High Oil Consumption - Advice needed.

[Old Dude]

I’ve had a chat with a the guy who lives opposite me over the weekend. He used to be a Ford mechanic but works in general engineering these days. He’s got a garage full of tools and occasionally does jobs on cars for his old mates. He told me that when the head would have gone for the testing and skimming, the first thing they’d do would be to stick it in a bath of solvent to get all the muck off it. He said that can do a great job of cleaning out round the valve seals and making them leak. He also said that for that reason, when you get a head kit to replace all the gaskets you’ll need, it also contains a set of replacement valve seals. He thinks they’ve probably swapped them if it has stopped losing oil now. I don’t know, I’m just keeping an eye on the dipstick still.

 

On the topic of dipsticks, I bought a replacement one on eBay. It maps onto the right part number and is the same length but the graduations are different. The minimum levels are about the same but the maximum level on the new one would take probably 200mls more oil to top it up. I can file them off to match, but would 200mls make much difference?

[VRade]

Look for any leaks on your under tray as well.

 

Sounds all a little strange to me! If it was stem seals it would be blowing blue smoke like a bugger! if it was piston rings it would be houling blue smoke and stinking....

 

Problem is id get the cat checked now if its been covered in oil it will probably be nackard now

[Old Dude]

@VRade. Hi. Post#14 seems to explain away the blue smoke. There's no sign of oil anywhere and as I recall no sign of an under tray either. I suspect that a main dealer 'forgot' to put that back on some years ago. The emissions tester reckons that it is doing its job well within limits. I don't know what can be done to check it out beyond that. :think:   Thanks for the input.

 

 

 

 

[IulianE]

Mate,you can use this oil stop from liqui moly.My friend is using this for his 2.8 Audi.He had problems too with oil consumption,but now after less than a month the car is not using almost no oil at all.

My car is using like 1L in 4.500KM and I will start using this too.

Check the product description

 

http://www.liqui-moly.de/liqui-moly/produktdb.nsf/id/en_1005.html?Opendocument&land=DE

[Old Dude]

@IulianE: Thanks.  I have found a UK supplier. If the consumption isn't better after this recent time in the shop, I will give it a try. 

[Old Dude]

Update: I took the car back to the garage on the 10th December and they kept it for a couple of days. They said they'd spent the time 'testing it' and that they'd given it a 50 mile run and it didn't seem to be using any oil. They were most emphatic that I should stop worrying about the oil seals and that I should take it and see how it went.

 

They assured me they hadn't topped it up or anything and said there'd be no bill for what they had done since the original payment on 'completion.'  I checked the consumption over the period prior to returning it to them and for several days after and found that it had gone up to 928 miles per litre. That was a significant improvement. I topped it up again so that I could do a further check on what it was doing solely after their 'testing'.

 

I have checked it again today and it only needed 50mls adding to hit the full mark. It has returned 4280 miles per litre. I'm seriously wondering if they were so keen to have me stop worrying about the seals because their 'testing' involved replacing them. Getting that consumption around town is unheard of in the period I have been keeping records.

 

I've checked with friends in Somerset and the flood waters are down enough for me to go and get on with some work there now, so I'll be testing it on a 500+ mile round trip over the rest of the week. We'll see if things hold up.

[Old Dude]

Just a final note. Since the car was returned to me in December with the assurance that I should stop worrying about valve seals, I have done 2,500 miles and mysteriously the oil consumption is now 50% less than it was before I first had the head gasket problem. I can only assume that the garage quietly put new valve seals in, or successfully used Wynn's Oil Stop to fix the problem. Three trips down to the family home at flooded Langport have seen a dead alternator, a noisy alternator tensioner,  a very worn front o/s wheel bearing and rear discs and pads all being replaced. On its last trip however, it was back to running like a dream, so the private plate can stay on for a while yet, I hope.