Am I suffering head gasket failure?

[ste.richards]

I recently bought a Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.295CC 1996 and the car starts and runs fine. One problem is that it's losing a lot of engine oil. There are no visible oil patches where it's regular parked which gives me the impression it's coming out through the exhaust. I've done a full service on the car myself which means I drained and used new engine oil and then 2 weeks later the oil light was coming on when going around corners. It's gotten to the point where I have a big bottle of oil in my boot and I'm topping up every time I see a the oil light come on. There is also a strong smell of oil around the car once it has been running.

My question is, is there any other problem, besides head gasket failure, that may be causing this?

Thanks in advance, Stephen

[squaddiefox]

you need tomake sure the oil isn't getting into the water etc, but i would suggest getting it checked over. are you blowing alot of blue smoke from the exhaust.

[ste.richards]

you need tomake sure the oil isn't getting into the water etc, but i would suggest getting it checked over. are you blowing alot of blue smoke from the exhaust.

Nope, not a lot of blue smoke. I'd prefer to do any checks myself, where possible.

[centamin]

hi sounds like you might have pisiton ring wear

[ste.richards]

hi sounds like you might have pisiton ring wear

I'll see about getting a pressure tester on the cylinders. Can you advise me on the amount of pressure each cylinder should be reporting?

Thanks, Stephen

[centamin]

I'll see about getting a pressure tester on the cylinders. Can you advise me on the amount of pressure each cylinder should be reporting?

Thanks, Stephen

Hi Stephen,

Sorry have no knowledge of pressure test tolerances, check haynes book! but sounds like this is some thing that needs to be done, (IMHO) not sure how much it would cost to have the test done.

I had a (ford probe 2 liter) with the same problems as yours using about 1 liter of oil every 500 miles with a strong smell of oil when driving, took car to ford garage and had the piston rings and gaskets changed cost about 400 quid 11 years ago this cured the problem! but then a week later had the car nicked and never saw it again!! B-----D's

Hope this helps lets us know how you got on,

all the best CENTAMIN.

[Jonny87]

I recently bought a Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.295CC 1996 and the car starts and runs fine. One problem is that it's losing a lot of engine oil. There are no visible oil patches where it's regular parked which gives me the impression it's coming out through the exhaust. I've done a full service on the car myself which means I drained and used new engine oil and then 2 weeks later the oil light was coming on when going around corners. It's gotten to the point where I have a big bottle of oil in my boot and I'm topping up every time I see a the oil light come on. There is also a strong smell of oil around the car once it has been running.

My question is, is there any other problem, besides head gasket failure, that may be causing this?

Thanks in advance, Stephen

This sounds like the exact same problem that i have with my 1998 1.25 fiesta LX. I am near 100% certain that its the piston rings. Im not going to be getting the problem fixed as i have a brand new fiesta on order! My advice is that its not worth repairing as it will cost more than the car is worth for sure, unless the car is in pristine show room condition, you absolutely love it, and you plan on keeping it for a long time, dont bother. Find yourself a super cheap source of oil and just keep topping up, thats what i have been doing. One thing to note however is that this will be the end of your cars life, as it is likely that the burned oil has crucified your cat and you will fail your mot on emissions. Sorry for the grim outlook.

Of course i could be wrong, but the problem as you have described it really does sound like its the same as mine. seek advice from any mechanic you know and dont pay out any money on it, as it likely wont be worth it.

Jon

EDIT: in reply to your question on head gasket, check your coolant level, if its low then you may have coolant getting into your engine, this would be the result of a head gasket failure. Check the oil cap and look inside if its all black the gasket is probably sound, if it looks milky or whiteish, then you head gasket has gone for sure. TBH this would also be the end of your car...

[ste.richards]

This sounds like the exact same problem that i have with my 1998 1.25 fiesta LX. I am near 100% certain that its the piston rings. Im not going to be getting the problem fixed as i have a brand new fiesta on order! My advice is that its not worth repairing as it will cost more than the car is worth for sure, unless the car is in pristine show room condition, you absolutely love it, and you plan on keeping it for a long time, dont bother. Find yourself a super cheap source of oil and just keep topping up, thats what i have been doing. One thing to note however is that this will be the end of your cars life, as it is likely that the burned oil has crucified your cat and you will fail your mot on emissions. Sorry for the grim outlook.

