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May 25, 2012 18:28:35 GMT
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Evening all, I have a 1997 Ford Fiesta 1.25lx with a 16v Zetec engine I used it to commute approximately 30,000 miles a year, I bought it on 55,000 and its nearing the 80,000 mark. I have done nothing too it, except check the oil, and top it up... ALOT currently using about 2ltrs per 1000 miles... which I'm assuming isnt so good. I have been keeping it topped up, but not sure what else to do...  I should also mention, there are no obvious leaks, the engine is a little more noisy than it used to be. Help me please, thanks in advance Matt |
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ScORTED
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ITBs = Bwaaaarp
Posts: 427
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May 25, 2012 19:22:30 GMT
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do you have a sooty black exhaust tip and a black stain where it exits on the bumper?
if your certain you have no leak then the shells have probably worn and have fooked the piston rings / bores; the engines most certainly not long for this world. 2ltrs is about half the oil in it!
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"In engineering there is an answer to everything, It's just that we're usually too ignorant or too dim to see it." Keith Duckworth If you'd binned it into something that either didn't move, or survived intact (like I did, well, technically I landed on top of it, skillzorz... |
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May 25, 2012 19:50:17 GMT
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do you have a sooty black exhaust tip and a black stain where it exits on the bumper? if your certain you have no leak then the shells have probably worn and have fooked the piston rings / bores; the engines most certainly not long for this world. 2ltrs is about half the oil in it! Looks pretty sooty... not so good, checked it against my brothers punto and my dads '83 fiesta... and its definately alot worse =/ this all pointing the same way? |
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ScORTED
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ITBs = Bwaaaarp
Posts: 427
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May 25, 2012 19:58:33 GMT
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yeah, I'm guessing your not mechanically minded enough to change the engine over?
Its pretty straight forward, but finding one in good condition could be hard.
These engines seem to go two ways; 100+k or smash themselves to bits usually due to oil starvation or contamination killing the shells off.
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"In engineering there is an answer to everything, It's just that we're usually too ignorant or too dim to see it." Keith Duckworth If you'd binned it into something that either didn't move, or survived intact (like I did, well, technically I landed on top of it, skillzorz... |
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May 25, 2012 20:10:45 GMT
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I haven't ever done it... but I can give it a go, I've taken mini engines out and replaced... but never anything newer than that...
I've had a little look, and doenst look promising... they are all around the 100 thou milestone...
anything else worth checking?
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ScORTED
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ITBs = Bwaaaarp
Posts: 427
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May 25, 2012 20:14:22 GMT
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do a compression test and a leakdown check, see whats what but honestly any major work would render it cheaper to replace the lump. they did these in mk5 fiestas up to 2002 so finding a low mileage one should be too hard, although get the best one you can or find a rottern / crashed one - fiestas are often poorly looked after and rust alot: also commonly written off due to their low value.
changing the engine is simple just disconnect everything, then check and disconnect all the stuff you forgot. you'll want an engine lift though as life will be very hard without one.
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"In engineering there is an answer to everything, It's just that we're usually too ignorant or too dim to see it." Keith Duckworth If you'd binned it into something that either didn't move, or survived intact (like I did, well, technically I landed on top of it, skillzorz... |
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May 25, 2012 21:01:23 GMT
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Have you actually ever changed the oil or just kept topping it up? Are you using the right grade using the wrong one can make a huge difference to oil consumption.
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May 25, 2012 21:32:36 GMT
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I haven't actually changed it, but would make sense to do so... I did use a different oil on one occasion, which was when I could not get the correct stuff (time of day) and had to travel 200ish miles
I am now using the correct oil
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May 27, 2012 21:12:13 GMT
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25,000 miles without an oil change? No wonder it's tired. Even on an engine that burns oil it's essential to change it regularly: ok, so the oil itself gets removed eventually, but the dirt and acids stay in the sump, and that's what you want to remove when you change the oil.
I'd suggest looking at the plugs, but we know it's using oil, and we know how much. That leaves the cause: rings and bores (blue smoke under power, low compression pressures which rise with a "wet" test, heavy breathing from crankcase vent, lack of power, etc.) or valve guides/stems/stem oil seals (puff of blue smoke at cold startup and when accelerating after using engine braking, probably quite good compression).
