Quick question.
I recently bought a 1997 Citroen Saxo VTR 1.6 with 84000 miles on the clock. Last week i filled up with Shell Helix oil, and 800 miles later, the oil level warning light is on and it need filling up again.
Any ideas, as there\'s no oil on the floor under the engine.
Thanks
Ian
|
Three possibilities spring to mind, but by no means exhaustive.
1) You didn't put enough in last week (was it a full change? You may have put in enough for a "dry" change without a filter but you need more if changing the filter)
2) You're burning oil at an alarming rate (blue smoke at the exhaust and a short life for the Cat.)
3) A gasket failure is bleeding oil into your cooling system, although usually the other way round due to the higher pressures in the cooling system
|
If you're burning oil the spark plugs should show signs of this, especially the amount you're getting through.
Have some-one follow you at night - they'll soon advise if
your're burning oil.
Any signs of 'mayonnaise' around the oil filler?
|
i've not seen any smoke either on start up or at any other time.
also, the oil filler is completely clear - just a nice golden oily colour. that was the first thing i checked. what would the coolant look like if i was leaking oil in to it?
thanks for the advice
Ian
|
If oil was leaking into the water you would see greasy globules of oil in water.
Now it is possible that the car's rings are worn or just carbonned up and not working properly. SWBO's diesel 106 had a similar problem due to low journeys. I fed it a treatment (Redex? can't rember ) to clean injectors and thrashed it for 30 miles on a motorway. After that oil consumption dropped to nil.
madf
|
|
|
|
There may be no reason for it I had a rover 420gsi that did the same thing never found out the reason,I did however gather occasionally when using at high revs the piston rings did not work correctly and burn`t oil.And because the exhaust gas valve
ok the burnt oil/gases where returned to cylinder to be reburnt.as far as I know the myth still exist`s.I would like to hear from anyone that knows the real reason?
|
need to bring this one back to life i'm afraid!
i'm now burning oil at around 1 litre per 500 miles, and there was a big puff of blue smoke when i started her up yesterday.
i'm not losing any coolant at all, there's no oil in coolant, or coolant in the oil, so shouldn't be the head gasket.
does this sound like valve stem seals, and if so, any ideas what i should be looking to pay to get these replaced?
thanks,
footy
|
Which variant of Shell Helix did you use:
* plain Helix ? mineral for older cars
* Super ? normal mineral
* Plus ? semi-synthetic
* Ultra ? synthetic
?
I'm no expert (usual disclaimer), but if synth or semi-synth I wonder whether you're suffering from some of the problems people predict when using synth in well worn engines that have had mineral oil previously. Certainly a litre per 500 miles is serious overconsumption.
Just a thought.
|
it was the helix plus 10w40
although i'm not sure that the type of oil would be the cause of the engine using these kind of quantities!
i've been quoted £500 for replacing valve stem seals - if that's what the problem is. does this sound reasonable.
|
Certainly a cloud of blue smoke on start up usually indicates worn valve seals. As it's a VTR, has it been thrashed throughout its life? Is the mileage genuine? I would be tempted to have a compression test done as well before you have any head work done, as it sounds like your engine is very badly worn.
It's a 16v engine, so I'd expect valve seal replacement to cost, although £500 sounds like a lot - worth shopping around?
|
I'd change back to your usual oil, going back quite a number of years, I had a BMW 525i, high mileage, always used fully synthetic oil (Comma, Halfords, Mobil1 etc) etc.... one day, I bought Castrol RS as it was on offer (it was a different grade in those days) and I then found the car would billow blue smoke from the exhaust when lifting off the throttle at high rpm.
I was very upset, and thought the engine was on it's way out. Well, I changed the oil again, back to Halfords I think, and I couldn't make it burn the oil for love or money. it never burned any again either, the level staying the same bewteen changes.
It may be worth a shot, never found an explanation.
|
Footy_72
I was almost as sceptical as you about my type-of-oil idea, but given Sooty's experience perhaps it's worth trying this £10 possibility before raiding your Big Piggy bank to pay a mega-bill, i.e. drain the oil and fill with either what you know was used for most of the car's life or a plain mineral oil. This sort of thing reminds me of my late teenage years spent finding out that I was no mechanic: strip down a scooter engine and then find that the problem was a dirty spark plug.
Whatever the outcome, do let us know about it.
|
Footy
Suggest you get a compression test done - this will tell you whether there is serious mechanical wear. Worth trying the switch to mineral oil though, as well. An 84000 mile VTR could well have had a serious thrashing by now with the consequences you are seeing. Does it have a decent service history?
baz
|
|
Another thought: blocked / collapsed / bodged crankcase breather system? These type of cars are prone to people playing with K&N Induction kits etc. and they may have misplaced a hose or two...
|
The mileage is genuine, i have a full 2 owner service history, and i there have been no modifications at all to the engine / ancilliaries at all. I will definately give the mineral oil a go and see what happens - will keep this updated.
Thanks for your ideas / help - much appreciated!
footy
|
I would suspect worn valve stem oil seals. I used to own a 205XS with 1.4 TU engine (yours is the 1.6 version) and it was fine with 88k but developed very healthy appetite for oil. Especially noticed when setting off from traffic lights after stationary there was loads of smoke. I think the seals harden and break up with age. Never found out as I sold it soon after it became a problem. Some garages may be able to renew them without taking the head off by removing the valve spring and collets without letting the valves drop. You may see it as chance to do a top end overhaul and change the cambelt at the same time?
BTW - I surely miss the 205XS now driving a new shape Punto - the (non-assisted) steering and handling was superb. Nice styling also.
|
|
