Disappearing Oil

[soozypoo]

Hi there,this is my first time here,i think,unless ur linked to the transit forum

anyways,i need to resolve my niggly problem,i've had my mk 6 2003 1.25 duratec fiesta now since September,i only bought it cus i was finishing up my driving instructor training and needed something to use until i qualify.It had 36k miles on with full history,although purchased from a non main agent,was a 2nd hand car saleslot local to me(obv they'd bought it from auction like most)

It has always sounded a lil tappy to me when you accelerate away,i did have my mechanic look at this when he was working on another car i had but he said it didnt sound too bad,however he just stood over the engine as i pressed the gas.Lately i've noticed the oil is disappearing.

I checked it at the start of december as it was at the max level when i bought the car,n the mechanic checked in october when i mentioned the tapping,anyway in december every so often when i started to slow down for lights the oil light would briefly flicker on just for a millisecond and then it was gone,and i decided to check the oil after it had been standing to cool for a while (and before i went on a 360 mile round drive to bournemouth),i found the dipstick was completely bone dry!

i replaced the oil with the recommended 5 30 until it was up to the max marker again,and carried out my trip without any problems a couple of weeks after i returned i decided to check the level,and again the stick was bone dry,yet had no oil lamps or flicking of it this time.

There is no leak of oil on my driveway or on the road when i park,so its obviously disappearing somewhere which concerns me.

Surely after around 500 miles of driving all the oil shouldnt be gone,it has to be losing it elsewhere.

My mechanic did come and briefly have a look and he thinks the exhaust smoke did look a little bluey in colour,but he quickly stopped on his way back from work and it was dark,so have to get him out again,he said if it is,then the outlook isnt good,im sure he said something about seals or cylinders on that particular engine cant be changed.Great another duff car lol

I personally dont notice any smoke from it when im driving about,although when i was out with my instructor last week and we were chatting while the car was idling,he said he started to smell something and turned the engine off,i have started to notice a faint smell also when i have the heaters on of a bit like what i can describe as tar when they resurfacing a road,i dont know if thats anything to do with my oil loss problem.

I thought about taking it for a compression test,but surely you wouldnt expect a car with so little miles on to be having problems like this,maybe had it done 136k miles,but every1 tells me the engine should only just be breaking in.this is the 3rd ford ive had now that ive had probs with lol i guess they just not that dependable lol or im buying dud cars :D

Apart from the oil loss problem the car works fine although slow as !Removed!

Has anyone got any ideas what could be causing the loss of oil,and any other checks i can do myself,i dont trust driving it atm as i dont want to cause any more problems,thats if me continuing to use it could be making probs worse,and i dont wanna end up with a seized engine as that wouldnt be good lol

any advice greatly appreciated,and would be interesting to know if anyone else has experienced the same prob

[DONFRAMAC]

Hi there,this is my first time here,i think,unless ur linked to the transit forum

anyways,i need to resolve my niggly problem,i've had my mk 6 2003 1.25 duratec fiesta now since September,i only bought it cus i was finishing up my driving instructor training and needed something to use until i qualify.It had 36k miles on with full history,although purchased from a non main agent,was a 2nd hand car saleslot local to me(obv they'd bought it from auction like most)

It has always sounded a lil tappy to me when you accelerate away,i did have my mechanic look at this when he was working on another car i had but he said it didnt sound too bad,however he just stood over the engine as i pressed the gas.Lately i've noticed the oil is disappearing.

I checked it at the start of december as it was at the max level when i bought the car,n the mechanic checked in october when i mentioned the tapping,anyway in december every so often when i started to slow down for lights the oil light would briefly flicker on just for a millisecond and then it was gone,and i decided to check the oil after it had been standing to cool for a while (and before i went on a 360 mile round drive to bournemouth),i found the dipstick was completely bone dry!

i replaced the oil with the recommended 5 30 until it was up to the max marker again,and carried out my trip without any problems a couple of weeks after i returned i decided to check the level,and again the stick was bone dry,yet had no oil lamps or flicking of it this time.

There is no leak of oil on my driveway or on the road when i park,so its obviously disappearing somewhere which concerns me.

Surely after around 500 miles of driving all the oil shouldnt be gone,it has to be losing it elsewhere.

My mechanic did come and briefly have a look and he thinks the exhaust smoke did look a little bluey in colour,but he quickly stopped on his way back from work and it was dark,so have to get him out again,he said if it is,then the outlook isnt good,im sure he said something about seals or cylinders on that particular engine cant be changed.Great another duff car lol

I personally dont notice any smoke from it when im driving about,although when i was out with my instructor last week and we were chatting while the car was idling,he said he started to smell something and turned the engine off,i have started to notice a faint smell also when i have the heaters on of a bit like what i can describe as tar when they resurfacing a road,i dont know if thats anything to do with my oil loss problem.

