In today's, er yesterday's DT, HJ commented on exsessive oil consumption, HJ rightly suggested that the oil consumption could be worn valve guide/seals etc though my interpretation of the correspondent's letter was that the excessive oil consumption only started immediately after a recent service (there is a reference to the possibility of a loose drain plug), i.e the car was fine before the service and has only consumed oil since the service.
Perhaps better that the correspondent gets the servicing garage to look at the problem on the basis that it has occurred since the service rather than scrap the engine.
Regards.
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I agree with you cheddar regarding interpretation of the correspondent's letter, but then maybe what appeared in the DT wasn't the original letter that HJ replied to. HJ has commented in the past on the Editor changing words around in his replies and hence changing the meaning.
I imagine some of the readers letters are quite longwinded and require cutting down and perhaps the original meaning is lost by a non-motoring expert editor?
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Maybe at the service they put too low a viscosity oil in?
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maybe it was a bad news day and the letter was made up?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Its maybe coincidence in this case, but then its not unknown for a "service" to ruin a perfectly good engine. My first new car, Escort, picked up from the dealers routine sevice (6000 miles I think!) running on 3 cylinders. I identified which cylinder was dead, returned immediately, and picked up their loan car (Granada auto - result) whilst they ruminated. Outcome was a new engine. I suspect they'd had a mishap and hoped i wouldn't notice.
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What, like the Titanic?! "Don't worry guv, that's normal that is, that 4th cylinder's just for appearances sake...."
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Exactly. Maybe they thought the problem might be ignored until they could deny it?
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Pre-edited version:-
Oil fired central eating
I've just had my 2.0 litre 2001 Ford Mondeo serviced at 85,000 miles and it's using oil at a high rate of knots. I've put 5 litres in over 2 weeks. I took the car back to the garage which services it and at first they suggested the sump plug had not sealed properly. However, when I picked the car up yesterday they told me that it is common for Duratec engines to start to burn oil at around 85,000 miles and that the only solution is to change the engine (at an estimated cost of £1,200). I've searched the web and can't find any other reports of this being a known Duratec problem and wondered if you had heard anything like this. My main problem is that the car is usually fantastic and I can't afford to change it (although I can afford a new engine). I'm worried about the re-sale or trade in value or if I'll now be throwing good money after bad.
H.A., York
If the engine is using oil, the most likely reason is worn valve stem seals. Often these can be replaced without removing the head at a cost of around £200 - £300. However, if the bore or rings or both have gone, then you do have a problem, and either a full engine rebuilt or a replacement engine is the only answer. Remember, that an 85k mile 2001 Mondeo III is only worth about £2,000.
HJ
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it's using oil at a high rate of knots.
It was clearly written by someone who likes to be dramatic (knots are a unit of nautical speed not oil consumption) so I can't help but wonder what else was written purely for drama's sake.
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L\'escargot.
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im assuming that the engine was burning oil prior to the garage service
if so then i would have suggested that the owner asked the garage to give the engine a compression test
anybody remember them? from the dark ages now
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I can't see anything in the letter that suggests that the high oil consumption only started after the service, although there is a possible hint that the owner only really started measuring it more accurately after the service. People often assume unreasonably that a service will fix all ills.
Presuming that he has already checked obvious things like the sump plug and the oil filter seating properly, HJ's reply seemed to me very reasonable when I read it.
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I can't see anything in the letter that suggests that the high oil consumption only started after the service >>
That was implied in the published edited version though HJ has posted the unedited version here.
Thanks HJ for the clarification.
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"they suggested the sump plug had not sealed properly"
In the vague hope that he might not have noticed 5 litres of oil on his drive, presumably!
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