an old petrol Cavalier I had was said (by the manual) to effectively use a full oil change between changes

I think I remember the oil consumption figure to be about 100 times your fuel consumption so 1000 miles per litre compares to 10 miles per litre for fuel or around 45 MPG

 

I guess I might have an engine problem now, I drove the car yesterday and it felt like it was juddering and very low on power. Made it to my destination checked the oil - level was on max. Drove back home and car was running great again. When I got home and switched the car off there was a whirring noise coming from the engine bay which lasted about 2 minutes and the exhaust made a load of ticking noises.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

I started the car this morning and it was smoking like a steam train, grey smoke and soot coming out the exhaust. Went to the local supermarket about 12 miles away, I could see the odd cloud of smoke. Pulled up and checked, still smoking. I checked the oil and it had dropped from Max to halfway in about 65 miles.

Drove home and it was still smoking and it sounded like the valves were tapping. I had purchased a product called Auto-RX which I was reluctant to try, so I put some in - the dosage of 8 fluid Oz. either that or an expensive engine overhaul.

Started the car, omg loads of smoke and crap coming out of the exhaust - began to think that I had wrecked the car, took it for a spin around the block and the smoking stopped. The exhaust emissions also smelled cleaner, I am very skeptical and thought it just happened to clear itself. I then took it for a 20 mile drive, the car felt smooth and powerful again. Amazingly the tapping noise seems to have reduced.

I will keep you posted with my Auto-RX experience and let you know what happens.

 

Sounds bad! Only place oil can get into the exhaust is past poor piston rings, through a split head gasket or through failed valve stem oil seals. Sounds like you've got quite a big internal leak, but one that isn't constant, strange.

 

I'm back

Not been posting for a while, my login don't work since the forum upgrade. So I have a new account, jimblob2.

Something weird has now happened, the smoking seems to have stopped and the engine is running smooth again and there seems to be no more oil consumption. The car feels a little under power but running well from what I can tell.

I have only done two things;

1. I added Auto-RX to the engine oil, this stuff is an engine cleaning gel which is added to the oil. The oil is looking darker which suggests it may have done some cleaning.

2. I also changed my fuel supplier. Since I had the car I have used Morrisons petrol. I now fill up at Texaco, it costs a few pence more but after two fills the car seems to be running better now.

My wifes Fiesta has started to drink oil so we have started filling that up at Texaco and guess what? The fiesta is now running smooth and the oil consumption is getting better. I wonder what Morrisons are doing with their fuel?

I'll keep you posted.

 

Dont celebrate too early!

Just had to fill the oil again - 750ml, I don't get it - I checked the oil about 100 miles ago and it was between Max and Min, and it dropped to well below the minimum.

Oddly after topping back up the power seems to have returned. I am really puzzled with no oil consumption for about 500 miles then a big glug of oil in 100 miles. The smoke is also back but only a little.

No loss of coolant and it dont seem to overheat and sounds normal.

 

Heres my next update, checked my oil yesterday after doing about 200 miles and its back down to the minimum mark again. The oil is starting to look quite dark now - I guess the Auto-RX is doing its cleaning thing. Next part of the treatment is to change the oil and filter for the rinse cycle (in about 150 miles). This will clean the rest of the internals out and hopefully cure my cars drinking problem!

 

Well it is time for the rinse cycle, I took it in for an oil & filter change and a MOT today. The oil had got quite dark, not as bad as a diesel but dark for a petrol.

I compared the emissions data from my previous mot and was quite suprised how much the hydrocarbons had dropped. It had dropped from 77 to 21, Co2 was a touch higher.

The rinse cycle should clean the rest of the engine up now and hopefully the oil drinking will continue to reduce.

 

I can not understand how your car can go from one extreme to the other? I have owned 8 petrol cars and ALL of them gussled oil. Ford Orion was the worse one. Turned out to be piston rings and head gasket replacement.
Hope you get this bizarre matter sorted. I used to check my oil several times a day I got that obsessed with it.

 

I was browsing another Ford forum where a bloke had a Mondeo, drinking oil & allsorts. He did a kerosene flush which cleaned the gunk out of the engine and cured the problems he was having.

HELP PLEASE ! AT WITS END ! MOT DUE ! - 1.8L / 2.0L Duratec Petrol Engines (Mondeo Mk3) - TalkFord.com

Oddly enough his Mondeo also had a Duratec-HE engine, I guess carbon build up is the root cause of the problem which causes the rings to stick and allow oil past them. I decided on the Auto-RX because it is a gentle clean of the engine over 1500 miles.

