Terminally Ill Mondeo...or is she??

cyrusdvirus

Lads and Lassies, quick question..

My 03 Mondeo has started burning oil recently, gone through about 8 litres in the past 3 months, so it's not a HUGE amount. But, to my limited knowledge, this is a fairly terminal thing with cars, once they start doing that.

I'm not talking big black billowy smoke clouds here, as a matter of fact it's not noticable when driving. But I have the same spot in work every day and there is no oil dripping out, i park in the same spot every night at home and no oil there either, so it's not leaking....

The question is how long will the car last? Am i right in thinking that the car is terminally ill, or does it just need some tlc to keep going for another year or so. There are 120k miles up on her, so can't really say that the car owes me anything, but i'd like to keep going without having to replace for another whikle at least....

geezer1234

how much mileage have you done in the three months ? In my manual it says its normal for the engine use up to 1L oil per 1000 km.

cyrusdvirus

geezer1234 wrote: »

how much mileage have you done in the three months ? In my manual it says its normal for the engine use up to 1L oil per 1000 km.

While it would have been a bit higher than usual, i don't think it would've been enough to warrant 8 litres of oil.

I get the car serviced every 10k miles in a Ford Garage, last service was April. After which i noticed the red light coming on under heavy braking...straight into forecourt the dip and top up that time.... just assumed the garage had forgotten to do so. But then at the weekend same thing, stopped on a hill, next thing red light comes on again....

Just done my maths, i've done just over 6000 miles since April..... so maybe it DOES explain it....

Going to be monitoring it a lot more closely from now on though

smash

gatecrash wrote: »

gone through about 8 litres in the past 3 months, so it's not a HUGE amount

not a huge amount? are you mad... My Alfa is thirsty but that is ridiculous, you need to get it checked, compression tests etc!

EPM

8 litres of oil? Theres something seriously wrong with that engine. There is no way you should be topping up that often

cyrusdvirus

EPM wrote: »

8 litres of oil? Theres something seriously wrong with that engine. There is no way you should be topping up that often

It's 8 assuming the garage topped it up at last service.......otherwise it's 4.

tred

gatecrash wrote: »

It's 8 assuming the garage topped it up at last service.......otherwise it's 4.

My mondeo takes 6 litres of oil at service. if it was buring oil like this, ud know fromt he back id say...pumes of smoke. Have you checked for a leak, or is it leaking oil somewhere when under pressure, as an driving, but not when idle. take a look around the engine and see. what mileage on the car?

Johnboy Mac

There's something wrong, full stop. At 120k suspect either valve stem oil seals or oil control rings. Time for a bit of basic investigation.

cyrusdvirus

tred wrote: »

My mondeo takes 6 litres of oil at service. if it was buring oil like this, ud know fromt he back id say...pumes of smoke. Have you checked for a leak, or is it leaking oil somewhere when under pressure, as an driving, but not when idle. take a look around the engine and see. what mileage on the car?

No leak when stationary, no smoke either. 120k.

@ johhnyboy, are either of those problems repairable?

EPM

gatecrash wrote: »

It's 8 assuming the garage topped it up at last service.......otherwise it's 4.

It should have 6 litres of new oil after a service. It could be very possible that they have underfilled it. It it running normally otherwise?

cyrusdvirus

EPM wrote: »

It should have 6 litres of new oil after a service. It could be very possible that they have underfilled it. It it running normally otherwise?

the odd misfire, but i think that could be the coil pack... or manky dirty plugs if it's burning oil

smash

Consider my Alfa, she's thirsty - 6.5 litres in 6,500 miles, she's a 3ltr V6. You're taking the 6 that the garage filled up, plus 4 you've put in... so 10 in 6k - a litre every 600 miles is a lot for a car like that to use.

By the way, don't check your oil or top up when on a hill as you mentioned earlier - the oil wont be settled evenly.

cyrusdvirus

steve06 wrote: »

Consider my Alfa, she's thirsty - 6.5 litres in 6,500 miles, she's a 3ltr V6. You're taking the 6 that the garage filled up, plus 4 you've put in... so 10 in 6k - a litre every 600 miles is a lot for a car like that to use.

By the way, don't check your oil or top up when on a hill as you mentioned earlier - the oil wont be settled evenly.

i was stopped on a hill and the light came on, wasn't checking it there.

Johnboy Mac

gatecrash wrote: »

No leak when stationary, no smoke either. 120k.

@ johhnyboy, are either of those problems repairable?

Sure. But that's not point at present. First get a compression check done which is cheap but that wont tell you everything. If the compressions are within the spec you could just keep driving it and monitor the oil consumption over the next few months but this needs to be done properly i.e. every 1000mls regardless. Then go from there.

I'd allow €750 to pull the head off and replace the valve stem seals, clean up the valves and maybe a bit more if the timing chain could do with replacement.
As for the problem being the oil control rings it's an engine out job and a rebuild, allow a lot more money depending on what's needed which could include a head overhaul as well.

First things first: Compression check & oil consumption checks.

cyrusdvirus

Thanks for the replies lads, just hoping i don't have to replace it for a while yet.....as i said though, it owes me nothing.... have had 6 years of pain free motoring with it

trad

8 litres of oil is a lot cheaper than an engine rebuild. Neighbours of mine poured oil into their elderly fiesta every time the oil light came on for about 2 years until they replaced the car.