Engine using oil

Author
Discussion

skene

Original Poster:

2,481 posts

187 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
quotequote all
Hi there.

Right I know this isnt a great amount of oil it is using. Anyway the car is a 2001 Fiesta ZS with the 'black-top' engine. When I picked it up a month ago the oil was at the top of the correct area on the dipstick. Checked it since and noticed today it's at the bottom of the correct area. I know this isnt a lot of oil but, Are these engines meant to use oil?

Also, how crucial is it to use 5w-30 oil in it?

McSam

6,753 posts

190 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
quotequote all
No, they shouldn't use any oil, but I would check it a few more times in a few different situations to be sure. Quite warm oil with a recently stopped engine will read higher than cold oil that's been sitting overnight, or you could've been on a different slope, etc.

I can't think of a good reason to not use 5W/30 part synthetic to Ford's specification, it's readily available and should be what the car had since new. Don't be throwing 15W/40 in it just because you have some lying around!

skene

Original Poster:

2,481 posts

187 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
quotequote all
Yeah I have been putting in 5w-30 I was just wondering. I was told to so thats what i'll do.

Anyone else had experience of these engines?

marshalla

15,902 posts

216 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
quotequote all
How many miles between checks and what sort of driving ?

skene

Original Poster:

2,481 posts

187 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
quotequote all
its done 3500 since I got it and spirited but not absurd.

bamberwell

1,266 posts

177 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
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if it's used , say 500 ml , in 3500 miles surely that's perfectly acceptable??

McSam

6,753 posts

190 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
quotequote all
bamberwell said:
if it's used , say 500 ml , in 3500 miles surely that's perfectly acceptable??
Yeah, not unreasonable at all, more miles than I was expecting. If it's not a very high-mile engine maybe I'd start to think something wasn't quite right, but obviously it's not catastrophic just yet!

skene

Original Poster:

2,481 posts

187 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
quotequote all
Yeah it's a high mileage engine anyway and to be honest it hasn't even used 500ml. Due to it's mileage I guess I'm just being pessimistic.

davepoth

29,395 posts

214 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
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That's acceptable usage to me. Most of my cars have used that much in a tank of petrol.

robsco

7,874 posts

191 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
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I would say that's almost certainly nothing to worry about. Just enjoy driving it and keep topping up!

Fartgalen

6,764 posts

222 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
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McSam said:
Quite warm oil with a recently stopped engine will read higher than cold oil that's been sitting overnight
What ?!

robsco

7,874 posts

191 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
quotequote all
Oh dear. What an imbecile.

Fartgalen

6,764 posts

222 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
quotequote all
Ha ha - tempted to quote. But thought better of it.

Buh-bye then.

sebhaque

6,530 posts

196 months

Wednesday 1st June 2011
quotequote all
Is this the bloke who got banned a couple of days ago for asking about deleting his account?

If you're reading this in the future, it's off topic, just some idiot posting lots of silly pictures.

McSam

6,753 posts

190 months

Thursday 2nd June 2011
quotequote all
I didn't just miss the Return of the PH PornFest, did I?!? hehe

Fartgalen said:
McSam said:
Quite warm oil with a recently stopped engine will read higher than cold oil that's been sitting overnight
What ?!
For "quite warm" read "90'C and a bit expanded", and for "recently stopped" read "half the oil still draining from everywhere but the sump". This is what I've always been told, accurate check will be on a cool engine that's been off for at least a couple of minutes, and it makes sense to me?

ETA - I have no idea how much oil expands with heat, mind. It's the draining thing that seemed most relevant to me.

Edited by McSam on Thursday 2nd June 09:47

Fartgalen

6,764 posts

222 months

Thursday 2nd June 2011
quotequote all
McSam said:
or "quite warm" read "90'C and a bit expanded", and for "recently stopped" read "half the oil still draining from everywhere but the sump". This is what I've always been told, accurate check will be on a cool engine that's been off for at least a couple of minutes, and it makes sense to me?

ETA - I have no idea how much oil expands with heat, mind. It's the draining thing that seemed most relevant to me.

Edited by McSam on Thursday 2nd June 09:47
So a recently stopped engine will read lower than one that has rested for a few minutes.

JM

3,170 posts

221 months

Thursday 2nd June 2011
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Some dipsticks have markings for hot and cold, basically 4 marks, 2 for max and 2 for min.

McSam

6,753 posts

190 months

Thursday 2nd June 2011
quotequote all
Fartgalen said:
So a recently stopped engine will read lower than one that has rested for a few minutes.
Oh, God. Yeah. Come back to me when exams are over and I can think properly paperbag

Olivera

8,119 posts

254 months

Thursday 2nd June 2011
quotequote all
McSam said:
No, they shouldn't use any oil, but I would check it a few more times in a few different situations to be sure. Quite warm oil with a recently stopped engine will read higher than cold oil that's been sitting overnight, or you could've been on a different slope, etc.

I can't think of a good reason to not use 5W/30 part synthetic to Ford's specification, it's readily available and should be what the car had since new. Don't be throwing 15W/40 in it just because you have some lying around!
Any engine will use some oil, of varying quantities, especially one over 10 years old. Secondly, using a thicker oil on an older engine is often recommended for smoother running, so you suggestion of 15W/40 might actually lower consumption!

wmg100

1,698 posts

229 months

Thursday 2nd June 2011
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We ran a Zetec s for 70k miles and it always used a lot of oil, needed topping up from min to max every 1k or so miles.