 

It sounds like sticking piston rings to me as you complain of rough running at random times!

 

It sounds like sticking piston rings to me as you complain of rough running at random times!

Thats what I was thinking or stem valve seals on way out. What bugs me is the dealer don't want to get his spanners out until the computer says so!

I thought if it was sticky rings then an internal clean could help which is why I thought I would try the Auto-RX stuff. I am also using Tesco Momentum which should clean the petrol side of the engine. It is running smoother - fingers crossed! I'll keep you posted.

 

You could try removing the spark plugs turning the engine over by hand so the pistons are at half bore, then put some neat fuel cleaner in there and leave it over night!

Make sure you clean it out before starting it though!

 

Hi all

Unfortunately as of last week i have joined the infamous DuratecHE oil drinkers club

I have had a decent search already and it seems for some reason the 1.8l is more affected than 2.0l - maybe that is just a statistical difference as there is more 1.8's a round therefore more troubles with them.

Strangely enough my previous 1.8l had no problems with leaking oil and it had 40k more miles on the clock - just proves how random the issue is...

My oil consumption is not that extreme as jimblob2 cmax...

However the oil level is below min and it was spot on when i filled it in 2-3 months ago and for about 4-5 weeks after that...

My symptoms are as follows:

1. No smoke ad idle, cold and warm engine.
2. Smoke appears only when accelerating hard and revving the car to 5-6k.
3. Smoke is white in colour and there is soot coming out when revved hard.
4. No noticeable performance drop.
5. No significant increase in petrol consumption.
6. No DTC codes whatsoever.
7. The spark plugs have good colour to the tips but there is oil on the threads?
8. No oil in coolant.
9. Absolutely no external leaks anywhere to be seen.
10. No rough running - engine sounds OK to me.

Could you advise something based on the above, please?
I am quite desperate as i like the car and the engine in particular and want to save it from imminent doom

I can see the most obvious suggestions are already here- valve stem seals, piston rings.

Is there any chance the oil could be disappearing through faulty (stuck open) PCV valve?
Mu manifold was quite cacked up when I cleaned it last week but no comparison so hard to tell whether it was really bad or not...

What about my issue with oil on spark plug threads? Could that be caused by leaking valve cover gasket?
And could that gasket contribute to so much oil disappearing - probably more than a 1 liter within 2 months?

I will try to find a garage that can do the compression test and leakage test - i would imagine that would identify the issue with piston rings, right?

Anybody knows the expected values for compression on healthy 1.8 DuratecHE?

Any advice would be highly appreciated.

@jimblob2

Any updated on your side?
Have you stopped the leak or found the most likely cause of it?

Regards.

 

Oil levels

Have to ask but when do you check the Oil? You should only ever check the oil level when the car has been left over night (Cold Engine) on a flat level ground.
Some chap that used to live on the same road keep topping the oil up after the engine had just run!

We check it one morning when he kept moaning about the oil levels and it was way over filled.

 

-

Have to ask but when do you check the Oil? You should only ever check the oil level when the car has been left over night (Cold Engine) on a flat level ground.
Some chap that used to live on the same road keep topping the oil up after the engine had just run!

We check it one morning when he kept moaning about the oil levels and it was way over filled.

Well, you see if you would ask me this questions before my troubles started i would answer without thinking - when the engine is cold!

You fill the engine when it is cold and that is when you check for correct oil level during service, isn't it?

So why out of a sudden i am so confused, you ask?

Well, when i check my engine oil in the morning the oil level is barely showing on the dipstick.

When i check the oil at other occasion - short trip to work, wait for engine to cool down- just below min mark

When i check my engine when at operating temp - just below the min mark

Amazing isn't it?

All checks guaranteed to be measured on as flat surface as available in Manchester

I have never had this problem with any other car before and i am confident i am doing everything as per usual and recommended.
Not to mention the fact i am often measuring in the same spot on the road as on my previous cars

Hence, the conclusion oil is disappearing and there is no obvious leak.

I am going to get my compression tester (cheap job off eBay for £11) on Thursday and run compression test.
I will update on that asap.

I also have my brand new PCV valve (£8 off Fraud) and will fit that on Saturday.

Hopefully that is the source of uncontrolled leak...

Regards.

 

I thought I was the only one! Another Cmax with a drinking problem!

