Fiesta burning oil

zilog_jones

Me again and my gammy Fiesta again :rolleyes:
I've noticed the oil level has gone down a good bit recently - when I got the oil changed in January it was a bit over the max mark (I guess the mechanic knew what was gonna happen), but now it's about 3/4 up from the min to max.

I've heard people here saying before that these engines (1.3 Endura-E) tend to burn oil, so I guess this is normal? I would have driven it a lot more in the last couple of months, and have done about 4,000 miles since January (72,000 now).

Also, the oil looks pretty black now and it's been in a lot of sh1tty traffic and short trips. Would it be worth it getting the oil changed alltogether over just topping it up?

Finally, any recommendations for oil? Only Castrol stuff I can see that's suitable is Magnatec 5W-30 A1. I dunno what other brands are good.

(Cleaning the idle control valve has stopped the stalling problem completely, BTW.)

crosstownk

Use thicker oil an change it more regularly.

I'd stab a guess that your valve stem oil seals are worn or maybe your piston rings are on the way.

I'm by no means a Ford expert, but that's my 2c.

unkel

What's the difference between min and max according to the manual - or possibly some nerdy sites?

About .5 of a liter? If so that's a useage of a little over a liter for 4,000 miles? Nothing to worry about imho. By all means, change the oil very regularly. It costs very little and will enhance engine life

zilog_jones

Yeah the Haynes manual says it's half a litre between the two. I guess it's been 6 months anyway so maybe I should get the oil changed... or get my arse in gear and get axle stands and stuff, and learn how to do it myself...

daedalus2097

Yeah, changing the oil is handy to do - you don't really need to top it up when it's still 3/4 full, I think it's recommended that you only top it up when it's 1/2 full or less. Not a good idea to have it above the max either though cos then it can get in the breather pipe and all sorts of nasty places. I'd say change the oil every 6 minths or 5000 miles, whichever's quicker, and use 15W-40 mineral oil instead which won't leak internally so much. Castrol sell this as "High mileage" oil for engines over 75,000 miles, it's grand in yours though. Anyone other than Halfords though should have a couple of other makes in that grade too.

michaelanthony

zilog_jones wrote:

Me again and my gammy Fiesta again :rolleyes:
I've noticed the oil level has gone down a good bit recently - when I got the oil changed in January it was a bit over the max mark (I guess the mechanic knew what was gonna happen), but now it's about 3/4 up from the min to max.

I've heard people here saying before that these engines (1.3 Endura-E) tend to burn oil, so I guess this is normal? I would have driven it a lot more in the last couple of months, and have done about 4,000 miles since January (72,000 now).

Also, the oil looks pretty black now and it's been in a lot of sh1tty traffic and short trips. Would it be worth it getting the oil changed alltogether over just topping it up?

Finally, any recommendations for oil? Only Castrol stuff I can see that's suitable is Magnatec 5W-30 A1. I dunno what other brands are good.

(Cleaning the idle control valve has stopped the stalling problem completely, BTW.)

There's nothing wrong with that - It's normal consumption!

Henry Ford III

Early Golf 1.8 GTI 16 valve engines have a reputation for consuming a lot more oil than that.

daedalus2097

Cool that the idle control valve cleaning worked by the way Must be nice not to have to worry about it cutting out every time you stop in traffic! Meant to say above that even though the Haynes manual says 5W-30 to 10W-40 or something like that, that's the spec for the engine when new and 15W-40 mineral oil won't do any harm, will leak through the old seals less and may even be slightly quieter. Can't remember now but I think I used to use either the Castrol High Mileage or Bardahl oils in mine...

bjmotors

i had the same problem on a fiesta a few year back. in the end it started drinkin more oil than petrol! so i got rid of it.
try using 5w30 semi- its what fiesta's are meant to use.