Be careful if you drive all of these vehicles! Check your service book carefully to ensure that your mechanic is using the correct reference.
It’s a story that is poisoning one of the world’s largest automobile groups but above all ruining the lives of thousands of motorists in France! For several years, there has been a growing number of reports from motorists facing breakdowns and even spectacular engine failures. In question, several engines installed on vehicles from the Stellantis group. And there are many of them… Peugeot 208, 308, 2008, 3008 and 5008, Citroën C3, C3 Aircross or C5 Aircross, DS3 Crossback, DS4 or DS7 Crossback or even the Opel Crossland X or Mokka SUVs are affected by this problem. These are mainly gasoline engines, the now well-known PureTech 1.2l in its naturally aspirated or turbocharged versions, but also the BlueHdi 1.5l diesel engine!
Following reliability problems encountered on these engines, the Stellantis group has developed a new engine oil in collaboration with TotalEnergies. Called FPW9.55535/03, this 5W30 oil aims to reduce wear and clogging of mechanical components. Good news? Yes, but be careful, it must be used on certain engines since July 15, 2024, otherwise your warranty will be lost in the event of a breakdown!
The 1.5 BlueHDi, 2.2 BlueHDi and 1.2 Puretech Generation 1 (2014-2018) were the first affected. Since October 21, it is the turn of the second generation of the 1.2 Puretech (produced from 2018) to upgrade to FPW9.55535/03 at each revision, as revealed by L’Argus. The old reference B71 2290 is now banned.
Although this change was quickly implemented in the workshops of the Stellantis group brands, independent repair networks are not necessarily all aware of these new directives. You should therefore be extra vigilant and insist that your mechanic uses this high-performance engine oil, also referenced under the ACEA C3 standard. To find out, a reflex: check your invoice and maintenance booklet to make sure that the words “FPW9.55535/03” appear among the operations carried out during the annual maintenance of your vehicle.
The point is crucial because Stellantis conditions certain warranty extensions and coverage on strict compliance with its maintenance recommendations. Thus, the 1.2 Puretech engine benefits from 10 years or 175,000 km of coverage for distribution issues and excess oil consumption. The 1.5 BlueHDi is covered for 5 years or 150,000 km in the event of premature wear of the camshaft chain. But be careful to keep your invoices. You will need to present the last 3 invoices attesting to the use of the correct oil in the event of a mechanical problem! However, an excess of 3 months or 3000 km is tolerated in relation to the recommended maintenance plan. Enough to give you a little margin to arrange an appointment with your mechanic…