A compression test - including both dry and wet tests - would tell you a lot.
TBH, I think I'd drive it until it fails it's MOT on emissions (oil smoke will eventually kill the lambda sensor or the catalytic converter) then either bin or sell it as faulty. It's worth, what, £500 tops? To my mind It's not worth swapping or rebuilding the engine in a £500 shopping car unless you have strong sentimental attachment to it: quicker, easier, and far less hassle to buy something else instead.
In the meantime, it might be worth changing to a thicker variety of oil. As these use 5w-30 oil, perhaps 10w-40? Might make the tappets a bit noisy on cold mornings but shouldn't be burnt as quickly.
Scorted: not sure about shells killing bores. The wear tends to be independant (though I wouldn't be surprised if they both wore out at about the same time: they share the same running conditions after all). I suppose if they are so loose that they are knocking the pistons won't be moving quite right though.
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ScORTED
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ITBs = Bwaaaarp
Posts: 427
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May 27, 2012 21:19:12 GMT
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if you haven't changed the oil in 25k and have run it on something other than 5w30 I'm not surprised its goosed.
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"In engineering there is an answer to everything, It's just that we're usually too ignorant or too dim to see it." Keith Duckworth If you'd binned it into something that either didn't move, or survived intact (like I did, well, technically I landed on top of it, skillzorz... |
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May 28, 2012 10:19:16 GMT
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Rings wear on these, they then burn oil, which normally goes un noticed, oil level drops, which starves the crank of oil and its normally No4 big end that nips up and spins.....
There are no oversized shells available so if it nips up and spins the bearing, it scores the crank, which you could regrind...... but you cant get shells for it, so effectively it scraps the engine....
I have a couple of dummy 1.4 blocks like that ;D
Pulling the plugs might tell you which cylinder is burning it, I`d be looking for a replacement engine though if the car has value, or a replacement car if not ;D
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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May 28, 2012 20:08:36 GMT
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Come on, quite a few people drive cars without ever changing the oil.... To be fair I have seen a Pug 205 1.4 fail the emissions in a similar manner (that I think did around 30,000 miles without an oil change.
In this case however I would drive the car until it fails an MOT to be honest.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,555 
Club RR Member Number: 33
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May 28, 2012 20:38:06 GMT
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Provided you keep it on the full mark, it'll probably keep going for ages yet, I wouldn't worry about it.
When I started driving most of my mates had Minis, a couple of pints a week was par for the course. When I started driving trucks for a living in the late 80's, we had a fleet of the old 360 'Dover'-engined Ford Cargos, some of which were burning 2-3 gallons a week!
Keep on pouring oil in it whenever it needs it until it goes bang/fails the MOT. Then chuck it away and buy something else!
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May 30, 2012 22:25:19 GMT
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These are well known for burning oil all because of incorrect information supplied the the ford dealers when the engines were new,they used as stated 5-30w semi-synth when new but by the 2nd or 3rd services of 10-40w folk were complaining of oil use and the cause sourced.
Of course that doesn't help you know so your only option is to fit one of another model but this is a simple task and certainly requires no engine crane,simply drop the lot down in one,struts,rack the lot,it won't take more than an hour and a half outside the house,the loom is a plug in affair and iirc even the rad and everything's held on a crossmember if you didn't want to drain the coolant out etc,may as well though.
Not worth getting a second hand motor as there's so many rotten Mot failures out there you can hear running that I'd just swap the lot in one go,throw your dud motor in the boot of the other car and phone the scrappy.
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Come on, quite a few people drive cars without ever changing the oil.... To be fair I have seen a Pug 205 1.4 fail the emissions in a similar manner (that I think did around 30,000 miles without an oil change. In this case however I would drive the car until it fails an MOT to be honest. No, they really don't. Especially not people who like their cars! Having done 25,000 miles, that car should have had at least three oil and filter changes, personally I would do it every 5000. Driving a car without changing the oil is completely stupid and will kill your car quite quickly. This guy has killed a low-mileage engine in about a year. Changing your oil and filter is very cheap, even cheaper than buying another 300 quid car every few years when you kill your old one by not doing it. It takes half an hour and can be done easily by anyone. If this guy can't even be bothered to change his oil, then I don't think that there is much chance of him swapping the engine over at home, which seems to be what some people are suggesting. So, my suggestion would be to just keep topping it up until it dies, and then when you get another car, change the oil at the recommended service interval!! It will last much longer. |
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^^^ what waveman said but you may as well change the existing oil and filter anyway for what its going to cost, theres a good chance the filter is getting well and truely ready now and you don't want a drop in pressure leading to it spinning a shell and bringing on a more pre-mature engine failure.