My oil consumption appears to have reduced. I had the oil changed about 800 miles ago and I have had to top it up about 250ml. It seemed to drink a bit on a trip to Minehead and back, but it seems a lot better now. I did run into some trouble, about an hour into the trip each way the car started juddering again. It seemed to be low on power again, but a bit of a thrash seemed to "free" something and it is running good again.
It started bucking like a kangaroo after I filled at Morrisons again, I don't know if it is related or not. I am thinking of adding an injector cleaner to the next tank of fuel to see if that helps. Something like STP fuel system cleaner, got to be worth a go as the dealer can't find nothing wrong with the engine.
I did get the dealer to check the PCV and they said it was working fine.

 

@jimblob2

I am happy that your engine started to behave again or at least it does not drink as much oil at present...
Anything else you have done apart from oil change?

As with regards to strange juddering - clean the throttle body, run some injector cleaners, confirm the spark plugs are spot on, clean egr valve, replace air filter maybe.

Regards.

 

When it was drinking a lot I treated it to some Auto-RX which cleans the engine on the oil side over a period of 1500 miles. You have to then change the oil hence the oil change.

A month after I got the car it had a full service at my Ford dealer, spark plugs, oil & filters all changed. I have already cleaned the throttle body, dont really want to do the egr, I am not that confident in mechanics - the throttle body was scary enough!

I think as it seems to play up with "cheaper" fuels then the injectors or something fuel wise is clogging when the judder happens. Might even be the HT coils, I've heard that they can play up when they get warm.

I have noticed one my HT coils (they are the type which plug straight into the spark plug) that the Ford dealer has covered them in what looks to be an ultravoilet jelly. I am guessing if I change them then I will need some of this jelly - anyone know what it is?

 

Latest update on my side

Juts did a trip to Snowdonia and back - 220 miles in total.

The oil level on dipstick went from bang on between Min and Max to just barely showing on the dipstick!?

How the heck that is possible without any obvious leaks?

Seems my car now runs on oil rather than petrol

There is still no obvious signs at all.

There is no blueish smoke from exhaust, no decrease in performance, no mpg penalty...

What is going on? Any comments or suggestions?

Tomorrow topping up and doing full on compression test to check piston rings...

Where to go from there?

Regards.

 

Another update.

I have done the compression test.

The results were as follows:

Cylinder 1 - 125psi plus minus 1,2psi
Cylinder 2 - 125psi plus minus 1,2psi
Cylinder 3 - 125psi plus minus 1,2psi
Cylinder 4 - 125psi plus minus 1,2psi

Then i have added a teaspoon of oil to each cylinder and re run the tests:

Cylinder 1 - went up to 135psi
Cylinder 2 - went up to 145psi
Cylinder 3 - went up to 145psi
Cylinder 4 - went up to 145psi

Following that I have added further 2 teaspoons of oil to Cylinder 4 only and run another test - this time 150psi.

I have also found that Cylinder 4 spark plug was fouled as compared to other 3 which looked clean to me.

What does it all mean?

Any comments would be highly appreciated.

Is 125psi too low compression?

All Cylinders built up the compression fairly quickly within 3-4 'cranks'.

Is the fact compression changes when oil added indicate the piston rings are worn?

Please advise as considering selling the car if piston rings fecked....

Regards.

 

What happens when you take the oil cap off when the engine is idling? Is there smoke? On diesels you expect some white ish smoke as they run on compression and ring bypass is expected, plus thats why the engine oil turns black within 5 minutes of a change. But on petrols you should only be able to feel the engine breathing!
You've stated that cyclinder 4 has fouled spark plug. Could be worth removing the intake manifold off and inspect the valve. Could be a buggered valve seal or cracked head but then again you would expect smoke on startup! Are you sure there is no visable oil leaks! Any oil round the gearbox?

 

Another update.

I have done the compression test.

The results were as follows:

Cylinder 1 - 125psi plus minus 1,2psi
Cylinder 2 - 125psi plus minus 1,2psi
Cylinder 3 - 125psi plus minus 1,2psi
Cylinder 4 - 125psi plus minus 1,2psi

Then i have added a teaspoon of oil to each cylinder and re run the tests:

Cylinder 1 - went up to 135psi
Cylinder 2 - went up to 145psi
Cylinder 3 - went up to 145psi
Cylinder 4 - went up to 145psi

Following that I have added further 2 teaspoons of oil to Cylinder 4 only and run another test - this time 150psi.

I have also found that Cylinder 4 spark plug was fouled as compared to other 3 which looked clean to me.

What does it all mean?

Any comments would be highly appreciated.

Is 125psi too low compression?

All Cylinders built up the compression fairly quickly within 3-4 'cranks'.

