Puma issues..

[hcanni819]

Hiya all,

I have a 99 Ford Puma, and recently I've had an issue with it which I'm a bit worried about..

Basically my car needs new oil adding every couple of months, and I've never had to add oil to any car at this rate in the past. When I drive it with little oil, the engine rattles at low revs.

What could this mean??

[GoNz0]

bad valve stem seals, head gasket on its way, a few things, either way it needs to go to a garage

[hcanni819]

Doh - I was thinking the head gasket myself though.. :|

[GoNz0]

i take it you checked the obvious, leakes around the rocker cover, oil under the sump ?

limits of the average DIY would be a new rocker cover if thats leaking.

oil in the coolant = cylinder head, white foam in the oil is the same as the coolants getting into the oil.

top it up and flog its the usual option if the cars old, or take advantage of a 2 grand trade in deal

[hcanni819]

Tbh i'm a bit useless when it comes to cars.. There's no evidence of the 'mayo' that I keep hearing about on the oil cover.

It'll have to go to a garage when I get my bonus from work later this month.. don't particularly want to spend it on new car/sorting out my car though!!

[DigiGuru]

top it up and flog its the usual option if the cars old

That's not the nicest thing in the world to do - I wish people would state faults like we did when I sold my girlfriend's old banger - then at least you know if it requires work.

I hate being "done-over", I've had someone shove gasket sealant in the engine of an old car I bought for quite a pricely sum - all ran fine and looked fine until 3 months later when both the head gasket and bottom end went at the same time - by which point I was £600 out of pocket on top of the car I'd already bought!

In regards to your problem however, do check if the car is leaving oil on the floor when its just sat there and also check for oil around the rocker cover.

Another sign of head gasket problems is very high engine temperatures.

The zetec engine can rev quite high, and I top up my girlfriend's puma every 3 months or so, but with less than a litre of oil.

Stu