Hi, my name is mike. I am new here. I have a major problem with my car and I need some help!

I own a 1994 Punto mk1 1.1ltr.

I have been having problems with overheating. This happened a few times so I bled the cooling system and everything seemed to be fine.

Then a few days ago, my car cut out on my way home and would not restart. Even though no warning lights came on I initially thought the old problem was back so I popped the bonnet to have a look. I was shocked to find the engine covered in oil.

The airbox was full of black oil from the sump and the filter was covered in it. Oil was leaking from the front of the airbox and dripping down the front of the engine over the manifold. Oil was also leaking from the exhaust!

I checked the dipstick and the oil is at the Lo mark so the engine has lost about half of the oil that was in it!

I tried to push-start the car but the engine is completely siezed and will not turn over.

There is no white sludge so I am confident that no moisture is getting into the oil and that the gaskets are sound.

I have no idea how so much oil has got into the airbox or why the engine won't turn over, it just doesn't make sense.

PLEASE HELP!

Cheers, Mike.

Remove the spark plugs

Put a socket on the crank bolt and try and turn the engine by hand.

Report back

Cheers

SPD

Hi, you said you was having problems with overheating?

was you also loosing coolant at all?

its possible that due to the overheating, the headgasket has drastically failed, probably partly from a warped head that would of occured through the overheating and that oil which normally is pumped through oil galleries passing through the head gasket to the cylinder head has been allowed into the cylinder itself.. I dont think the engine has actually siezed in the main and big end bearings, because you said the oil is on the low mark so it hadnt completely run out.

But its more likely that oil has been pumped into the cylinder under pressure, through the warped head and / or head gasket failure.. and because oil doesnt compress has caused it become unable to turn over.. also, the oil would of got forced into the air intake system.

Other possibilities would include a failure of the oil stem seals, but that wouldnt linked to the overheating.

And, a failure of 1 of the pistons/ oil control rings.. bearing in mind oil is pumped from the crank, through the big end bearings up the conrod into the small ends... and oil control rings scrape the oil as the piston moves up and down stopping it from entering into the cylinder... just possibilities though.

not sure if the engine has an EGR valve, but if it does.. that would certainly be a path into the intake system.. most modern engines have a form of EGR system.

As said previously, remove the plugs.. see if any oil comes out.

If there is oil in the cylinder.. its likely to of done serious damage to a similar effect as water filling the cylinder.. it doesnt compress so it damages the pistons / bends the conrods etc.. so you would probably be looking at another engine as a worst case scenario.

Assuming the oil level was on max before this incident and its now on the minimum.. id guess about a litre of oil at least has been lost and probably dumped into the cylinders, exhuast system and intake syste,

It sounds pretty terminal to me.
You could clean it up and top up the oil but that's probably a waste of good oil.
Basic servicing and weekly checks usually avoid these things.

Thanks for the advice, guys.

I removed the spark plugs and turned the engine by hand - loads of oil came out of the cylinders. I cleaned everything up as best I could and put the spark plugs back in but the engine still will not start.

I guess I am going to have to do a complete tear-down and clean and rebuild the whole engine block with new piston rings and gaskets.

Any advice would be apreciated.

Also, does anyone have a haynes manual I could download?

Cheers!

A used engine will be cheaper and easier. If anything else was suspect (clutch, generator, etc) you could change that as well.

Get another engine, its not worth rebuilding yours, even if it is rebuildable.

Cheers

SPD

agreed.. get another engine.. something has seriously failed inside that engine and flooded the bores with oil.. which has in turn more than likely destroyed the pistons and or conrods at the very least.. as oil doesnt compress.

Swap the lump and open up the old one to have a looksee.

Guess I'm in the market for a new car then!

Cheers lads, I appreciate the input.

Mike.

this could be just a head gasket failure; worth spending an hour or so removing the cylinder head and having a look; not too difficult or expensive to replace and if the car is ok otherwise its worth doing; depending on how fast the engine was revving when oil got into the cylinders it may not have done any damage to piston crowns or conrods

Good idea.
If it is wrecked TBH a replacement engine would not be as costly as a new car.

you can get a good second hand engine for £100 - 120 if the car is basically sound it worth it. I've recently sold a 1994 55S the body was getting rusty from an old repair but I got a reasonable price for it on ebay & the new owner was well pleased. I got a back end crunched (slight) 1998 60S on ebay & repaired it total cost was £490. If you can do your own work it saves a fortune! I got the parts - tailgate in original colour etc on ebay!

Hi, it maybe as simple as a head gasket failure.. but the fact that oil has flooded the cylinders to the point the engine wouldnt even turn over.

you dont want to get involved.

its the same as when a cylinder gets flooded with water.

once you get involved trying to repair it, it can get very expensive very quickly.. damaged valves, pistons, con-rods etc just to name a few examples of possible damage.

Because Oil doesnt compress, like water.. so when the piston tries to compress it.. things start breaking, it finds the weakest link and it just goes.

Much better to find a replacement engine in this case. Removing the cylinder head will be inconclusive.. because even if no visible damage is present on the cylinder head or piston crowns.. there maybe bent con-rods which you wont be able to see without a complete strip down on the engine.