Of course i could be wrong, but the problem as you have described it really does sound like its the same as mine. seek advice from any mechanic you know and dont pay out any money on it, as it likely wont be worth it.

Jon

EDIT: in reply to your question on head gasket, check your coolant level, if its low then you may have coolant getting into your engine, this would be the result of a head gasket failure. Check the oil cap and look inside if its all black the gasket is probably sound, if it looks milky or whiteish, then you head gasket has gone for sure. TBH this would also be the end of your car...

Thank you all for your replies. I'll take the advice of running it on cheap oil until I have the means to buy another car. I do have a friend who could replace the rings and I've saw rings for £45 on eBay but I'm guessing the head gasket will have to be replaced anyway because of taking the engine apart to replace the rings?

[Jonny87]

Thank you all for your replies. I'll take the advice of running it on cheap oil until I have the means to buy another car. I do have a friend who could replace the rings and I've saw rings for £45 on Ebay but I'm guessing the head gasket will have to be replaced anyway because of taking the engine apart to replace the rings?

Yes you would replace the gasket. Replacing the rings properly and doing a good job takes quite a bit of knowledge and skill and takes a long time, and is a major expense. Im not sure what the 1.3 takes but the 1.25 uses 5w30. Halfords own brand is about £25 for 5L, ive managed to find a garage that sells 5L of 5W30 for £16.

Oddly, i once accidently overfilled mine by about 5mm on the dipstick once, and the level didnt go down for ages, not sure why, but it just stuck to the same level... (obviously this isnt recommended). Poohbear has a super low mileage 03 focus ghia for sale posted somewhere on the forum, if you have the cash...

[ste.richards]

The car is still going strong but a new problem has arose.

The engine sounds very rattly and when it's ticking over there's a clicking sound. Does that sound like the tappets have gone?

[Jonny87]

The car is still going strong but a new problem has arose.

The engine sounds very rattly and when it's ticking over there's a clicking sound. Does that sound like the tappets have gone?

Is this causing the car to vibrate / shake?

[ste.richards]

Is this causing the car to vibrate / shake?

Not at all. The car runs smoothly.

[Jonny87]

Not at all. The car runs smoothly.

In that case it is unlikely that you have lost a cylindar. I had this on my car as well, but never bothered getting it checked out... (only 18 days to go till mine is off the road, absolutely cannot wait until the new one arrives)

[Angelina]

I am blowing a lot of blue smoke from my exhaust and my oil level keeps rising?

[KrisT]

21 hours ago, Angelina said:

I am blowing a lot of blue smoke from my exhaust and my oil level keeps rising?

This is an 11 year old post mate 😄 What car do you have ?

[argendaequan]

On 4/14/2009 at 11:27 AM, ste.richards said:

I recently bought a Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.295CC 1996 and the car starts and runs fine. One problem is that it's losing a lot of engine oil. There are no visible oil patches where it's regular parked which gives me the impression it's coming out through the exhaust. I've done a full service on the car myself which means I drained and used new engine oil and then 2 weeks later the oil light was coming on when going around corners. It's gotten to the point where I have a big bottle of oil in my boot and I'm topping up every time I see a the oil light come on. There is also a strong smell of oil around the car once it has been running.

My question is, is there any other problem, besides head gasket failure, that may be causing this?

Thanks in advance, Stephen

i would suggest getting it checked over. are you blowing alot of blue smoke from the exhaust.

[williamweb]

16 minutes ago, argendaequan said:

i would suggest getting it checked over. are you blowing alot of blue smoke from the exhaust.

The guy was last on this forum May 2009😁Easy mistake to make but you never know it could breath life into an old post.Probably been recycled into something better by now👍

[TomsFocus]

2 hours ago, williamweb said:

The guy was last on this forum May 2009😁Easy mistake to make but you never know it could breath life into an old post.Probably been recycled into something better by now👍

It's a bot...but quite a clever one tbf…  It's just copying quotes from earlier posts in each thread!  

[williamweb]

2 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

It's a bot...but quite a clever one tbf…  It's just copying quotes from earlier posts in each thread!  

No idea what thats about ,i'm just here to learn about cars🙄

[TomsFocus]

2 minutes ago, williamweb said:

No idea what thats about ,i'm just here to learn about cars🙄

It's not a real person...  It's a computer pretending to be a person.  Don't see many on here as they're usually screened out during the signing up process but this one seems to have past the human test!