Hi,
Have a 5 year old (02 plate) 1.8LX petrol estate with 80k miles. Had the car since 20k miles and not abused. Car just failed MOT:
Carbon Monoxide at idle excessive also after 2nd fast idle. Hydrocarbon after 2nd fast idle excessive. Lambda reading outside limits, blue smoke during acceleration. They say "Severe engine malfunction, buring oil, possibly pistons worn."
Anything I can do to get through MOT or is there no hope? New engine too expensive, recon/2nd hand probably not worth the cost/effort? Any ideas on options?
Any opinions/advice/help gratefully received.
Regards,
Hatethosefords
|
|
Please provide the actual numbers. What oil is in the car, when was it serviced and is it running well 0-60 time and MPG would help techs on here identify any probable cause, Regards Peter
|
|
|
|
Blimey! how much oil do you keep topping up with?. Do you ever take it out for an italian?. If the exhaust has a build up of oil from slight burning & you don't ever drive hard you could have a build up of oil that once the exhuast was hot on test caused the excessive blue smoke. A cat normally masks most oil burning untill the cat is destroyed & thats why you don't see many cars smoking now. I have had several with pistons rings failed & fitting new pistons & rings has cured the smoking. You don't say what the emission readings are so difficult to know wether just outside limits or sky high. If just outside limits a new cat may mask the problem but it should have engine man diagnostic check 1st. If the co is very high you could have contaminated the oil with petrol making the oil thinner & emissions higher! does it always do short journeys? Has it ever overheated in its life?
|
Thansk for the replies guys - here are the numbers on a sheet given to me by the garage. Rediculously high, so I'm guessing that I'm in real trouble but any glimmer of hope would be fantastic:
co=5.57, min=0, max=0.3
hc=1079, min=0, max=200
lam=0.827, min=0.95, max=1.090
Also written in hand on the sheet....."test abandoned due to risk of gas analyser damage."
Any help/advice much appreciated.
|
|
Oh and in terms of service/usage.....last serviced in December and does a 60 mile motorway round trip each day Monday to Friday so probably done around 3 to 4k since then. Driven reasonably well ie; not thrashed.
|
How many miles/ltire of oil do you get?
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
|
|
|
|
Was the test carried out hot? iv'e seen far worse than that. Co high but that would increase HC. has it been checked for air leak
|
|
Thanks again for the replies guys - it's the wife's car really - she took it in and left it for the day, so not sure if it was tested hot or cold. In terms of oil usage, she reckons she's been topping it up with about 1/2 litre every two weeks (approx 500 - 600 miles) so about 1k/litre? Does that help?
|
Were the fast idle results similarly high?
You could start by checking the crankcase breathers are not blocked
Followed by carrying out a wet and dry compression test or getting a cylinder leakage test done. This will help determine whether its the piston rings or valve guide seals at fault.
600 miles / litre is way to high. Is the oil level being measured correctly since an overfilled engine may burn oil.
Also what oil is being added to the engine?
|
|
Thanks for the advice - it's a start. I'm pretty sure it's not being overfilled. The oil is 10W/40 part synthetic.
|
Wrong oil!
Does any one ever read the manual that Fords give out?- pity
5W30 oil only in my Mondeo
But it does sound bad for the miles, are then genuine?, If so then unlikley to be rings- what about valve guides.?
Was the last MOT OK?, it is using too much oil though, sounds a bit bad really
|
|
|
It should be 5W/30, though 10W/40 is listed as a non-proffered option.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
|
|
|
|
It really needs 5-30w oil anything more makes the hydraulic tappets flutter causing emission problems! read the book
|
|
The problem you have their is due to more than 'wrong oil' - the difference between a 5W- and a 10W is not that great. You obviously have an engine problem and I don't think 'remote diagnosis' is going to work. Start with a general engine health check - wet and dry compression test and cylinder leak-down test. Take it from there...
|
|
|
It really needs 5-30w oil anything more makes the hydraulic tappets flutter causing emission problems! read the book
IIRC the 1.8 and 2.0 Duratec have solid lifters.
If it seems to run OK otherwise I would check for air leaks, fit a new air filter (unless the one fitted is new), fill it with proper Ford spec 5w-30 oil, and use Shell V-Power or BP Ultimate petrol then give it a good m/way run perhaps 75 to 80 in 4th and 5th (4th so the revs are highish) for 20 miles or more just before the retest.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"hatethosefords" No need for that sort of name here you know. DD will moan at you.
Servicing up to date? As mentioned, check breathers, have look inside the throttle body/air intake to see if oil is being sucked/blown in from the crankcase breather. AFAIK, there is no filter between the breather and the air intake. Try running the car with breather(s) connected to a drip bottle, plug hole into air intake (I've never had to do this with a modern engine, so very much at your own risk as always). Sensors OK? Check spark plugs for signs of burning oil, might be worth a compression test whilst you're fiddling with the plugs. Duratec is usually reliable.
More mature cars have PCVs that can do strange things, breather to atmosphere side of carb and another breather to the manifold side, PCV to prevent excessive suction during high manifold depression.
Oil is wrong, did anyone mention that ;-)
|
|
|