Is the fact compression changes when oil added indicate the piston rings are worn?

Please advise as considering selling the car if piston rings fecked....

Regards.

from TIS disc ~compression ration is 10:1 so nominal max around 145 psi. Given that there'll be loss past inlet valves / manifold wouldn't think 125 psi too bad especially as all very nearly same
That the oil added made them all increase by a similar amount is good though might show slight sticking of rings with No 1 (It adds a hydraulic film between ring and bore). That 1 teaspoon showed an increases probably means rings are not too bad ~What mileage has engine done?
Plug No 4 fouling could be the plug itself (how old) or even could be spray pattern of the injectors

 

Blue smoke of death

I was on my way to buy my fuel system cleaner as the tank needed filling. Whilest sat at the 4th set of red lights in Malvern Link, they turned green I pulled away and in my rear view mirror was a cloud of blue smoke

When I say cloud, it was like the smoke screen on the Spyhunter game (from my youth) and it was proper blue. It has never done that before and it did not do it again afterwards. I carried onto Halfords and got some Wynns fuel system cleaner and put that in.

I fear it wont be long before my engine lets go

I did check the oil after the cloud but there was no real change in level

 

First of all, thanks for the feedback on the issue.

@Blunder

I am positive that at idle there is no smoke coming out of the oil cap. However after longer trip the cap is steaming, rather than smoking. I would imagine once at operational temp and longer trip this would be expected though?

The inside of valve cover seems to covered in cack/oil as looking through oil filler cap - may be just deposits accumulated over 90k miles or in fact proof of some seal/gasket problem.

The inlet manifold is coming off again-first to check how much crap is in it after 400 miles, second of all to check the PCV valve- shame i have not done it before as it took me half a day to take off and clean the inlet manifold last time
I wish i had spare £400 quid and replace that silly plastic inlet manifold with proper item of Burton Power More compact, more power and easier to work around

If PCV valve stuck open then that would quite easily explain loss of oil... Somehow though i know i am not going to be that 'lucky'
As the PCV valve is getting replaced for brand spanking new the system is also getting Oil catch can in line so to truly appreciate how much gunk is coming out of PCV valve over time- will report on it when time comes.

There are NO obvious leaks anywhere, including gearbox area. I think i have checked all possible leak points: Crank seal, sump plug, oil filter, valve cover, head gasket area, engine in general.

I have had a Cougar V6 with oil leak around crank seal and i know how the engine bay looks like when there is oil seeping through seals- it is not clean to say at least
Mine is SPOTLESS.

@Richard G

I am not afraid of numbers and maths so could you kindly clarify how you calculate PSI knowing the compression ratio, please?

As there was not feedback to my last post for long time i have done extensive research on the topic all over internet. I have found similar statements to yours so i guess that fills me with a bit of confidence the piston rings are OK apart from teh fact they may be sticking and passing some oil due to millage on the engine - 90k.

90k is not a lot but if person before me was not looking after car properly than anything is possible...

The spark plugs are relatively brand new- 3 months old.
Fitted correctly and tightened to correct torque etc.

I am planning to service injectors as soon as i stop the oil leak. After that will replace the spark and see what happens...

Things to do next:

1. Get full gasket set. Replace valve cover gaskets.
2. Build valve spring compressor and replace all valve stem seals with head still in place. Asses the condition of valve train.
3. Get Engine Cleaner and flush engine. Get petrol additive and flash whole petrol delivery system.
4. Replace engine oil with 5w-40. Same viscosity when cold but denser when hot to slow down leaks past rings.
5. Replace PCV valve + install oil catch can.

I am off for business trip for two weeks but will update on progress as soon as i am back!

Regards.

 

@jimblob2

Sorry to hear you are still having problems with your engine.

I would suggest as a matter of urgency carry out the compression test!

Get one of those:

PETROL ENGINE AUTOMOTIVE COMPRESSION TESTER KIT DUAL SCALE GUAGE - TWO ADAPTORS | eBay

You do not need anything else! This will work with your engine!

DO not be afraid - the procedure is dead easy! Email me if you need more guidance but follow manual that comes with compression tester and you will be fine!

You will save a lot of money as compared to your local garage and you will know what is going on with your engine.

It does however sound like piston rings with the amount of smoke you mentioned.
That would be BAD as it means proper engine strip - easy to do yourself if you have some basic tools, patience, time and garage I lack the last two

However if compression comes out OK then it is 'only' valve stem seals and that is very easy job to do plus you do not have to take the head off.

Good luck with the engine!

Update if any new info or progress, please!

Regards.