I have had my petrol Zetec S just over a month now and when looking to purchase it, I noticed the engine bay was rather dirty with a small drop of oil near number 1 injector.

I asked the dealership to look at this before I agreed to buy the car, as it could just have been oil overspill from the filler or maybe something more serious.

When I collected the car, the oil deposit was gone, although the salesman couldn't tell me what work had been done.

After a week of owning the car, I noticed the oil had returned.

I booked the car into the dealership to be further investigated.

They had the car for a whole day and then in typical main dealer fashion said that they couldn't find any evidence of an oil leak and that it was probably overspill from someone topping up the oil!

I was not too happy about this but was told that they had cleaned the engine and that I should bring it back if the leak returned.

Surprise, surprise - the oil leak has returned.

Before I get it booked in again, I was wondering if anyone else has had this?

To me it looks like it could be a leaking rocker cover gasket but could possibly be a VVT or camshaft seal? It is very difficult to establish exactly where the oil is coming from.

In the bottom of this picture you can see the oil collecting on the head under the VVT inlet solenoid.

mine is the same, altho its very very slight. i wash my engine bay every weekend anyway. but mabye every 3-4 weeks i notice a small amount in the exact same place. never noticed my oil level going down so doesnt bother me

Thanks Stewart, there is also no noticeable oil level drop with mine but it's really more annoying than anything so I would like it sorted before the warranty expires.

Took the car back to the stealer a few days ago, and this time they actually opened their shiny toolbox and fitted a new rocker cover gasket under warranty.

Happy to report oil leak has not returned.