Losing Oil At An Alarming Rate

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

My 205xs is going through a litre of oil about every 250 miles, which is quite a lot, but I can't fathom where it is going.

It isn't leaking onto the floor and it isn't burning that much. I had a recent MOT test and it got very good emission figures and on a recent RR session, there was no cloud of blue smoke coming out the back. My catch tank isn't filling up, I have emptied it once in the last year/10,000 miles. It doesn't seem to be going into the water and the head gasket has been replaced within the last 3 months.

 

Any one got any other suggestionsas to where my oil could be going?

[Greenys_meanies 0]

if it's deffo not leaking then it must be burning it. blue smoke is usually only visable on startup ( valve seals) or full throttle/ thrash due to rings. however if your rings are worn, you could be burning oil but not enough to see it. my old mk1 16v clio could get through 1 litre per 1000 miles and it never smoked! ( and they do burn oil, renault say 1 L / 1000 M is acceptable)

 

How many miles has it got? is it serviced well? what sort of oil is it? mineral/synthetic?

 

sorry i can't help any more

 

Daz

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

Thanks for the reply.

 

I would be happy with 1l/1000miles at the moment!

 

It has done a measly 158000 miles, no idea about the service history prior to 130,000 then I have maintained it well, but thrashed it. I use mineral oil.

I guess it must be burning it, but I would have thought the amount of oil it goes through would show more in the exhaust.

[Greenys_meanies 0]

with 150 thou, i would say it's probally burning it. get someone to rev it while you watch the exhaust. is it good quality oil? i've known a mates ax gt with under 100 thou to burn a lot too. sounds like a rebuild to be fair or try some wynns stop leak, may work may not.

 

Daz

[Pug_101 0]

If you do a compression test of the cylinder it will tell you if your burning oil or not and were from.

[hengti 2]

any clutch slip?

[Greenys_meanies 0]

any clutch slip?

If the crank seal had gone it would leak oil out of the drain at the bottom of the gearbox. especially 1 litre every 250 miles!

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

OK, no clutch slip.

I did a compression test and all 4 were at 200 +/- 5. After dropping some oil in the pots, only number 4 (nearest the cam pulley) showed any sign of increase as it went up to 215. That seems all in spec.

 

There is no oil dripping on the floor at all.

 

I guess I'll have to have someone drive behind me and watch for smoke as I boot it. There is no significant oil smoke at standstill, no matter how hard I rev it.

 

I put a litre in at the beginning of the week and it raised the level to between the 2 marks and it is now at the minimum mark, 200 miles later.

 

Bloody cars.

[Greenys_meanies 0]

Just asking is there any oil on the bottom of the car? mine has thats all

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

There is on the bottom of the engine, from previous oil leaks which I have dealt with and haven't bothered to clean off. There is very little fresh oil though.

[Greenys_meanies 0]

I guess I'll have to have someone drive behind me and watch for smoke as I boot it. There is no significant oil smoke at standstill, no matter how hard I rev it.

What do you can significant smoke? is there any smoke of any kind at all? (at standstill)

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

I'd have to say no. Standing behind the car on a rolling road as it was nailed in 5th from 2000rpm - 7000rpm, there was no smoke.

[Greenys_meanies 0]

have you got oil in your water? if not i'm stuck where it could be going! no leaks, no smoke, comp ok, just headgasket left..........mmmmmm

 

Daz

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

No, the water is nice a green.

 

Just been out with a mate to check compressions again, all fine, no visible smoke out the back end, both under power and after idling.

 

Headgasket was replaced (by me admittedly!) about 3 months ago. Head was skimmed. Not sure about the flatness of the block though.

 

Car was parked since 8am this morning and there are absolutely no drips on the floor.

 

Oh well, bought myself a gallon of Halfords finest 15W40 and some Wynns Stop Leak, so I will see how it goes.

 

Thanks for your input.

[DaveW 6]

not sure if xs's use a bit of oil anyway seeing as you have to rag it to get the best out of it, but yes 1 litre per 250 miles is alot.....

[Greenys_meanies 0]

Let us know how it goes, cos thats really puzzled me. your not burning it, it's not in the water and it's not leaking......there is nowhere else for it to go??????