How to stop my car buring oil?

Question

I've got a '96 Ford Escort that is burning lots of oil. Its only done 65K. Its burning about a litre every 300 miles! I see masses of smoke when it goes over about 4000 rpm, and a little at lower revs. Is there anything can be done? Its got its MOT next week...

Answer 1

Without spending money on replacing valve seals ect..
Use a good quality 20/50w engine oil (eg. Castrol High Mileage), Ford engines often respond well to this.
Don't use a synthetic as this will burn a lot quicker.
Also make sure that the breathers are clean (If you can smell oil when using the heater - they are probably blocked.)

Answer 2

There is no easy solution to this engine burning oil. The thing to do is get it rebuilt or replaced. There is NO other solution which will pass an emissions test (which is what i suppose MOT is).

That said, oil has to be getting into the combustion chamber to get burned and come out as smoke in the exhaust. There are 3 possible sources, rings, valves and head gasket. Rings wear, and if you let it go low on oil or went long periods without an oil change, rings can wear enough to let oil from the crankcase get by as the piston is on the intake stroke. A compression test will tell you if it is rings as the compression will be low on one or more cylinders. Valves are a bit difficult since a compression test checks how well the valves seal to the head, but not if oil is running down the valve stem from a bad seal above the seating surface. You will have oil fouling on a single plug if it is a valve guide and compression will be in line with normal wear. Last, the head gasket, but you will have other problems if this is the case, like overheating because of exhaust getting into the coolant, Again, if the break in the head gasket is located where oil is channeled to the head, it may suck in oil on the intake stroke, but then you might notice the crankcase being pressurized by oil leaking out of other parts of the engine, most likely the front and rear seals of the crankshaft. When exhaust gets into the crankcase, two things tend to happen, overheating and oil coming out of places it shouldn't. All cars since the 70's have had positive crankcase ventilation (PCV), air is sucked out of the crankcase into the intake manifold to burn oil vapor and the leakage around the rings which normally happens. If this PCV system is overloaded or simply not working, the crankcase works under pressure instead of a vacuum, and that is what makes oil leak out of strange places. The PCV system may be the method why oil is getting intot he intake air, but that is because of another problem. The PCV system is doing the job, but there is too much to handle without obvious smoke. Come to think of it, if you over fill the crankcase with oil, the PCV system will act to channel the excess into the intake air, which MIGHT actually be your problem. Are you SURE you are in fact properly filling the crankcase? A friend a while back had a problem when someone stole the dipstick from his truck. (Why would someone steal a dipstick???) He thought he got an exact replacement, but he didn't, and it caused him to overfiill, which caused the oil to foam and leak out the valve covers. It took a long time to figure out the dipstick was the root problem.

Answer 3

Can't say i agree with the person who said Fords are notorious for eating piston rings... Ford usually have a name for building bullet-proof engines that will run on any amount of mis-treatment. Take a look at any Ka full of BeanyBabies driven by a girl...
I stripped a 144,000mile '94 2.0 Zetec for use in my kit car. Bought new rings, full set of gaskets, the works. Measured the new rings against the old ones, and couldn't tell the difference! Crusty old valve stem seals is the more likely problem, assuming the car has had regular oil and filter changes. These are cheap enough to replace and apparently can be done with the head on the car - you need to use compressed air in the cylinder to hold the valves shut when you take the springs off. The stem seals that came off mine were b*ggered! Oh, and the dude who I bought the car off said he'd run it for two years and done nothing to it. When I stripped out the dangly bits I discovered it had no air filter!!! For 2 years!?!? Head wasn't damaged tho and the valves live to fight a few more miles yet. Sounds pretty bullet proof to me!

Good luck fella, hope you get your MOT

Answer 4

Try 20-50W, or straight 40W just for the MOT. Don't leave it in in cold weather. All the additives just add some gum and make cold starts harder. It sounds like the rings are knackered, and that is not cheap. If you run a heavier oil, make sure that the battery is fully charged (maybe buy a new one) because it will draw more current to start (check alternator as well, and voltage regulator). Cold weather places higher demand on batteries at any rate. You might try Casite Motor Honey to get by the MOT. New plugs will help, gapped correctly with gauges, or at least clean the old ones to bright metal (wire brush, sand paper may leave grit). You could try Duralube with your oil change, it coats the engine with a slippery layer and may tighten the tolerances a bit. It does increase mileage.

Answer 5

It's either valve seals or piston rings. If you've taken care of the car then it's probably not the rings, so it's probably the valves, they may need new springs. In fact, re-reading your post, I'd say it's definitely the valves. (Why are you going over 4000 rpms!?!) A valve job can be pricey, but it's going to be cheaper than buying a whole new car.

Your mechanic should check the compression of the cylinders, that should determine pretty quickly if your rings are gone. If they are, then you could be looking at a lot of money because your cylinders may need to be rebored and you'll have to buy oversized pistons.

If your valves are not sealing completely, it may not be that bad. That's where I would focus.

Answer 6

I had the same problem with my Golf Mk 1 a few years ago. I had thought it might be the cylinders that had got worn and it would need a re-bore etc. Happily it was the oil seals on the valve guides that needed replacing and was nowhere near as expensive. Let's hope that's all yours is, but you need to get it fixed anyway, for the sake of the poor sod driving behind you and your own embarrassment, not to mention the cost of the oil.

Answer 7

Someone may have "rolled-back" the odometer. U definately need a replacement of the rings on the cylinders. In bad financial shape? Try some Motor Medic or another brand to stop it for a while. That will help U for a while. Good luck. Charles

Answer 8

Well if it is burning that much oil, It is time to replace the motor.
65000 is not a lot of miles for a car, it seems funny that ir should be worn out that fast.
Is it possable that someone poured dirt into the engine? Piston rings last a lot longer then that. Unless you really have a bad air filter.
Run a compression test and see what the compression is.
It is also passable that the engine is not breathing right, and has a bad PCV valve.

Answer 9

Junk it out, sell off the good parts. Tell consumers engine does burn oil.

Buy a newer car!

Burning oil in the long run hurts your wallet!

Take it to a local Car Max they do trades and buy your older car.

Answer 10

Despite all of the remedy aids to slow down burning of oil and reduce it comes narrow and short in the long run.
If your engine is burning oil...it sounds like rebuild time to me.
Fix it right...do it right and save money in the longest run should you choose to keep that Old Battle Axe.