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Couple of questions. Firstly why does the air filter have a hose connecting it to the oil filler cap ? Secondly as these engines are notorious for turning the oil into mayonaise how often should I change the oil ? Is it worth using cheap oil and changing it more often to keep flushing it out ?
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The pipe connecting to the air filter from rocker box is a crankcase breather pipe.ie any oil being burnt goes back into air filter and is reburn`t.No never use a cheap oil.use what is reccomended or as near to it as poss.should not need to flush using same oil.modern oils are a lot better than the old.What car is it as a matter of interest?
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It's a 96 Fiesta - 78k so far.
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The hose connecting the air filter to the oil filler cap has a kind of wire mesh plug in between. I've noticed this tends to collect the emulsified oil quite quickly. Is this much of a problem if it becomes blocked ?
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Hi
Yes clean the flametrap and keep it clean, as it blocks this will tend to increase your crankcase pressure and turn in the engine into more of a leaker than it is already.
As for oil, as has been stated, stick with manufacturers specification in terms of SAE specs, and then buy cheap (americans call it dino oil) at a motor factors this avoids paying the marketing premium for NIKE or GUCCI oils (or Magnatec)and change it often with a quality filter.
Examine how you are using the vehicle and how quickly engine temperature is achieved, particularly important now that the cold weather has arrived. If you use the car for short trips/and or the engine takes too long to get up to operating temperature then this is bad news for the engine. You need to be sure your engine thermostat is OK - they do not cost much and are easy peasy to replace.
I have in the past, when I was commuting short distances in winter (5-6 miles), blanked off a portion of the radiator with a slab of cardboard covered in foil to screen off say a third of the intake area of the radiator. I cannot recommend you do this coz it is risky and you have to keep a close eye on the temp gauge all the time and of course remember to whip it out (the cardboard) prior to a longer trip!
Hope this is helpful to you.
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I use Comma semi synthetic in my son's 1993 Fiesta 1.1. Approx £11 per 4 litres from motor factors and very good.. change every 5k miles with filter..
Changed thermostat when we got car. cleaned all pipes as above
madf
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My 1.1 Fiesta had oil changes scheduled for every 9,000 miles. After 27,000 miles I felt this was too long - lots of mayo and very gloopy oil. I ended up increasing the frequency to every 4,500 miles - used to cost about £20 for oil and filter change at the local Rapidfit.
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Don\'t suppose anyone could confirm that these engines are chain driven ? Are the rest of the engine sizes chain driven out of curiosity ? i.e. the 1.1 or the 1.25 & 1.4 Zetec versions ?
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All Zetecs are belt driven AFAIK.
All the pushrod varieties are chain driven, from 1.0 to 1.6. I don't know how long the chains are meant to last for, my Escort '75 Haynes recommends changing them every 30k :-s. Think this is a bit OTT myself, other things will wear out first (bores, big ends, etc.)
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oops, didn't carry on the sentence.
... so they should last the life of the engine.
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