Excessive oil consumption in a 2012 Peugeot 208

AnnaLucy · 28 Jan 2019 at 17:31

I’ve owned this car for 2 years, and had a problem with excessive engine oil consumption for the last 10 months.

It holds between 2.5-3 litres of oil, and I’m losing this completely every 1500-2000 miles.

The garage can’t find anything wrong at all, they said there is definitely no leak and it’s not burning through the engine abnormally (no white smoke from the exhaust). They’ve told me it’s just a thirsty car...

Another garage wouldn’t even look at it and told me to get rid of it.

So should I just get rid of it? It seems a shame, it’s relatively new and drives very well for what I need it for and I don’t really have the money for a new car if I don’t need it.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?

Thanks!

Nasher · 28 Jan 2019 at 17:33

The other garage was correct.

Armageus · 28 Jan 2019 at 17:37

Oil burning would be blueish smoke rather than white.

Could be a blocked/stuck crankcase breather or similar

Gaygle · 28 Jan 2019 at 17:45

What engine is it?

AnnaLucy · 28 Jan 2019 at 17:50

Gaygle said:
What engine is it?

It’s a 1.2L petrol

Gaygle · 28 Jan 2019 at 18:06

This engine had some sort of recall (not an actual recall) for the crankshaft end float? You can take your car in for the dealer to measure your tolerance and if it is out of spec, they will replace the engine FOC.

Give your local dealership a call with your registration or VIN number and ask if there are any recalls/technical campaigns related to the crankshaft.

Where and when did you last have it serviced and what oil did they put into the car? What oil are you putting into the car to top it up?

phil-k · 29 Jan 2019 at 11:28

you would have thought if its losing that much oil there would be signs somewhere, smoke or oil stains etc

Nasher · 29 Jan 2019 at 11:37

It's just not worth the hassle for this car. If it's a internal engine problem it will cost as much as the car is worth to fix (unless as above, there is a recall and you can get a new engine). Get rid and find something more reliable.

Foghorn Leghorn · 29 Jan 2019 at 13:16

phil-k said:
you would have thought if its losing that much oil there would be signs somewhere, smoke or oil stains etc

It's quite surprising how much oil you can burn through without any visible signs.

My wife's C Max is a 1.8 Duratec petrol and uses approximately 1 litre every 200 miles and has done for the past year or so (I've been too lazy to bother checking it over), no leaks and no signs of blue smoke and passed the last two mot tests without any trouble. the Duratec engine is well known for problems with the oil rings, pcv valve or crank breather.

Howard · 29 Jan 2019 at 14:35

My girlfriend's old 207 had an oil leakage issue which turned out to be a failing head gasket. 5 year old car, not high mileage. Quality engineering.

Armageus · 29 Jan 2019 at 16:25

Foghorn Leghorn said:
It's quite surprising how much oil you can burn through without any visible signs.

Indeed - my Audi A3 was using 1L every 1000 miles or so with no visible effects, yet was classed as normal. However when it started running roughly the PCV was replaced and a software update done, and oil usage massively improved.

jpaul · 29 Jan 2019 at 23:48

AnnaLucy said:
and had a problem with excessive engine oil consumption for the last 10 months

have you changed the type or thickness of the oil ? (within the allowed manufacturers specification, of course)

In the same manner that you might put a thicker oil into an older engine eg 20/50 , rather than 5/30, is there a similar strategy for engines burning oil ?