I today bought a lovley focus style TDCI 2006 estate £900 from liverpool car auctions. My heart sank when I put the key in and ..... nothing! it got worse, we had to push it to start it and I drove it home about 5 miles, after a short while as I stopped at traffic lights, smoke not black sort off grey was coming up from the bonnet near to window screen, each time I strated to drive the smoke went away ? If I trun it off, it has to towed or pushed to start it again. I had it on my drive for 5 minutes and there was a fare amount of oil on the driveway.

I am sick as you can imagine, the car is leaking oil, will not start unless pushed and my only hope is the fact that there is no creamy stuff in the filler cap or on the dip stick, Any advice plesae.

Best advice I can give you is never buy a car from an auction lol. The best thing todo is take it to a garage you trust and get them to give it a once over and let you know the low down with it. The smoke I would imagine will be connected to your oil leak I'd get that sorted asap

Best advice I can give you is never buy a car from an auction lol. The best thing todo is take it to a garage you trust and get them to give it a once over and let you know the low down with it. The smoke I would imagine will be connected to your oil leak I'd get that sorted asap

Any idea why it wont start without a push , the batterrys fine ?

Does it turn over or is it just completely dead?

Does it turn over or is it just completely dead?

Just a click ?

As long as the battery is fine id say its most likely the red wire connected to the starter solenoid. One of the terminals is prone corrosion which causes problems. Ford actually released a fix kit for this either that or you could buy a full New starter motor with the new kit already on

I have checked for any creamy stuff in an around the oil filler cap as well as the dip stick, no sighn, can I rest assured this means it is not the head gasket ? Thanks

Id say so yes but id keep an eye on your oil level untill you get your leak fixed. Any idea where the leaks coming from?

Also, were wil I find the starter motor and is it worth spraying with a bit of wd 40 ?

Id say so yes but id keep an eye on your oil level untill you get your leak fixed. Any idea where the leaks coming from?

Seeems to dripping from around the top of the engine

You could try abit of wd40 and like I said id get a mechanic to give it a once over before you order anything im not a mechanic :) lol https://www.fordpartsuk.com/partsrequest.htm

You should be able to get any parts you need from that site :)

Cheers Mate

Take some pictures , it might help us to see the problem , could be the rocker cover

no offence but did you really not think why its at the auction and why it was so cheap auctions are where the dealers and private sellers get rid of the rubbish they csnt sell or costs too much to fix im well aware of what goes in there from working at garages i would have eit thoroughly looked at first and see what needs done including under the car a dealer wouldhave repaired and sold it if it was worth it so there will be expense somewhere

Take some pictures , it might help us to see the problem , could be the rocker cover

Thanks mate, I will do tomorrow and post them on here tomorrow, I am very greatful for all your help here on this great forum.

On a note of it not starting , only from jump start , it could be that the battery is shot.

£900 for a car? Get what you pay for I'm afraid.

For starters, pardon the pun it sounds like the battery is in need of a replacement if it jump starts then the starter motor is fine

The smoke you are seeing coming from under the bonnet is probably oil from the leak getting onto the exhaust

Agreed, clicking solenoid means pooched battery.

Oil sounds like rocker cover gasket.

Eliminate the most obvious problems first then work from there.

Being methodical is the key.