor pack is located in the lower passenger footwell. You will need to unclip some of the interior trim to get to it, near to the glovebox. It’s a fiddly job but one that can be easily done by anyone even remotely familiar with repairing things in about an hour on your driveway. Heater resistor packs can be had on eBay or Amazon for not much money. You will probably pay about £30 for a genuine part from Ford if you want to go down that route.

Normally I would say go for the genuine part, but to be honest, I did this job not too long ago on my brother’s Fiesta, and we used an eBay knock-off and it still works fine - I borrowed his Fiesta a few weeks ago while my car was in having it’s MOT and the heater blew lovely and warm on all the settings!

Low engine coolant level

This generally only occurs if you’re having problems with the heater, but not the air con. If your air conditioning blows nice and cold, but your heater doesn’t work, this can indicate a problem with the engine coolant.

The way the heater works in the Fiesta is that engine coolant is pumped through the engine and around the heater core, which provides heat to the cabin which is then blown through the vents through the heater fan. However, if the coolant is not warm enough, you won’t get any heat - this is why you don’t get any heat in the cabin until the engine has had time to warm up.

If your coolant level is too low, hot fluid doesn’t make it to the heater core. Therefore, you don’t get any heat in the cabin. In order to mitigate this you should open the bonnet and check your Fiesta’s coolant expansion tank level (you should be doing this regularly anyway) to ensure it’s between the MIN and MAX lines. If it’s any lower than the MIN line, this doesn’t necessarily mean you need a top up - it’s fine for it to be ever so slightly below, but any more and you should add coolant. If you can’t see any coolant in the tank at all, you definitely need a top-up.

This can occur also if you’ve just had a job done on the car that requires the coolant to be changed - such as if you’ve had the water pump changed. If the system hasn’t been bled properly it’s possible that an air lock has been introduced - for which the cooling system will need to be bled up. 

We’ve written a full guide on Ford Fiesta engine coolant which you may want to check out if this is your issue.

Bad thermostat

This is pretty rare, and in all honesty you’re going to have other, more worrying problems to deal with if your engine thermostat is broken, but all the same it can cause problems with the heater blower not working. A faulty thermostat may not open up to let the coolant flow through it, and if this is the case, the heater core won’t be getting warm coolant flowing through it and therefore you won’t be getting any heat in the cabin.

If the thermostat is stuck open, it may cause the engine’s temperature to stay low. If the thermostat is the problem, your engine won’t be able to regulate its own temperature and the engine may start to overheat - which you will notice either on the gauge on the dashboard, or you may notice a distinct burning smell. If this does happen, it’s time to pull over and not drive the car until the issue is fixed, in case you cause terminal damage to your engine.

We’ve written a number of articles on the Ford Fiesta, which you should check out if you’re having other problems or thinking of buying this car.

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.

We've written a number of articles about the Ford Fiesta - so check out some of our most popular articles below!

What does engine coolant do?

As we’ve mentioned, engine coolant does what the name might suggest - it cools your engine. It’s not just as simple as that, however. Engine coolant is actually designed to regulate the temperature of your engine during extreme temperatures - hot and cold. This is why coolant is sometimes called antifreeze.

Engine coolant is usually mixed with water (although you can buy pre-mixed coolants) and this liquid is pumped through your car’s engine in order to regulate and create an optimal temperature during hot or cold. In short, it stops your car engine from overheating as well as freezing.

Coolant often comes in different colours, and while this used to be an indicator of the chemical makeup of the coolant, it no longer is - nowadays manufacturers have no need to make a certain type of coolant a certain colour, so it’s difficult for you to know exactly what coolant is in your vehicle by the colour alone. 

Be very careful with this, because some people still think the coolant colour dictates the type of coolant; for example, you likely have pink coolant in your Ford Fiesta - some people will just buy the first pink coolant bottle they see without looking at the chemical makeup. This can cause problems.

A guide to the correct coolant for your Ford Fiesta

Coolant generally comes in one of three different types - IAT (inorganic additive technology), OAT (organic additive technology) and HOAT (hybrid organic acid technology). IAT was generally used in older vehicles - so it won’t be applicable for your modern Ford Fiesta. OAT is generally pink, blue or orange. HOAT is a hybrid of both. 

Generally, modern Ford Fiestas will use a pink OAT coolant. Any OAT coolant will be fine - you do not need to purchase the coolant from Ford directly, and most motor factors or motor stores such as Halfords will always have this particular type of coolant in stock.

