Ford Engine Oil Consumption Problem...

[T4i]

Wow, this forum looks fantastic! Glad I found you all!

I work in a Lab in the United Kingdom testing lubricants. I've been here for 2 years now, after working in another Lab for 9 years doing more physical type testing on building/landscape products.

I'm still learning loads and have just been reading the webpage for Blackstone Laboratory over there in the USA - great reading for the type of work I do.

Now then.........

For my problems.......

I own a Ford Focus 1.6, Petrol. I've owned it from brand new (2002) and it's been a great car....Recently it has started to drink engine oil like i've never seen before.

Up until 2006 my car never used any (noticble) oil between services, now it uses *about* 500-600ml in 400-500 Miles. I can't find any external leaks, i'm doing a dye test as we speak but no oil is visable externaly so far.

My car produces a white 'mist' when starting from cold which I presume is water burning off from the cold. When I drive my car there seems to be no power loss, fuel consumption seems ok.

I've had another car follow me up a really steep hill using quite high rev's and its been reported that a blue/grey smoke is coming from the exhaust, I've come back down the hill using the engine compression (3rd gear - high revs) then blipping the gas at bottom, no reported signs of smoke.

So am I right by presuming my valves are ok, but maybe the rings are not so ok?

The car has done nearly 39k. I've just found out that a garage that did the last 2 services used a 10/40 oil instead of the Fords recommended 5w30 - then last year I started doing my own services in which I used 5w30 again. Then I notice a oil cosumption problem about 5 months later (not sure if related or not)

Fortunately as I work in a Lab testing lubrications I have access to:-

ICP
FTIR
Viscosity
Density
Fuel Dilution
Water Detection
X-Ray
Mould/Bacteria Detection
TBN

and some others.....


Because my car is consuming loads of oil, I'm having to top-up quite regulary and I'm not sure if my oil is having enough time to give me good results as the oil always seems to be in good condition.

When doing a Infa-red my oil has additives in at the Oxidation/Nitration wavenumbers so it's hard to see if anything is going on there.....but there is no sign of oxidation/nitration.

I've done about 5 wear metals since realising I've got this problem and all the results shoe no sign of wearing. Calcium/Zinc levels are spot-on against the same virgin oil I use. I did see a increase for Silicon (9 ppm) but I've since fitted a better quality air filter (K&N Panel Filter)

What do you guys think? Gummed rings? Broken Ring? Is there anything that I could do to give me a better idea of whats going on inside my engine?

No garage wil open up my engine as Ford will not release the torque settings for the big-ends and other bits.

Do you think using 10/40 for 2 years then going back to a 5w30 has caused this problem?

Any advice would be greatly welcomed. I love my job and i'm still very much learning loads everyday - recently went on the Lubrizol 5 day seminar which was just brilliant!!!!!

I look forward to adding my knowlage onto this forum to help others out if I can.

Cheers,
T4i

 

[T4i]

Somre more info I forgot.

The inside of the exhaust is filthy with black carbon. So defo a oil burning problem? Not a leak problem?

Also put 200ml of a certain chemical down each spark plug hole and left for 3 days. Started back up, waited 1 hr for white smoke to stop (neighbours were not impressed) and this did seem to initialy reduce the amount of oil consumption. But after a week of driving the problem was back to normal.

 

[XPR]

My brother had a similar issue (different car) and it turned out to be the head gasket.

 

[T4i]

Originally Posted By: XPR
My brother had a similar issue (different car) and it turned out to be the head gasket.


Thanks for this....

It's another thing to look into.

The oil I'm using has a 5w30 grade with a actual Visc of 9.7cSt @ 100 Degrees.

I wonder if a 10/40 - 14cSt @ 100 Degrees would help?

If it's a head gasket problem would antifreeze be getting into the engine oil? I've done a Sodium test on the ICP and its showing 0ppm.

But when I open my antifreeze header tank I can see patches of (what can only be oil) sitting on the top of the antifreeze.

 

[brianl703]

Does this engine have a PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve and if so has it been replaced?

 

[mechtech2]

Modern cars don't have black sooty exhausts anymore.
You are running rich [fuel] or it cold be the oil burning residue.
It would be hard to believe that the rings and bores are worn out at those low miles.
If they are sticking, they won't work right and will burn oil.
There is a product called Auto Rx that is use to gently and thoroughly clean your engine internals. One or two applications according to the directions should fix this type of problem without tearing into the engine mechanicals.
BTW, your catalytic converter is probably going to need replacement. They don't like massive amounts of oil or fuel through them.