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Come on, quite a few people drive cars without ever changing the oil.... To be fair I have seen a Pug 205 1.4 fail the emissions in a similar manner (that I think did around 30,000 miles without an oil change. In this case however I would drive the car until it fails an MOT to be honest. No, they really don't. Especially not people who like their cars! Having done 25,000 miles, that car should have had at least three oil and filter changes, personally I would do it every 5000. Driving a car without changing the oil is completely stupid and will kill your car quite quickly. This guy has killed a low-mileage engine in about a year. Changing your oil and filter is very cheap, even cheaper than buying another 300 quid car every few years when you kill your old one by not doing it. It takes half an hour and can be done easily by anyone. If this guy can't even be bothered to change his oil, then I don't think that there is much chance of him swapping the engine over at home, which seems to be what some people are suggesting. So, my suggestion would be to just keep topping it up until it dies, and then when you get another car, change the oil at the recommended service interval!! It will last much longer. I like my cars... fact is I haven't really owned a car for more than a year... usually I do less than 5000 miles, and change cars... its a personal choice... I have no background in motor mechanics, no BTEC's, GCSE's or anything else (in anything related)... I don't have a family member or a friend in the trade... I have been trying my very best to keep things working, sorting any other issues as they come up. We all have to learn... and from this I have learnt... I should change my oil more often (which I am capable of...) and if I get responses like the one above... then will I have to ask elsewhere??? heres to saving a few bob and learning a lesson..... Thanks to all those who actually had some constructive feedback |
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Last Edit: Jun 1, 2012 20:43:31 GMT by mattmk1
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I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just shocked that you wouldn't think to change the oil. It doesn't take any mechanical knowledge at all. There's a drain plug on the bottom of the engine which you undo with a spanner, and the filter simply unscrews by hand or using an oil filter wrench. You can learn how to do it by watching a 5 minute youtube video.
On a related note, a mate of mine who had no interest in cars whatsoever used to think that the engine size written on car badges was the amount of oil that you put in the engine to fill it up! Even he managed to change his own oil in his car, which is how he made the mistake, because the manual said to put 3 litres of oil into his 3 litre V6. I think he then did run into trouble when changing the oil on his wife's 1.5 litre car though! Luckily he checked the dipstick and realised that it wasn't full enough.
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sparkyt
Posted a lot
selling stuff
Posts: 1,767
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I may still have a little zetec night sure if it sold or not ill have a look . Pm me if you need one
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Whilst I fully agree with your point Waverman (My Mondeo in my sig sees an oil change every 2 months, sometimes every month depending on how many miles we pile onto the car), I know of many people who simply top the oil up on many cars and think nothing of it, most of the time they trade the car in when it comes to sounding rattly, saying "it's worn out due to the miles...", sometimes they get stung quite badly. Even where I work with the cars covering between 50,000-100,000 miles a year people skip more changes than they should. One great example I remember was when the Stag was being MOT'd and I saw a 58 plate Mercedes S320 CDI in the garage. It came in for a starter motor change but due to the owner never giving it service from when he bought the car (he took it from 35,000 miles to 70,000 miles) the sump was full of treacle and upon firing the car up it was apparent that the engine was scrap (rattling big ends, chains, you name it). The owner then blamed shoddy Merc quality for him not servicing the car! I can also tell you of a 'mint' 2004 SL500 with 20,000 miles on the clock that has only seen 3-4 oil changes in its lifetime owned by a car enthusiast with 3 or 4 rare cars  . I guess what I am saying is more people than we think (especially with these tougher times) will skip a service or two on a car and think nothing of it. On a £200 banger they may have a point, but on something which has cost good money? No thanks |
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Last Edit: Jun 2, 2012 16:33:38 GMT by ChasR
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