Hello,

I have had my Mk6.5 Ford Fiesta Zetec Blue 1.4 TDCI since November 2017, when I bought it, it was at 111'000 miles. It was on the low side for oil and coolant so I got it serviced straight after buying it. I have done about 4500 miles since then and the oil level on the dipstick is down to about half way, there is no oil leaking from underneath the car that I can see but though to lose this amount of oil is a bit excessive. 

Could anyone advise on what this could be?

Thanks in advance!

Alex

Are you getting blue smoke out of the exhaust? If it's not leaking out of the engine then it will be being burnt. That means it could either be the oil is leaking past the piston rings (worn bore and/or rings), turbo seals worn or valve guide seals are leaking.

Not that I can see but I'll have a proper look tomorrow in the light. I am going to book it into my mechanic and see what he says as I do not know much about cars.

Thanks. 

some cars use more than others. first thing, when it was serviced did you check the oil was right at the top level. half way down after 4500 miles is possibly a bit more oil use than average but I would not say it is excessive.  Years ago I had a fiesta 1100 which I did about 1,400 miles per month in. It did not leak oil but used a gallon of oil per month. 

On 08/04/2018 at 11:36 PM, isetta said:

some cars use more than others. first thing, when it was serviced did you check the oil was right at the top level. half way down after 4500 miles is possibly a bit more oil use than average but I would not say it is excessive.  Years ago I had a fiesta 1100 which I did about 1,400 miles per month in. It did not leak oil but used a gallon of oil per month. 

Yes, it was right to the top in November and now it's around half. There's no oil under the car and I've looked at the exhaust whilst it's running and I can't see any smoke coming out of it so I'm a bit baffled.

It could easily be burning that amount without being noticeable, partly blowing through the breather and partly past the rings on cold starts.  My 1.6TDCi would go from max to min in around 6000 miles.  It's only about half a litre, which is nothing compared to the 500 litres of diesel it would burn in that mileage.  

On 10/04/2018 at 9:53 AM, TomsFocus said:

It could easily be burning that amount without being noticeable, partly blowing through the breather and partly past the rings on cold starts.  My 1.6TDCi would go from max to min in around 6000 miles.  It's only about half a litre, which is nothing compared to the 500 litres of diesel it would burn in that mileage.  

I have sometimes noticed a white-ish mist of smoke when starting the engines but heard that could be to do with injectors? Apart from that, I've never noticed any smoke etc.

As I say, you can easily burn that without noticing any smoke, it's such a tiny amount compared to the diesel it's burning.  White smoke on start can be a few things, water vapour (steam) if cold/damp outside, unburnt diesel if the glow plugs aren't working properly or unburnt oil from various places.  Wouldn't worry about it tbh.

I have noticed a misting of oil on 2 parts of the engine: