about 3 months ago i filled her up with oil, today checked and it was empty. it makes a bit of smell while started up, like something is burning, but there is no smoke coming from the exhaust? im guessing the rings had seen better days, any ideas? thankx

some help would be appreciated guys:D

and it is also making rattling noise aswell.

I take it the oil level has dropped off the bottom of the dip stick and not that you're driving round with the oil warning light on. Doing the latter will very quickly wreck the engine.

You are likely to be losing oil either by burning it or having it leaking out. If you're burning a lot of oil (either via worn rings or valve seals) you will notice that the spark plugs are fouled an oily black colour. If it's leaking out, you should be able to see oil somewhere around the bottom of the engine and probably on the ground when you park the car up.

Having said that, if you are doing high mileages you might well get through a litre of oil in 3 months in an older/worn engine (given you say it rattles, this is probably the case).

Rattle could be lots of things but if it's a 1.3 car if might well the the timing chain getting worn.

thankx for the reply! no the warning light is not on. I checked underneath the engine, and yes there is oil around it. I think that the spark plugs are ok. about 3 or 4 months ago ive put about 3 or more litres! and ive recently changed the timing chain and distributor! should it be that the valves and rings are worn? are they pricey? at joryl rings were about 47 gbp I think.

If the spark plugs are okay it's probably not worth doing anything about valves/rings (the condition of the plugs is a good indication of the health of the engine - well worth checking). Valve seals means having the cylinder head off, removing valves etc. Piston rings are usually only replaced as part of a bottom end/full engine rebuild.

If there's evidence of significant oil leakage from the bottom of the engine I would be tempted to pursue finding/curing the source of this as the first option.

How is the rocker cover gasket, are there any signs of oil from around that.

If the sparks are a light brown/grey colour then they are fine, if they are black then you're burning oil.

Since you suggest that the engines sparks are fine I'd think it's more a leak and less likely burning oil.

It might be worth cleaning the bottom of the engine up with some gunk etc then once it has dried off starting and idling the car and then looking for oil (engine off). If you can't find it leaking then go for a drive and repeat it. Ideally make sure the oil is full as this may make it leak a bit more depending on the location of the leak.

Hopefully that should let you approximately locate the leak to front/back/bell housing etc and then locate it properly by a process of elimination.

HTH

Same thing happened to me when I got mine. This was in less than 3 months though and after about 600 miles I think. I used an oil additive called "oil stop leak" which is now sold under the brand Redex and is available in most Wilkinsons stores. I know these things are generally frowned upon (as they enlarge seals - and replacing the seal is better), but I've not experienced the oil disappear off the end of the dipstick again, and 3 years later there's no obvious serious issues, although I now have an oil leak out the bottom of the engine onto the road that I can't be bothered trying to sort.

Other common oil leak spots seem to be the oil pressure switch, the fuel pump blanking plate, and the cam shaft cover on front of the engine (it's gasket and the 4 rubber bungs around the studs). I found most of my sump bolts were loose and could be easily tightened by hand.

Should ideally check the oil level more regularly than every 3 months, and definitely not rely on the oil pressure warning light. Even in a brand new expensive car, the oil needs checking

Edited 19 May, 200917 yr by anewman

If you have recently done the timing chain (and had the sump off) with oil around the sump i would say to give the nuts an extra little pinch up. This happened to me after changing mine and they had loosened off a bit and with having a new gasket on there etc they just needed tightening back up which stopped the leak.

Phil

yesterday i checked the sparking plugs. the tip is brown, and the ring is a bit black like dust, but its normal. Will drain the oil, take the sump off, and buy a new gasket, and see how it goes! and for the pinking, can the valves need some settings?

thankyou for the replies chaps!

The valves need the rocker clearances adjusting as part of maintenance. Here's a post on the subject, the one by Richard Black is particularly helpful http://briskoda.net/favorit-felicia-fun-forman/proud-owner-tractor/99064/

Don't do anything too exotic until you have checked that the sump is still bolted on securely. Mine worked loose and oil was leaking out at quite a rate. Every single sump bolt (there are about 15 of them!) was loose by at least half a turn and one or two had actually fallen out. Don't tighten them grunt tight, though, they only need about 6-10ft lb or something like that.

I might have to check mine!!

Think mine was low on oil a little.

I find some 20w/50 in the garage and stuck that in at the petrol station, so it had a nice run back home. Now sitting just under full on the dipstick.

I did have some 10w/40 semi synth but thought I'd use the old can first and then dispose of it. Shouldn't do any damage once it's mixed in with the sump contents.

checked the dipstick, and found that ive put too much oil lol,, the level is much more higher than the full. maybe thats why the car has been making smells? have to go to the mechanic to check the sump!

I would say drain the oil out and don't use the car until you have. All you need is a spare sump washer (if you don't have a spare you might get away with the old one), a drain pan, nitriile gloves (or I use welding gauntlets lol) and I think it's a 21mm socket. In the time it takes to put the new washer on the sump plug when you start to screw it back in mid-flow that should have gotten rid of enough oil. Couple of mm overfilled and I'd have said you'd have been ok, but it sounds like you have half a litre plus over which won't be good. You can check the sump yourself. It's either a 9 or 10mm socket. As stated above don't over tighten. Probably best to use a spinner handle as you won't be able to tighten them more than needed then.

Just been onformed by my Dad that my cars got a bit of a leak. Dammit!!!

Will have to get that looked at before Oulton Park

I got my checked after Oulton Park.

The sump bolts were tightened and I'm keeping an eye on my oil levels.

If it happens again my mechanic will stick a thicker gasket on it and said something might need replacing but forgotton which bit!!! oops