My 03 mondeo with 60000 miles seems to be making smoke from the exhaust,sometimes sooty black and sometimes grey.The engine doesn't seem to be using too much oil but could this be the start of something major?.Could this be a problem with the valve stem oil seals or maybe worn piston rings?.

My 03 mondeo with 60000 miles seems to be making smoke from the exhaust,sometimes sooty black and sometimes grey.The engine doesn't seem to be using too much oil but could this be the start of something major?.Could this be a problem with the valve stem oil seals or maybe worn piston rings?.

take it that we are talking petrol here not diesel,if its black smoke its overfueling or clogged intake~filter?could also be a lambda sensor problem.

If your valve stem seals are worn you would be getting blue smoke on acceleration or tickover when coming to rest.

Some more info would be good ie:when does the black smoke appear? on giving it the beans/tickover ect

JJ

take it that we are talking petrol here not diesel,if its black smoke its overfueling or clogged intake~filter?could also be a lambda sensor problem.

If your valve stem seals are worn you would be getting blue smoke on acceleration or tickover when coming to rest.

Some more info would be good ie:when does the black smoke appear? on giving it the beans/tickover ect

JJ

Hi, thanks for your reply.The car is a 1.8 petrol duratec,the thick black smoke occurs when the engine is at any temperature ie start up or warmed up,if you rev the engine when the vehicle is stood it leaves a patch of soot on the road.The oil consumption is averaging half a litre per 100 miles.I have only owned the car for 2 weeks and it is otherwise in mint condition and runs so well.The dealer i bought it from has an extremely good reputation and has worked with me to try and find the problem,first he did a compression test which proved fine so this led us to think it was the valve stem oil seals.He contacted the engine reconditioner who he uses and told him the facts,the guy immediately said that it would be the piston oil control rings as he has seen this problem before.The cost of the repair is going to be uneconomical so he has offered me a full refund,a shame really cause i think the car is perfect for what i need.

Hi, thanks for your reply.The car is a 1.8 petrol duratec,the thick black smoke occurs when the engine is at any temperature ie start up or warmed up,if you rev the engine when the vehicle is stood it leaves a patch of soot on the road.The oil consumption is averaging half a litre per 100 miles.I have only owned the car for 2 weeks and it is otherwise in mint condition and runs so well.The dealer i bought it from has an extremely good reputation and has worked with me to try and find the problem,first he did a compression test which proved fine so this led us to think it was the valve stem oil seals.He contacted the engine reconditioner who he uses and told him the facts,the guy immediately said that it would be the piston oil control rings as he has seen this problem before.The cost of the repair is going to be uneconomical so he has offered me a full refund,a shame really cause i think the car is perfect for what i need.

If it was the oil control rings it would be blue smoke not black.

Black smoke is definatley over fueling or Lambda sensor fault.

The engine reconditioner is wrong.

Jeff