Any suggestions would help on this!

Having a nightmare with this as it refuses to hold oil!

First the crank seal went so ive had thath done then the sump gasket went twice so that's been done and now there is another major oil leak and its smoking terribly!!!

I havnt had time to look yet and tbh im loosing heart with it!!

I think it must be going into the airbox causing it too smoke!

It had a full rebuild last year and done hardly any miles since!

Someone suggested the rings have gone causing oil leaks if that makes any sense?

Looks as if the leak is coming from the cambelt side now though as said I havnt looked and tbh really don't want too.

 

valve stem seals ?

 

Someone has suggested that. Would that cause pressure and cause oil leaks?

 

I said on the other thread you need to check if the breathers are blocked.

https://passionford.com/forum/ford-x...i-porblem.html

If there is excess crankcase pressure it can blow out out of any gasket or seal.

Cylinder leakage test can pin point if the rings are fucked, as once the cylinder is pressurised the air will come out of the oil filler or dipstick tube.

Valve stem seals will smoke over night or after a long period of idling, they can be done in situ on CVHs

 

What sort of numbers should I be looking for on a compression test then?

 

Compression test won't tell you everything. Only that the compression rings/valves are sealing really..

It's a cylinder leakage test that will.

This is when each of the cylinders are pressurised and any leaks are shown in their respective areas.

 

12-14 bar compression on these.

Crank it over with throttle wide open when doing the test.

 

Okay I will get this done.

Just had a quick look now, the breather isn't blocked but it did have oil in it that has been leaking into the air box. Lost a good litre of oil on a 15 mile trip yesterday.

 

It must be fucked to lose a litre of oil in that short distance..

You have more than one breather pipe, should be one that goes down back of block (gearbox end)
One the other side, the black cannister looking thing, the pipes to it as well.

Even so, for it to lose that much oil..it's fucked..

 

Yes the black canister thing I had off has the pipes on had them off and they are clear opened the black canister up that's no clogged but did have oil in it

Think its been leaking onto the fan belt then throwing it all round the engine

 

Is it MFi? My old 3i did this too. Then decided to chuck coolant all the time... Gave up with the bloody thing and scrapped it after I bought an RS and took any bits of the XR that I wanted.

The stem seals were done, new rad, oil and filter change. No leaks, was a low mileage car for the year. But it was so unreliable I got rid.

 

Have you checked the oil cooler? Also the strainer on these are shit which will cause the excessive crank pressure, does the oil smell of fuel? Clutch judder?

 

Its EFI

No I havnt checked the oil cooler. Where abouts is that? Cant smell fuel although I didn't really smell it tbh. No clutch judder drives as it should just quite smokey!

Ive spent a fortune on the car so not worth me getting rid or new engine etc im at the point where I have to fix it really.

 

The cooler is at the back of the block, did you clean or check the oil strainer when you did the sump gasket, are any of the plugs fouling with oil?

 

if you've done a liter of oil in 15 miles and it hasn't leaked it it must be smoking like a steam train surely ?

 

I would have thought that too, what colour is the oil? Thick black and sludgy? Sounds like a massive amount of oil pressure, is the head gasket ok? Any smell of petrol in the Coolant tank? The most common problem I had with these engines was the breather pipe at the back of the block on gearbox side sludging up and blocking, don't expect the blockage to always be in the pipe I had it block just below the pipe in the block which wasn't see able until I had stripped the engine because it had gone bang! Has this engine been rebuilt before? Would be good to see some pictures

 

Its both leaking and smoking quite bad. I havnt had chance to see about fuel in oil etc

The head has only just been skimmed and new HG out on. Had new cam etc aswell.

The black breather box isn't blocked neither is any of the 3 pipes going to it.

I haven't checked anything else yet but will try tomorrow.

Im wondering if to just get another engine

 

Right ive had a mechanic look at it and he says he thinks its either had the wrong headgasket put on it (400 miles old) or its the piston rings.

Is there anyway of checking to save stripping it down?

 

It would be a cheaper option to drop a zetec in...

 

I have thought about it tbh just didn't want to change it from standard

 

Ask gvk said earlier, either do a cylinder leakage test or strip it to find out. You don't really have much choice.

 

^^^^ what he said, what I said.

 

Think best thing to do is take the head off then you can tell if it the wrong head gasket or the rings. At least you will know one way or another and will need to come off anyway to solve either problem. Assuming its the head gasket and it was done at a garage you would have some come back with them to get it sorted out.

 

Your not having much look with this car are you.

 

It was done at least 18 months ago but I just never got it back on the road so I doubt i'll have much luck taking it back!

Nope its a nightmare never driven just spend a fortune on it for it to sit on the drive

 

Shame you dont live closer to me cause I would of popped round to help.

 

I would def go back to the garage if they have fitted a wrong head gasket ,it does not matter if it was a week ago or 18 months ago if its ruined your engine. Bite the bullet take the head off then you will def know. If its the rings it might work out cheaper to get a replacement engine.

 

I know im wasting my time with taking it back that's just going to cause me more headaches that I don't need!

I can get the work done at a fair price and if its the rings or H/G its not going to cost me major money just be nice to actually drive it with no problems!!!

I'll get a cylinder leakage test done and go from there I think. Thanks for the advice lads!

 

Well it turns out it the rings!

Really at my last nerve with this car!!

Not sure what to do, get it sorted or do a conversion!?

Problem is ive had new cam etc on the current engine don't really want to get rid of it but then its so unreliable seems a good time to convert it but then that'll cost me more then to fix it I imagine