 

[XPR]

Do they ship Auto-RX or sell it in the UK?

 

[Gary Allan]

T4I- yes ..as XPR says, you need to contact Frank @ auto-rx.com and ask him who he exports to (somewhere in Ireland, IIRC) ..which may be close enough for you to get a hold of some. I'd say, mainly due to your brief cessation from consumption with your agent that you poured into the cylinders, that your rings are coked and need to be liberated from the nasty stuff.

Check your PCV system as was recommended.

 

[T4i]

Cheers all for your replies!

As fas as I'm aware my car has two seperate PCV systems, one that goes from the top block (sorry I'm not very mechanical) to the air filter box.

The second PCV is behind the exhaust header (4 black plastic pipes that look like a short straight manifold) the actual PCV tubing is like a 'T' shape, and at the bottom of the 'T' there is a valve type component.

I've had both these PCV tubes off and both are clear of any blockages.

Is there any manual method of testing the pressure in the engine? Can I simply take the oil filler cap off with the engine running and put my hand over the hole to see if it sucks my hand down onto the hole?

when I clean the iniside of my exhause with petrolium spirit to clean the black, drive it for say 5 miles (short journey) and then check with my finger its getting black again. The black seems to have a 'very slight sticky' or 'grippy' texture to it. It doesnt seem to have any smell to it....

I shall try contact auto-rx regarding this product.

If there is anything I could take photos off I can do if needed.

So basically you don't think I should goto a 10/40 oil, instead stick with the recommended 5w30 and try sort the problem out?.

I laid a sheet of carboard under my car last night and this morning there are no signs of any leaks, so it must be a internal problem.

Thanks again,
T4i

 

[mechtech2]

The breather on the valve cover is a inlet, and the lower valve is the outlet, for the PCV system. It then goes to the intake manifold, to be re-ingested into the engine. It is one system , and is very common.
A compression check and a leak down test will help diagnose the engine problem.

 

[Schmoe]

If all else fails, Seafoam it.

 

[T4i]

OK, good info thanks.

So I shall enquire about a compression test & leak down test.

Is auto-rx or seafoam best?

I've found both on the UK Ebay site.

 

[benjamming]

Auto-Rx is 'better' than Seafoam.

 

[XPR]

I'd stick with the same viscosity of oil.

 

[Towel_Rail]

Originally Posted By: T4i
If it's a head gasket problem would antifreeze be getting into the engine oil? I've done a Sodium test on the ICP and its showing 0ppm.

But when I open my antifreeze header tank I can see patches of (what can only be oil) sitting on the top of the antifreeze.


The latter sure sounds like a headgasket problem. I wonder if it's possible for the leak to happen so that oil can force its way into the coolant, but not vice versa...

 

[alanu]

Headgasket issues are never cut and dry. You can have head gasket issues with no cross contamination of coolant and oil.

There are cases where alot of ford focus (non zetec versions) are blowing their bottom ends because of tight oil clearances with thick oil. Lack of flow is spinning conrod bearings.

Using too thick a viscosity @ op temps will be harder on the oil control rings as it swipes the cylinders. Realistically the 2 compression rings and oil control rings are controlling the oil. I would do a leakdown test to see if your getting blowby past the rings or valvetrain.

This problem almost sounds like a crank case ventilation issue.

 

[Towel_Rail]

Hey Alan. You the same Alan_U as from the Samba?

 

[T4i]

Crank case ventilation. (the one lower down - not the air filter part?)

I've just had a bloke test my exhaust emissions, he said my car is producing almost 0% nasties.

0.2 CO (Euro III Limit 2.3 gm/km)
&
0.005 NOx (Euro III Limit 0.15 gm/km)

So even though my exhaust is covered in carbon (and I clean the inside - just comes back) he is saying no oil is been produced via emissions.

So possible causes....

- PCV Fault
- Head gasket (will take a photo of cooler header tank)
- Some wierdo is draining some of my oil through the night lol

Could it be that the oil i'm using is just burning away? It's a semi-synthetic 5/30.

Cheers,
T4i