Oil Use

MrMoonX · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:02

I have a Focus ST and I have never had to top the oil up in it, and never regularly checked, naughty I know, today I checked and noticed it was on the minimum marker on the dipstick, so I went to the ford dealer round the corner and he sold me 1L of Ford Formula F Oil. He said it was normal if I hadnt had it done since last April when it was serviced.

Anyway should I expect it to use oil between services? I topped it up about 300ml and its back to halfway now, im just concerned as ive been told these engines rarely use oil, but nothing seems to be wrong with it.

Berger · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:08

So its used 300ml in a year?

Id be damn impressed with that myself.

MrMoonX · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:15

Berger said:
So its used 300ml in a year?

Id be damn impressed with that myself.

really? cos ive heard people on the owners club previously saying the engines dont use oil, so could this be a case of me being lazy and not checking/topping her up throughout the year?
If it was that low wouldnt I see the oil pressure drop? as it has a dial for that

thepharcyde · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:18

Mine does not use a drop

MrMoonX · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:28

thepharcyde said:
Mine does not use a drop

well i posted on the owners club and they are saying not to worry they will all use a bit of oil over time, its being serviced on the 3rd April so it will get a oil change then and I will keep an eye on it

Dogbreath · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:32

How many miles have you done? 300ml in a year if you are doing average mileage is absolutely nothing to worry about.

MrMoonX · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:33

Dogbreath said:
How many miles have you done? 300ml in a year if you are doing average mileage is absolutely nothing to worry about.

about 9-10k since last service, would even a litre of oil use in that many miles be normal for a petrol cos my mate says its fine to use a litre a year

Slime101 · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:41

All engines use oil, even if its only a small ammount.

You will find some manufacturers quote upto 1L per 1000 miles is acceptable!

iaind · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:45

Current 2.5T Focus ST or old 2.0 n/a Focus ST?

Slime101 said:
All engines use oil, even if its only a small ammount.

You will find some manufacturers quote upto 1L per 1000 miles is acceptable!

That's what Alfa quote for the twinspark engines :eek:

MrMoonX · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:51

iaind said:
Current 2.5T Focus ST or old 2.0 n/a Focus ST?

That's what Alfa quote for the twinspark engines

2.5T

Dogbreath · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:58

MrMoonX said:
about 9-10k since last service, would even a litre of oil use in that many miles be normal for a petrol cos my mate says its fine to use a litre a year

As Slime101 says all engines use a little bit of oil by their very nature, and 300ml in 10k miles is nothing to worry about at all. You really should be checking the oil regularly though; if a fault develops and the car starts using more oil you want to know sooner rather than later.

Princey · 13 Mar 2010 at 13:01

Mines using a bit of oil too, around 0.5l per 1000 miles. Its not burning oil, but I have noticed that if its been left standing and I start it I get a puff of blue smoke out the exhaust? Am I right in thinking its the valve stem seals? Is this something to worry about?

Slime101 · 13 Mar 2010 at 13:02

Audi also quote silly levels of acceptable oil use, thankfully none of mine have ever used anything like that much.

Xez · 13 Mar 2010 at 13:08

Princey said:
Mines using a bit of oil too, around 0.5l per 1000 miles. Its not burning oil, but I have noticed that if its been left standing and I start it I get a puff of blue smoke out the exhaust? Am I right in thinking its the valve stem seals? Is this something to worry about?

Sounds like valve stem seals or the turbo. Wouldn't worry about it to be honest

thepharcyde · 13 Mar 2010 at 13:19

Xez said:
Sounds like valve stem seals or the turbo. Wouldn't worry about it to be honest

Why not re the Turbo, I would not have thought this would have been a good thing?

thepharcyde · 13 Mar 2010 at 13:20

Princey said:
Mines using a bit of oil too, around 0.5l per 1000 miles. Its not burning oil, but I have noticed that if its been left standing and I start it I get a puff of blue smoke out the exhaust? Am I right in thinking its the valve stem seals? Is this something to worry about?

I would get it checked out personally

Felix · 13 Mar 2010 at 13:23

My wifes Polo uses around 0.5 litres for every 1000 miles. Always has and there is apparently nothing wrong with it, been like that and used the same amount of oil for the past 5 years!

Matt82 · 13 Mar 2010 at 13:23

i wouldnt top it up. just get it changed

stoke1863 · 13 Mar 2010 at 13:25

Felix said:
My wifes Polo uses around 0.5 litres for every 1000 miles. Always has and there is apparently nothing wrong with it, been like that and used the same amount of oil for the past 5 years!

My seat Ibiza is the same. I bielive the ibiza and polo share some components

wassap · 13 Mar 2010 at 13:58

I had my ST3 for 3 and a bit years, up until it hit 60k it didnt use a drop, then the usage went up to about 0.5l to 1l between services, which was 6ish months for me,it also felt a little quicker when it used more oil, so maybe it had loosened up.