Ford 2.0l Duratec Valvetrain after 195k Miles

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Sep 6, 2022
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6
Hello all,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I have a 2009 Ford Focus with the 2.0 Duratec engine that is my current daily driver. It’s been a great car with no mechanical issues to speak of other than normal maintenance and a few motor mounts needing replaced over the years.

It was my wife’s car originally, and I inherited it when we got married 9 years ago. When my wife owned the car, she drove it back and forth to work an hour each way, and had her oil changed every 3,000 miles like clockwork with Motocraft Synthetic Blend 5W-30. Thanks to this forum, I knew that the change interval was overkill for what was pretty much all highway miles, so when I started driving it I started changing it every 7,500 miles with Supertech 5W-20. Everything I’ve read states that this is pretty much as good as all the other name-brand oils, and the price is hard to beat. Since this engine was known for not being hard on oil at all, it was a no brainer.

Well recently, the engine developed a pretty severe valve cover gasket leak, which is pretty common on these engines from what I understand. I figured I might as well get a good look at the top of the engine while I was in there and I was pleasantly surprised!
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Looks good! From looking in the fill cap, I don't think mine is quite as spotless as I got the current one at 220k km and I think it may have done some lengthy OCI's on bulk conventional 5W30, but these engines just seem to work. I now run ~6k mile OCI's on PYB or whatever I find on my shelf.
 
Looks excellent. You can tell it wasn't on the 10K or even 5K oil change schedule. Oh and you inherit something when a relative dies, not when you get married.
Haha you’re right for sure.

I’m just glad everything that I’ve read on here seems to be playing out well in my case. I used to be a die-hard amsoil guy, but the more I researched the more I realized that my particular use case would not be hard on the oil at all (lots of highway, no turbos, etc.). I figured why not give supertech a shot? It seems to be working well!

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that I am currently running 7,000 mile OCIs with a Fram Ultra filter changed only every-other oil change, so every 15,000 or so.

If it wasn’t for the advice on here, I’d still be doing unnecessary short OCIs and worrying about whether my engine is still getting the protection it needs.

I’m hoping in driving it until the wheels fall off, so here’s to another 100k! Thanks guys.
 
Haha you’re right for sure.

I’m just glad everything that I’ve read on here seems to be playing out well in my case. I used to be a die-hard amsoil guy, but the more I researched the more I realized that my particular use case would not be hard on the oil at all (lots of highway, no turbos, etc.). I figured why not give supertech a shot? It seems to be working well!

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that I am currently running 7,000 mile OCIs with a Fram Ultra filter changed only every-other oil change, so every 15,000 or so.

If it wasn’t for the advice on here, I’d still be doing unnecessary short OCIs and worrying about whether my engine is still getting the protection it needs.

I’m hoping in driving it until the wheels fall off, so here’s to another 100k! Thanks guys.
I’m going with M1 5w20 and a MC FL-910S like tig1. I’ll do 10k in my 11’ Focus S as I have 73k on mine
 
At what mileage did you take over the car when you started doing the 7500 OCI?
It was at about 80k or so. It has been used mainly as a commuter car for work since then. My commute is around 13 miles each way, so plenty of time for the engine to get warmed up each time, so I’m sure that helped.

That, combined with the “older” tech on this engine (indirect injection, no turbo, etc.) seems to indicate that regular maintenance will keep your car on the road more than anything else. I’ve heard the adage “Maintain your car and it will outlive you” - I’m starting to believe it now.
 
I’m going with M1 5w20 and a MC FL-910S like tig1. I’ll do 10k in my 11’ Focus S as I have 73k on mine
That’s a good plan. I’d back it up with a UOA or two of course, but these engines just don’t seem to be too hard on oil, especially if you’re using a modern synthetic. I got a UOA from blackstone back when I started doing extended OCIs, and they suggested that I could do 9,500 mile OCIs pretty easily. This was with about 95k on the clock:
0923DEDF-39D5-45AB-B2C4-C5A7CC55AA3B.jpeg
 
That’s a good plan. I’d back it up with a UOA or two of course, but these engines just don’t seem to be too hard on oil, especially if you’re using a modern synthetic. I got a UOA from blackstone back when I started doing extended OCIs, and they suggested that I could do 9,500 mile OCIs pretty easily. This was with about 95k on the clock:
View attachment 115997
Was this using ST Oil?

I sent ya a pm also
 
Sorry to hijack thread -- Adam --- when & where did you pick up the Focus and did you get rid of the Camry?
Got the focus right near my work. Last Wednesday, August 31. Amazing what a dealership will do when their sales staff don’t meet their quota. Money talks

The Camry was a oil burning pig. I couldn’t get 7 days out of it without having to add 5quarts oil to it. I’m lucky I’m not broke
 
Hello all,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I have a 2009 Ford Focus with the 2.0 Duratec engine that is my current daily driver. It’s been a great car with no mechanical issues to speak of other than normal maintenance and a few motor mounts needing replaced over the years.

It was my wife’s car originally, and I inherited it when we got married 9 years ago. When my wife owned the car, she drove it back and forth to work an hour each way, and had her oil changed every 3,000 miles like clockwork with Motocraft Synthetic Blend 5W-30. Thanks to this forum, I knew that the change interval was overkill for what was pretty much all highway miles, so when I started driving it I started changing it every 7,500 miles with Supertech 5W-20. Everything I’ve read states that this is pretty much as good as all the other name-brand oils, and the price is hard to beat. Since this engine was known for not being hard on oil at all, it was a no brainer.

Well recently, the engine developed a pretty severe valve cover gasket leak, which is pretty common on these engines from what I understand. I figured I might as well get a good look at the top of the engine while I was in there and I was pleasantly surprised!View attachment 115970View attachment 115971View attachment 115972View attachment 115973
Looks very good under the valve cover.
 
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