Bit concerned about car engine

[Kris]

I drive a 1.6 Mk1 Ford Focus and was driving to work about a week ago and when I was braking suddenly, my oil pressure light was flashing up very briefly. I checked the oil and found I only had a litre of oil in the car :Cry: Engine seemed fine with no unusual noises so I topped the oil up and thought myself lucky but to be sure the engine was ok, I was going to run a compression test.

I went to give it a go tonight but didn't have the right adaptor to fit my compression tester because of the recessed plugs but one thing I did notice was there was oil on the plug thread of plug 1 (I haven't checked the others because it was getting dark). I also noticed there wasn't much oil on the dipstick again but the engine was still slightly warm and on a slight slant. I'm not finding any oil under the car or in the engine bay.

I haven't noticed any loss in performance or economy but it's slightly concerning I've found oil on the plugs after running on low oil. Problem is, I don't know how long the oil was so low because I neglect to check it as regular as I should because it's never used any oil before.

Am I going to be looking at some new piston rings? :Cry:

 

[Dutcho]

Oil on the plug threads is more likley to be your rocker cover gasket leaking.

 

[thebigyin]

if you check the oil dipstick mate and make sure its not got any white in it ,,,then you know its not mixing with water but also get a mate and one off you hold your hand over the exhaust pipe at the back of the car and the other give the engine a good rev to make sure that its not burning oil if all the above passes OK just give your car a service and it should be OK

 

[thebigyin]

Oil on the plug threads is more likley to be your rocker cover gasket leaking.

they would be oil under the car as well mate if the rocker cover gasket was leaking also you would see oil round the seal of the rocer cover

 

[Dutcho]

also get a mate and one off you hold your hand over the exhaust pipe at the back of the car and the other give the engine a good rev to make sure that its not burning oil

PLEASE Don't do that, unless you want to burn you friends hand or blow the paste out of the joints.

 

[thebigyin]

PLEASE Don't do that, unless you want to burn you friends hand or blow the paste out of the joints.

its a compression test mate if losing oil you can tell if burning that way its a car not a plane so your hand should be ok lol and for the paste it will be ok unless its plasticine that they use in schools which i dont think they use that on cars lol

 

[Dutcho]

It's no compression test, PMSL..... Sorry but LOL x 1000000

It WILL be HOT and I know it's no a plane. Do you think after the ignition stage the waste gasses will be nice and cool ?

Ok Kris try it if you like But all you will discover is that 1 it is hot after all and 2 If you have any hole in your pipe or not.

 

[Kris]

LOL

Well I'm waiting on the adaptor to perform a PROPER compression test on the car once Royal Mail sort themselves out but was looking for some replies of optimism to know whether or not I should be looking for a new car because I'm very dependant on my car because I have a 100 mile round trip every day to work.

How much work is involved in replacing the rocker cover gasket?

 

[thebigyin]

lol x 1000000000 it will only be hot if you run the car he can do it in the morning when the car is been off all night im only giving my opinion which i have the right to ..also well done it will let kris know if they are any holes in the exhaust as well so there you go kris get everything done and tested at once :bouncing:

 

[thebigyin]

LOL

Well I'm waiting on the adaptor to perform a PROPER compression test on the car once Royal Mail sort themselves out but was looking for some replies of optimism to know whether or not I should be looking for a new car because I'm very dependant on my car because I have a 100 mile round trip every day to work.

How much work is involved in replacing the rocker cover gasket?

its only the sealer mate you only need to unscrew the big bolts you see around the engine(below the spark plugs) and its just the rubber thats in between the two parts of the engine ,it would only cost you about £10 for the rocker cover gasket but you need to be sure that it stays in place as your bolting the engine back to gether

 

[Kris]

Cheers.

I'll have a go over the weekend if I can get a replacement gasket. Would be the easiest thing to try first.

 

[thebigman]

oil in the plug recess is probably the rocker gasket like dutcho has said. A compression test on its own might not show anything up. Try doing it dry first and then repeat with a squirt of oil in the bore and see if compressions rise noticibly, if they do this would indicate the rings are worn. The more likely cause would be valve stem seals. You could try a seal conditioner in the oil and see if the oil consumption improves. Anything under 1 litre per 1000 miles is within limit, although most cars will use considerably less.

thebigman

 

[Dutcho]

Cheers.

I'll have a go over the weekend if I can get a replacement gasket. Would be the easiest thing to try first.

Just make sure it's nice and clean before you put it back on, maybe even put a thin layer of instant gasket to be sure it seals and tighten the bolts evenly and slowly, they do snap

 

[Mr Parsnip]

Oil can only get to the combustion chamber then onto the spark plug through the worn valve seals or broken/damaged piston rings or blown head gasket. When too much oil is accumulated into the combustion chamber the spark plug will, eventually, give up and not fire as fuel will only ignite when petrol and air mix together(known as atomised fuel). Having too much oil mixed with petrol and air will not fire with the deteriorated spark from the spark plug. If you keep on changing new or cleaned spark plugs then the engine may fire up but with a lot of smoke (blue smoke). In the end, either cylinder head has to be removed to investigate and/or new piston rings and rebore will be required


mr p

 

[thebigman]

Oil can only get to the combustion chamber then onto the spark plug through the worn valve seals or broken/damaged piston rings or blown head gasket.

The way the op is writen the oil is outside the combustion chamber, in the plug recess.

thebigman

 

[Kris]

Cheers for the help guys.

I've just finished replacing it. Took a bit longer than I thought but got the new one in there! The old gasket was brittle in places and took some doing to get it all out and then the new one wasn't a very tight fit in the corners so it kept coming out. Grr! It's in now though so lets hope that's the problem sorted because I investigated today and the car has used a litre of oil over the last week (500 miles).

Can't see any leaks on running the engine after replacing it. Will just have to keep an eye on it.