Ford Fiesta Oil Top Up

[angelacats]

I have an R reg ford fiesta 1.25, it has almost 85,000 on the clock and I've had it from new. I'm doing a good 1000 miles a month but recently it has been drinking oil, a couple of litres every couple of weeks, no leaks and no smoke, so am not sure what is going on, the oil light flickers, so I check the dipstick and off I go again to put more oil in. Just need some sort of guidance before taking my car to a garage - as I'm female and have been ripped off before, thanks Angela

[landie]

Have you got any large leaks? Oil patches on the driveway or garage floor?

[v64paul]

i don't know much about this particular engine, but i think it was designed by or in partnership with yamaha. point being it should be a quality peice of kit. the oil consumption does seem alarming by anyones standards though. try a google for ford forums and try and find out. i will have a look, and post back if there is a common thread relating to this engine.

[angelacats]

Hi there, there are no oil patches on the driveway, I can't see any leaks, and as the car is not smoking either, it is a complete mystery where the oil is going

[angelacats]

Hi v64paul many thanks for that and also many thanks landie

[Jay70]

This seems a very high amount of oil consumption (1ltr per 250 miles!!!.  Did this just suddenly start to happen or has it been getting progressively worse?  To see if the car oil maybe you could get someone to take out the spark plugs and check for wet oil on them (a sign of worn valve guides) or for a sooty fouling (a sign of worn piston rings).  But if the car is using as much oil as you say and it not a leek then I would have thought you would have noticed a lack of power or pinking at high rev's.  I had an old Sierra and that used to burn oil but it used start missing when you used to really put your foot down.  The only other thing I can think of is maybe it has got a leek but it only leeks when the engine is reving highly and thats why you dont normally see any drips.  What type of roads to you do your travelling on.  Sorry I can't be of more help. 

[angelacats]

Hi Jay70, I'm always on the M4 and cardiff city centre, I'll get my husband to have a look at the spark plugs and see where we go from there.  At high speed the car is fine, never noticed any difference in the power or even pinking, the oil consumption has been progressively getting worse over the past couple of months, I'm doing more mileage now but don't tend to drive mad because of the speed cameras dotted everywhere, thanks Angela

[mondepaul123]

I'm only familiar with earlier Fiestas, but I suppose they're not that different. Check your crankcase breather valve - it probably has three pipes connecting to it - one goes to the oil filler can, one to the inlet manifold and the third to the flap valve inside the air filter body. All these components, including the oil filler cap and the flap valve need to be thoroughly degunged with parafin or petrol. Pay particular attention to the tiny drilling inside the breather valve that leads to the pipe going to the inlet manfold. Poke a thin piece of wire through to get the hole clean. Reassemble, and blow me down, no longer will oil spray up through the air filter and burn off in the engine. You don't notice any smoke because your catalyst is doing such a wonderful job!