General 1.2 8v burning oil

[puntonew]

The car appears to be using quite a lot of oil. Not sure why. There can be a bit of blue smoke on start up.

I am currently using 10w 40 semi synthetic.

Has anyone here managed to cure/reduce oil consumption, with an oil treatment, or specialist type of oil they can recommend? if so, what?

cheers.

 

[fingers99]

What's the mileage? How much oil is it using? What oil are you using?

 

[puntonew]

78k

it does have a noisy engine, sounds a bit like a diesel, with a constant ticking sound on top of the normal engine noise.
It runs fine, but is using oil.
currently using VISCOL 10w40 semi synthetic oil.

Maybe it is a valve related problem causing the noisy engine and oil consumption?

I have done 200 mile and the dipstick was showing 3/4 to the maximum level, now is 1/4 to minimum level.

MPG is good so far - around 50mpg and thats on a good mix of road types and motorway.

 

[Ziggy122]

Is it like this on start up?



My word of advice, if your burning oil and not leaking
Compression Test

My car was drinking 1 Litre of Oil every 400miles
On cold start up - it misfired and chucked it out the back end

It was never smooth - it was quiet rough running, yet the MPG were good
However it was running hot - my plugs told me that

So what you need todo?

Do a Dry then Wet compression test

This were my results on the engine

Dry
Cyl 1 - 100psi
Cyl 2 - 200psi
Cyl 3 - 200psi
Cyl 4 - 200 psi

Cyl looked bad, so i retested it - again 100psi

So repeated the test and added a teaspon of oil to each cylinder via a Silicone tube
Leave it for 20 - 30seconds
Then repeat test

I then go this

Wet =
cyl1 - 200psi
cyl2 - 200psi
cyl3 - 200psi
cyl4 - 200psi

It was sad news, the compression had gone in cyl1, that is where my oil was burning from

This was a cold compression test, not a hot one

Turns out my rings had worn out - allowing the piston to start rubbing on the sidewalls, the engine was scrap

Fitted a 2nd hand engine for £150 i think it was

My god it felt good! but an engine swap isn't an easy task

My advice, drop the engine and box as 1

Ziggy

 

[puntonew]

thanks ziggy

there is a slight drip forming i think from the oil filter, i need to tighten it tomorrow with the special tool. hand tight is not enough this time for some reason. there was a very small patch from overnight on the road.

I dont think the blue smoke is as bad as yours, which looks more black from here

we replaced the sump last week, and there does look to be a very slight & slow drip forming coming from near the gearbox side of the sump, on the bottom of the semi circle curve. so need to see if i can tighten the sump nuts and bolts a tad more without stripping any. touch wood, the sump is not leaking.

I brushed used oil on the rust under the car last week too, and the outer of that is still washing-dripping off, so its hard to tell right now exactly if any losses of oil on the road from drips, are actual leaks or from my rust treatment oil brush activity.

What is strange is that while i have done 200 miles and seen the dipstick go down from 3/4 to 1/4, after 100 miles, the dipstick was still at 3/4, so its only gone down in the last 100 miles, half the trip distance.

£150 is cheap for a new engine fitted. That is my last option, as knowing my luck with cars, the replacement would be as bad! and unless you can hear the replacement engine running b4 purchase, it is a gamble.

 

[Ziggy122]

thanks ziggy

there is a slight leak i think from the oil filter, i need to tighten it tomorrow with the special tool. hand tight is not enough this time for some reason.

I dont think the blue smoke is as bad as yours, which looks more black from here

we replaced the sump last week, and there does look to be a slight very slow drip forming coming from near the gearbox side of the sump, on the bottom of the semi circle curve. so need to see if i can tighten the sump nuts and bolts a tad more without stripping any. touch wood, the sump is not leaking.

I brushed used oil on the rust under the car last week too, and the outer of that is still washing-dripping off, so its hard to tell right now exactly if any losses of oil on the road from drips, are actual leaks or from my rust treatment oil brush activity.

£150 is cheap for a new engine and box fitted. That is a last option that i want to avoid, as knowing my luck with cars, the replacement would be as bad! and unless you can hear the replacement engine running b4 purchase, it is a gamble.

£150 was because i brought and pickuped up the engine myself
Then spent 3 days doing it

i wasted a half day trying to get new engine back in, ended up giving up and resorting to the better method

An Engine crane is really required here!
I got the engine under the car, while using the roof hoist to raise the car up

Ziggy

 

[benny279]

I recently had to have my engine replaced quite recent, due to catastrophic engine failure, Ziggy's issue is minor compare to what my old engine had.

My old engine use to burn quite a bit of oil, on a average day starting up for first time bungs of smoke would come out the back pretty much like Ziggy's video, then half of time it use to misfire on initial start up, then sometimes I'd drive it and it felt like one cylinder wasn't firing correctly like you'd put your foot down and no poke

This is what my old engine sounded like...(when it failed)



The engine was completely 'shagged'

My compression results unlike Ziggy's were very terrible!

CYL1:
BAR = 2.0
PSI = 30

CYL2:
BAR = 2.1
PSI = 31

CYL3:
BAR = 5.1
PSI = 79

CYL4:
BAR = 7.0
PSI = 100

WET

CYL1:
BAR = 2.1
PSI = 31

CYL2:
BAR = 1.9
PSI = 29

CYL3:
BAR = 16.2
PSI = 241

CYL4:
BAR = 8.1
PSI = 121

I paid £225 in total on my engine replacement, thats £100 for the engine and £125 to a local mechanic who fitted the engine in my Punto in a few hours.

I was lucky to test this engine before buying it, as the punto I got the engine from was only just scrapped for gearbox failure, person in scrappy handed me the key to start it up and listen to the engine and give it some revs and I was pleased with it

Good luck with your Punto!

