Should I be concered - oil consumption

myhooose

I have a 2002 1.2 8V clio. My Aunt had it previously from new so I know the full history of the car. It has only done 30k, and 19k when I got it 10 months ago.

When I got the car the oil was very low so I topped it up since then it has been using about a 0.5L per 1000 miles. is this acceptable? there are no obvious leaks no sign of oil in the coolant reservoir though the coolant colour is brown. It had an MOT last week and the emissions were well within the limits. However It has a creamy emulsion around the filler cap making me suspect a head gasket. The coolant level hasn't dropped and there is no overheating

I gave it an oil and filter change last month and the oil taken out looked black with no evidence of water. I cleaned the emulsion away from the filler cap and a month later it has returned. Most of my driving is on Motorwys on a 18 mile journey so the engine is getting hot.

What do you think? do I need to look into this further or is 0.5L per 1000 miles within acceptable limits. I'm quite happy to continue to keep topping up the oil providing no further damage is being done. I was thinking about buying a compression test gauge. How easy is it to do on a clio? The spark plugs look buried a long way in the engine block. I have worked on engines a long time ago,but they were A series which were very simple and microlight engines more recently (different beast).

Strider590

Emulsified oil is probably more to do with a previous life of very short journeys.
This emulsified oil could cause increased crankcase pressure and forced oil out through the breather hoses into the inlet manifold to be burnt up in the engine.

It's 30k miles or 49k miles, your not very clear???

myhooose

Strider590 wrote: »

Emulsified oil is probably more to do with a previous life of very short journeys.
This emulsified oil could cause increased crankcase pressure and forced oil out through the breather hoses into the inlet manifold to be burnt up in the engine.

It's 30k miles or 49k miles, your not very clear???

That very interesting to hear, even if the oil has been changed? I'm not too well up on how "modern" engines are plumbed.

Its on 30K now, Ive put on 11K in 10 months. It certainly did do a lot of short journeys before I got it.

It does sound a bit like a diesel when its started from cold.

Strider590

It could probably use an engine flush and the various breather hoses removed and cleaned out. Perhaps even the removal of the cam covers for cleaning out the gunk with an old rag, and also make sure the filler cap filter isn't blocked with gunk.

Don't get me wrong, it could still be really bad news...... But im trying to think of the cheapest/simplest things first.

Limey

How long are your current journeys? As has been mentioned short journeys often result in mayonaise in the oil cap, however so does coolant in the oil.

Sounding like a diseasle on start up doesn't bode too well, what oil did you replace the old stuff with? My old Celica sounded like a bucket of bolts on start up when I used some Duckhams 10w40 in it, although I'm pretty sure the can had something like 20w50. noise went when I put some decent oil in.

Thinking about it any restriction in flow of the oil to the head will result in some cam rattle on start up. As an experiment unplug the ignitor and turn the engine over for 20-30 seconds in the morning before starting the car. If it's nice and quiet after this your oil's not getting round the engine quick enough.

Edit: would second what Strider advises. Wouldn't normally agree with a flush but the car's young enough not to spring a dozen leaks from a flush.

moonrakerz

myhooose wrote: »

Most of my driving is on Motorwys on a 18 mile journey so the engine is getting hot.

18 miles a trip may get the engine "hot", but not hot enough to get rid of all the moisture that causes the emulsion.

TBH if there are no obvious signs of trouble I wouldn't get too concerned about it, 2000 miles per litre isn't too bad. Cleaning out the emulsion that is easily got at would be time well spent. Then take it for a 100 mile "spin".

I understand Rolls-Royces use a lot of oil (so I'm told ) !!

Flying-High_2

0.5L per 1000miles is not that bad... Most manufactures will say 1litre per 1000mile is acceptable.

As said clean the breathers... Chuck some engine flush in.. I use ATF fluid if I have to flush but that'll likely knock the earth of its axis for many on here. .. drain and replace with fresh Oil & filter... Cheap enough and wont be a bad thing if its rattling away nicely will it?

myhooose

My daily weekday commute is 18 miles each way 3/4 of which is on the motorway. I temp needle stay pretty much in dead center of the range. What temps does oil run in the engine generally ? In 4 stroke microlights It's common practice to deliberately get the oil over 100 deg c on each flight to boil off any moisture.

I put 5W 40 synthetic motor factors own brand in it.

reeac

The oil consumption doesn't sound too bad and may reduce with more fast runs to free up the rings. The emulsion formation sounds like a blocked or partially blocked breather hose to me - been there myself.

myhooose

Thanks for all yor suggestions, look like I have some tinkering (as my wife calls it)to do this weekend. :j

chris175

Just out of interest what do you put the 5W 40 in the microlite or the Clio.

If it's the clio I'd be tempted to say that oil is too thin for it when it's cold, meaning it will burn it until it get's warm. When you change the oil try upping it to a 10W40 or even 15W40 to see if it makes any difference.
I put some 5W30 i had left over from my old car, when I did an oil change on my present but older car I decided to use it up but it started using oil, so i changed it for 10w40 and it went back to using nothing.

Just a thought!!