Ford Sigma (Duratec/Zetec-SE)
inline-4 · naturally aspirated · petrol · 1995–2019
Also known as: sigma, duratec 1.6, zetec-se, 1.4 duratec, 1.6 ti-vct, fyda, shda
Ford's small petrol four in 1.25 to 1.6 litre forms, known as Zetec-SE and later as Duratec and Ti-VCT — the engine of two decades of Fiestas, Focuses, Pumas and Ka models, and one of the highest-volume European engines of its period.
It is a belt-driven, port-injected, naturally aspirated design, and that summary carries most of the diagnostic value: none of the direct-injection carbon, high-pressure fuel or wet-belt failures that dominate Ford's later engines apply. What matters is the timing belt interval, because it is an interference design and these cars are now old enough that belt history is often unknown.
The recurring complaints are ordinary ageing: coil packs and leads, the crankshaft position sensor, a sticking thermostat, and vacuum leaks producing lean codes. On the Ti-VCT versions the variable valve timing actuators and their oil control solenoids are the addition worth knowing, and they respond to oil condition more than to age.
Cars fitted with this engine
6 generations, across 1 make. From the authored catalogue — an absent car means the catalogue has not reached it, not that the engine was never fitted.
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Posted about this engine
Be the first to write this up
Nothing posted about this yet. Whatever you found is worth writing down — even a dead end saves someone the same afternoon.
What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
Sign in or create an account to add what you found about Sigma (Duratec/Zetec-SE).