Checking and adding coolant to your car

To check your coolant, you need to open the bonnet. Your Ford Fiesta has a coolant expansion tank, which is an oblong shaped box on the left hand side of the engine. This expansion tank (sometimes called a header tank) will contain a varying level of coolant depending on the temperature of the engine. It will have a MIN and MAX line. 

In general, if the level is anywhere below the MAX line and even just a little bit below the MIN line, you do not need to top up your coolant. 

If the tank is dry, your coolant needs topping up. If your Fiesta has done over 100,000 miles, I would suggest draining and refilling the coolant as it is likely to need replacing. 

In order to add coolant, I would suggest that you leave the car until the engine is cold. The reason for this (and most coolant tanks will have a warning to this effect) is because you will get burned - the cooling system is pressurised and you will get a face full of boiling water. Engines take longer than you might think to cool down, so I’d suggest leaving it at least three or four hours after driving before trying to open the tank.

In order to top the tank up, simply use a funnel and pour the coolant in. If the tank is dry, the cooling system may need to be bled up, which we will discuss in the next section.

I’ve filled up my tank, but after driving, the tank is empty?

After filling the tank, you should leave the engine running and if possible take the car for a test drive. This will show you whether you have an air lock or not. Air locks are common when changing coolant and this is where air gets into the cooling system, preventing the header tank from filling up.

If this is your problem, you need to bleed up the system to get rid of any air. There are two ways of doing this on the Ford Fiesta.

Firstly, open the expansion tank and let the car idle for a few minutes until it warms up. Set the heater control inside as hot as it will go. When doing this you may notice the level in the expansion tank (if it isn’t completely dry) drop - this is perfectly normal and shouldn’t worry you, it’s as a result of the thermostat opening when the engine gets to temperature.

Watch the header tank, and eventually lots of bubbles will come out of the coolant. This is the cooling system bleeding itself up. Do not be tempted to touch anything inside the engine while this is happening - you will likely burn yourself. 

If this doesn’t work, you can try to bleed the system up another way - fill the tank with coolant and have the engine running. There is a thin pipe that clips to the radiator. You should pinch the two clips together, and pour coolant in until it starts to come out of the hole where the pipe is. This is very fiddly and sometimes it can be difficult to get all the air out - so my advice as a mechanic would be to try the first step a few times until your coolant level stays where you filled it and doesn’t drop if you leave the car overnight.

This is a common issue, and as a mechanic I have had to bleed up a car’s cooling system loads of times - particularly after we’ve done a timing belt and water pump change, for example. If you’re struggling, you might want to get a garage just to check your car over. Any mechanic will know how to get rid of an air lock.

Is it OK to mix coolant?

You should never mix different types of coolant, unless you are using a universal coolant which specifically says that it’s OK to mix with other coolant types. Mixing coolant that is not supposed to be mixed can result in an unwanted chemical reaction between the two coolants that can cause the coolant itself to become sludgy and viscous, which won’t be able to flow through your cooling system properly and will cause damage to your engine.

If you’re unsure about which type of coolant to put in your car, consult a local garage - however the Ford Fiesta uses an OAT coolant, so if you’re just topping up your coolant tank, you won’t have any issue using any OAT coolant to do this.

Can I use water instead of coolant?

There are two situations where you might want to use water instead of coolant. One is if you are changing your Fiesta’s water pump, and you just want to ensure that there are no leaks before you build the car back up. There’s no point using good coolant for this because you’ll need to flush it out later. 

The second situation is where you have a coolant leak and you are driving - where you might not have coolant available. In this case it’s OK to fill the header tank with water just to get you to a garage - it is not a permanent fix and as soon as your cooling system is repaired you should use proper coolant.

Some say that it’s OK to use water in the summer months and switch to antifreeze in the winter months - this is not recommended, as antifreeze is not just to stop the engine freezing up, it’s also to keep the engine cool when it gets hot, which coolant will do a much better job of than water.

Can you mix old and new coolant?

Generally, yes, it’s fine to mix old and new coolant in your Ford Fiesta providing the old coolant isn’t past it - the original coolant will last anywhere between 75k - 100k miles so as long as you’re before that you are fine just to top it up. If your coolant is a rusty brown colour, you might consider draining and refilling the coolant rather than just topping it up.

Check out some more of our articles on the Ford Fiesta!