Ben

 

[puntonew]

i know a guy who can fit an engine, he fitted a 1.6 8v in my mums astra for £100 that i got off ebay for £195 already removed. luckily 1 year on the engine still works well.


i only noticed the blue smoke in a big way when we went to collect the punto, and the guy reversed it off his front lawn for us.

 

[puntonew]

just checked oil level again after being stood overnight, and it is nearer 3/4 to max again. when i checked it yesterday and it was 1/4 to max, it had been run within the previous hour.
all i can think is that oil drains out of the filter, and it takes longer than an hour for this to occur, and this has happened over night???

but surely an oil filter full of oil alone, is not enough volume to account for the difference between 1/4 and 3/4 to the max level?

 

[puntonew]

besides some sort of leaking valve components allowing oil into the petrol combustion parts of the engine, is there any other explanation for blue smoke oil burning?

 

[benny279]

Let me get this right oil is leaking out of your oil filter? If it is it's just a simple case of doing an oil change on the car, fresh new oil and a new oil filter. Probably looking about £20-25 at the most (depends where you go for it, so price may vary.)

Reason the oil filter may leak is either the filter isn't on tight enough or the O-Ring seal on the filter is knackered so oil leaks through it, I have a similar issue on mine. Oil drips very slightly out of the filter, which makes me think the guy who did the engine used a crap filter on my new engine

Hope this helps.

Ben

 

[puntonew]

no oil is not leaking from the filter, there is a slight drip forming from the bottom of the filter seal, as it needs tool tightening, but its an insignificant very slow drip. the filter is very much hand tight, which is usually enough...i didnt fit this filter it had been done a month ago for the MOT by the garage who serviced it for the previous owner (who i believe!).

my question is - why is my dispstick now showing 3/4 to max, when last night it was 1/4 to max. my only theory is that the oil has drained from the filter overnight as cars been out of use, whereas when 1/4 to max reading was taken, car had been driven in previous hour.

but i dont see how this can account for such a big difference from 1/4 and 3/4 to max

 

[benny279]

Your engine is clearly burning oil, so you need to find out why it's burning oil, so compression test is the way forward here.

I had early signs of my old engine burning oil as I mentioned in other post, it's not something you want to ignore like I did I thought it was just old and it burns oil, clearly that wasn't the case it was the engine telling me it's on its way out. So if you nip in the bud now you can avoid engine failure and leaving a big hole in your bank balance!

Ben

 

[puntonew]

Your engine is clearly burning oil, so you need to find out why it's burning oil, so compression test is the way forward here.

I had early signs of my old engine burning oil as I mentioned in other post, it's not something you want to ignore like I did I thought it was just old and it burns oil, clearly that wasn't the case it was the engine telling me it's on its way out. So if you nip in the bud now you can avoid engine failure and leaving a big hole in your bank balance!

Ben

if so, then why is my oil level back to the original level of 3/4 to max, this morning when no oil has been added since last night when it showed 1/4 to max? i cant figure that out

 

[benny279]

if so, then why is my oil level back to the original level of 3/4 to max, this morning when no oil has been added since last night when it showed 1/4 to max? i cant figure that out

That is an odd one, did you check the oil both on cold or one cold and one hot, never check oil from hot as its never tells you how much oil you really have.

Ben

 

[puntonew]

That is an odd one, did you check the oil both on cold or one cold and one hot, never check oil from hot as its never tells you how much oil you really have.

Ben

2 hour since last drive on saturday at 100 mile mark = 3/4 to max level

1 hour since last drive on sunday at 200 mile mark = 1/4 to max level

monday morning at 200 mile mark, been left stood overnight = 3/4 to max level



the actual original where i topped it up to was more like 7/8 to max level, cold, so it has at least used a little, and a little has leaked from both sides of the sump i think. will try tightening sump nuts a little further without stripping threads.

i think this punto has developed a mind of its own. POD is what i call her

What is the difference in litres between the minimum and maximum marks on the dipstick?

EDIT:

TOP TIP: On most cars, the difference between the minimum and maximum marks on the engine oil dipstick is about one litre

http://www.carcaremadeeasy.com/checkyouroil.html

 

[Ziggy122]

Right - start again

make sure the car is level and flat
and is cold

Then check and adjust fuel level to the max marker

Then drive around like you do

Then under the same conditions (level flat and cold) check the oil level again

Ziggy

 

[puntonew]

UPDATE:

It seems my car is using about 1 litre of oil per 400 miles!

Will be replacing the stuck open stat this weekend, which i cant see how it would be contributing to the oil burn.

There are 2 drips from the car onto the ground, that are normal slow drips really, nothing major. One from the timing belt side of the engine, the other on the opposite side from where the flywheel/clutch and engine meet.

So the rest must be coming through the exhaust/fuel burning process.

Maybe i will just have to live with it and keep it topped up....

 

[Ziggy122]

UPDATE:

It seems my car is using about 1 litre of oil per 400 miles!

Will be replacing the stuck open stat this weekend, which i cant see how it would be contributing to the oil burn.

There are 2 drips from the car onto the ground, that are normal slow drips really, nothing major. One from the timing belt side of the engine, the other on the opposite side from where the flywheel/clutch and engine meet.

So the rest must be coming through the exhaust/fuel burning process.

Maybe i will just have to live with it and keep it topped up....

Get it compression tested! For love sake or money!

Why?
I was at this very stage, i was pouring money away in oil
Hell i had to start buying oil in bulk 4x4 litres

Honestly test the compression, you may find its better to replace the possible engine due to worn cylinders

ziggy

 

[dave]

could be sticky ring, get a bottle of forte engine flush off ebay, ignore the instructions, pour it into engine and leave it in for 2 weeks or 200 miles, then do an oil change.