Maintenance General Information

Why Maintain Your Vehicle?

Following the scheduled maintenance schedule helps protect you against major repair costs resulting from neglect or improper maintenance, and can help increase the value of your vehicle when you sell or trade it in. Keep all receipts for completed maintenance on your vehicle.

We have established regular maintenance intervals for your vehicle based on rigorous testing. It is important that you service your vehicle at the proper time. These intervals serve two purposes: one is to maintain the reliability of your vehicle, and the second is to help keep your cost of vehicle ownership down.

You are responsible for having all scheduled maintenance performed and for making sure that the materials used meet the specifications listed in this Owner's Manual.

Failure to perform scheduled maintenance may void the warranty on parts affected by the lack of maintenance.

Why Service Your Vehicle at Your Dealership?

Factory-Trained Technicians

Service technicians participate in extensive factory-sponsored certification training to help them become experts in the operation of your vehicle. Ask your dealer about the training and certifications their technicians have obtained.

Genuine Ford and Motorcraft® Parts

Ford, Motorcraft and Ford Certified Remanufactured parts are available at your dealership. These parts meet or exceed our specifications. Parts installed at your dealership are covered by a 24-month or unlimited-mileage (kilometer) parts and labor limited warranty.

If you do not use our authorized parts, they may not meet our specifications and, depending on the part, this may affect emissions compliance.

Convenience

Many dealerships have extended evening and Saturday hours to make your service visit more convenient, and they offer one-stop shopping. They can perform any services your vehicle needs, from general maintenance to collision repair.

Protecting Your Investment

Maintenance is an investment that pays dividends in improved reliability, durability and resale value. To keep your vehicle and its emissions control systems operating properly, make sure you have maintenance performed at the specified intervals.

Your vehicle is equipped with the Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor system. The system displays a message in the information display indicating the correct oil change interval. This interval may be up to one year or 10,000 miles (16,000 km); hybrid vehicles may exceed 10,000 miles (16,000 km).

When the oil change message appears in the information display, it is time to change the oil. Make sure you perform the oil change within two weeks or 500 miles (800 km) of the message appearing. Make sure you reset the Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor after every oil change.

If your information display resets prematurely or becomes inoperative, you should follow an oil change interval of six months or 5,000 miles (8,000 km) from your last oil change. Never exceed one year or 10,000 miles (16,000 km) between oil change intervals.

Your vehicle is very complex and built with multiple, sophisticated, high-performance systems. Each manufacturer designs these systems using different characteristics and operating characteristics. That is why it is important to rely on your dealer for proper diagnosis and repair of your vehicle.

We recommend service intervals for the various parts and components of the system based on engineering testing. We rely on this testing to determine the most appropriate mileage for replacing oils and fluids to protect your vehicle at the lowest overall cost to you, and we do not recommend maintenance schedules that deviate from the scheduled maintenance information.

We strongly recommend using only genuine Ford, Motorcraft or Ford Authorized Remanufactured parts designed for your vehicle.

Additives and Chemicals

This owner's manual and our Service Manual list the recommended additives and chemicals for your vehicle. We do not recommend using chemicals or additives not approved by us as part of normal maintenance of your vehicle. Please refer to the warranty information.

Oils, Fluids and Flushing

In many cases, fluid discoloration is normal operating behavior and, by itself, does not necessarily indicate a concern or that the fluid needs to be changed. However, a qualified technician, such as a factory-trained technical specialist at your dealer, should inspect discolored fluids that also show signs of overheating or contamination by foreign materials immediately.

Always change the vehicle's fluids at the specified intervals or when required for repairs. Flushing is a viable method of replacing fluid in many vehicle subsystems during scheduled maintenance. It is essential that the systems be flushed only with new fluid of the same type required for filling and operating the system, or with a Ford-approved flushing chemical.

Owner Checks and Services

Make sure you perform the following basic maintenance and inspections every month or every six months.

Multi-Point Inspection

To keep your vehicle operating properly, it is important to have the systems on your vehicle checked regularly. This can help identify potential problems and prevent serious failures. We recommend having a multi-point inspection performed at each scheduled maintenance interval to make sure your vehicle is operating at its best.

¹ Brake, engine coolant expansion tank, automatic transmission and windshield washer fluid

² If your vehicle is equipped with a temporary mobility kit, check the expiration date of the tire sealant.

Use the date on the canister. Replace as necessary. Be sure to consult your service advisor or technician for a multi-point vehicle inspection. This is a comprehensive way to thoroughly inspect your vehicle. Your checklist provides immediate feedback on the overall condition of your vehicle.