Hi all,

Firstly, I must stress how inept I am with the workings of a car so please bear with me.

I have an 02 reg Focus Zetec 1.6 and a problem started a while ago where I needed to pop oil in on occasion as the oil light would flicker. Being the idiot I am, I kept this going as a routine through ignorance and fear of costs if I took it to a garage. I should add that the only amount of oil I was putting in was one or two litres at a time.

Today, the car decided to puff out blue-ish smoke when changing gear and ultimately the engine working light came on with the car 'juddering'. I checked the dipstick level and saw that it was low to non-existent so bought some oil and topped it up to the required level.

This caused the light to go off so I drove it home, about 5 miles. During this drive home, the engine light came back on, along with enough smoke out of the exhaust to make it look like it was driven by a clown (feels like it was...). I have re-checked the oil level after letting it stand for a bit and it seems fine but the warning light is still on and the engine is spluttering and struggling.

Obviously it is damaged and it needs repair but can anyone give me a heads up on what to expect a mechanic to diagnose so I don't look as daft as I feel? I'm a bit short of cash and can only stretch to about £200 as far as any repair goes. I also rely on a car for work and kids.

All help and assistance is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Scott

If you have over a long period of time, let the oil drop to the point of oil light illuminated then topped back up again repeatedly I would not even bother getting engine sorted and would look for another engine if car is clean, if the car suffers from Rot then would look at replacing the car, once the oil light comes on thats lack of oil pressure so things start wearing, do this repeatedly and engine will fail completely, so you still have the original problem plus another now. thats my advice sorry.

With George on this one unfortunately you could spend a bomb trying to diagnose the exact issues ...

Obviously oil is entering the cylinders.

I'd suspect valve seals or piston rings (probably both tbh).

The engine would need stripping to diagnose properly and the cost may be high to fix.

If the bores are scored or the pistons are burnt then a full top end rebuild would be likely.

The engine shouldnt use any oil 1-2 litres is quite a bit as said the rings may have gone or the seals and will cost a lot more than 200 to diagnose last time my old work did one it was about £800-900 for the strip and rebuild that was for valve seals another car or engine would be better theres plenty of lowish mile engines on ebay but it will still cost to get it fitted etc

Even for a second hand engine your looking at 200+ and that's just for the engine without removal and reinstall