I thought about taking it for a compression test,but surely you wouldnt expect a car with so little miles on to be having problems like this,maybe had it done 136k miles,but every1 tells me the engine should only just be breaking in.this is the 3rd ford ive had now that ive had probs with lol i guess they just not that dependable lol or im buying dud cars :D

Apart from the oil loss problem the car works fine although slow as !Removed!

Has anyone got any ideas what could be causing the loss of oil,and any other checks i can do myself,i dont trust driving it atm as i dont want to cause any more problems,thats if me continuing to use it could be making probs worse,and i dont wanna end up with a seized engine as that wouldnt be good lol

any advice greatly appreciated,and would be interesting to know if anyone else has experienced the same prob

Your mechanic is correct about bore-wear:-- get a cheap replacement engine from a scrappy, and it won't cost a fortune. My scrappy, at Overton Garage, Dyce, Aberdeen, gives a short warranty with its salvaged parts.

Sometimes oil is lost via a bad sump gasket, or valve-stem oil O-ring seals. Another route, is via crank-shaft end-seals.

Bore-wear at that miles would have to be caused by neglect of oil-changing, or the odometer has been tweaked or replaced.

[grin factor]

If there is not oil to be seen around the engine or on the road, then it is burning it off.

As above entry, a second hand engine is the answer, unless you want to p/x it

[soozypoo]

thanks guys ive been lookin on the net the past few days for replacement engines,just a pain in the !Removed! that this happens again,my bloke bought a focus estate for work last march from a different 2nd hand car lot and 3 weeks after the engine seized due to timing belt tensioners falling apart,i h8 ppl who dont bother looking after their cars grrrrr,that was 8 valves knackered,but we've had it all repaired n everything replaced now on that so mayb i gonna have 2 do the same with the fiesta.

if i p/x ill have the prob of having to have my dual controls removed i only just paid 200 quid 2 have em fitted n now will have to get em removed and refitted in another car at more cost.

I looked in the service book n it only has 2 services,the latter being 31 oct 2009 when it had done 22,600 miles so there was a gap of 14000 miles between that til i bought it and the previous one was done when it had 3,500 miles on it back in 2004.So if it was full history it should have more stamps in than that,i guess the previous lady owner wasnt aware it needed 710 to keep it running pmsl

[kevin lancelott]

Some people will sell a car with known problems which is a shame for the unsuspecting next buyer who ends up paying for the previous owners repairs.It happened to my brother when he bought a vauxhall signum.

[pete990]

I agree, It will probably be a burning oil issue, I would suggest you part ex your car for a diesel. I've run a driving school for 25 years & we all use diesels, better for teaching & much cheaper to run. Best of luck on your part 3. Pete

[soozypoo]

thanks pete,got my test booked for 28 feb so need to have something reliable,dont think the examiner will be amused if we get a blown engine heheheh.

i've had enough crap with having a !Removed! training company and having to continue my training with someone else at extra cost which was bad enough and now this car prob,grrrr some1 up there defo dont like me

Kevin,yeah it sure a !Removed! off when ppl do that,i was always told,people mostly r selling for a reason,something is wrong with it lol

I found the previous owners email in with the paperwork when i bought it so i emailed her and asked her,not that im expecting to hear back,but im intrigued as to the state of the bodywork also.It wasnt apparent at the time i viewed the car in the lot as it was wet,but on a sunny day lookin down on the roof it looks like it been ran over by a herd of elephants :D ripples n dents all over,also over the bonnet theres a crease,and another which wasnt apparent until i washed it down the drivers door,and the interior was !Removed! up to hell (although this had been cleaned the next time i viewed,but the stains are returning lol)

she surely did something with it in its 7yrs of life pmsl,if it was rolled or in accident and it was never put thru insurance it will never show up on any of these checks,garage said it had ran checks when they took it in.So i will always remain in the dark,if only cars could talk eh? lmao

I did like the new fiesta,but until im passed and earning its pointless me taking something out unless i have some income to go towards paying it off,the 1.4tdci i think were very low on tax as well which is all good :)

Seen mechanic again he said 2 choices i could go along and p/x it or look into finding another engine for it.So guess i got some thinking to do,i really cant afford to be paying out even more buying another car so soon,so he said as long as i keep the oil topped up i will be ok in the meantime.Thing is i dont think i could sell it on knowing that some1 else is gonna have the probs that im having as knowing my luck it will all come back and bite me pmsl.Guess im just too honest