My Xantia drank 6 litres of oil in a month !!

beezer · Post by **beezer** » 14 Nov 2004, 16:16

Your grandad wasn't Aberdonian by any chance was he (local humour)?

CommY · Post by **CommY** » 14 Nov 2004, 22:28

If your engine has been beft idling for long periods this removes the honing from the bores and allows oil to pass past the scraper rings. This would show/smell it's self obvious though due to the amount you are loosing. Have you put a sheet under the car and run the engine for a while going up/down through the rev range to see what is dropped?
What is the interior of the tail pipe like after a long run??

Mosser · Post by **Mosser** » 15 Nov 2004, 00:57

The interior of the tailpipe is dry, but i just had a thought that the catalyst might burn up any oil that does get into the exhaust before it comes out the tailpipe, so maybe i wont see it even if it is spitting oil out from the engine and down the exhaust ?

CommY · Post by **CommY** » 15 Nov 2004, 04:43

But you would smell it, even tiny amounts of oil being burnt would be easily smelt I would have thought.

Mosser · Post by **Mosser** » 15 Nov 2004, 04:48

its difficult to tell if there is a smell of unburnt oil because there is an overpowering smell of unburnt fuel due to the misfire on idle, i will have a good sniff of the exhaust again in the morning though and see what i can come up with !!

Mosser · Post by **Mosser** » 18 Nov 2004, 04:48

I've finally got my compression test done, it was a real pain trying to get the tester on as the plug holes are really deep !,
I got (cyl 1, 92) (cyl 2, 114) (cyl 3, 122) (cyl 4, 106)
after i sprayed some engine oil into the plug holes and redid the tests i got (cyl 1, 147) (cyl 2, 151) (cyl 3, 163) (cyl 4, 157)
I cant find anywhere that lists what the compression test should be for the 1.8i 16v engine if its ok, but have read that it should be over 120psi so i guess my engine is starting to wear out, at least cyl 3 looks ok !! (122psi)
Anyone got any helpful tips as tho what to do now?, should i look at replacing the pistons and liners ? (never done that sort of work before) or should i just drive it until it stops running or fails its mot on emissions ?, or is it time to px it !!

SGould · Post by **SGould** » 18 Nov 2004, 18:20

My 1997 R reg Xantia 1.8i 16v uses a lot of oil(on average it needs a litre every month which my TD never required) and it has only done 61K

madasafish · Post by **madasafish** » 18 Nov 2004, 19:02

You've got worn rings/bore and proabbly a misseating valve - No1 .
There is a tempoary fix.. a compund you insert into cylinder head through spark plug holes- Krause Rebore I think it is called - (Spelling)? which will give a tempoarry bodge. Best thing is a good secondhand engine. A rebuild is stoooopid - you could buy a good Xantia for the cost...

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 18 Nov 2004, 20:10

I think I'd be expecting compression pressures in the region of 150 psi or more with a maximum variance of 10 on a sound engine.
What your test has established is that the valves and head gasket are sound but the pistons/rings and bores are not.
What you do next is up to you but if you do the dismantling you will probably find it isn't enormously expensive to have the block bored and fit new pistons and go though everything else like oil pumps etc. it sounds a lot of work but you end up with a car with a really good engine if this is what you want.
Alternatives are re-con engines - try exchange and mart - loads of people quote for the whole job fitted in a day, second hand engines (risky but some come guaranteed) or another car.
As they say 'you pays your money and takes your choice!'
jeremy

Mosser · Post by **Mosser** » 19 Nov 2004, 04:10

Thanks for your replies,
I'm not too sure what i will do now, i really cant see me finding the time to take the engine apart and get it rebored etc.., so i will look at the price of recon engines, but to be honest, i think i will start looking around after christmas for a xantia diesel, my petrol one is still getting me around and i have driven just over 1000 miles in the last 2 days in it so it is still getting me around in comfort, the suspension is silky smooth after all the greasing and flushing i have done

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 19 Nov 2004, 05:45

I am fairly sure that these engines like most French petrol ones are a wet sleeve motor which really are an easy motor to redo.
The engine can come out although in many just raised enough to give access to all the sump bolts will almost do it.
Liners complete with pistons and rings are usually bought along with a gasket set that includes everything including liner seals.
Head & sump comes off, big ends marked & disconnected and pistons & liners tapped out through the top. Valves faced, seats cut whilst the engine's apart is usually programmed in for a certain day to prevent delays and engine reassembled. If the engine was out of the car, any self respecting mechanic should be able to do one over in a day, so I suppose you can count on 1 day to take it out & clean up, one to reassemble, one to refit and one to do the final tune up & test.
Depends on how much time you have as these engines when properly maintained will last for ages and this car probably would outlast whatever you buy to replace it if the engine's done, assuming the rest is in fair nick.
Alan S

Peter D · Post by **Peter D** » 19 Nov 2004, 13:19

Fix the misfire, this could be unbalancing the breathering of the engine and sucking oil up into the missing pot and you are using the wrong type of oil as previuosly mentioned by others. Regards Peter

WallaceLee · Post by **WallaceLee** » 18 Mar 2005, 08:22

Hi, I just got a 95 Xantia 2 litre Auto 8v 3 months back. Mileage was 103,000kms which is about 64,000 miles. Mileage now is 111,000kms, about 70,000miles.
the last 6,000 miles was covered using 15-50 synthetic oil and i think i am lucky, coz oil consumption is ZERO. oil used is Q8 F1.

fastandfurryous · Post by **fastandfurryous** » 18 Mar 2005, 16:02

The unburned fuel in your exhaust will no doubt cause problems before the appetite for oil does. Unburned fuel will soak into the catalyst, and destroy it. In extreme cincumstances the fuel can actually burn off in the cat, and completely ruin it.
While the engine is idling, pull off each of the plug leads in turn (make sure you have sufficient insulation between you and the lead). 3 of the cylinders will accentuate the misfire, and one of them will make no difference. This cylinder is the suspect one. I think you might find that it is cylinder 1, (from the compression figures) and that the spark plug is coated in black oily deposits. At idle, the volume of air/fuel drawn into a cylinder is so small that even a little bit of oil in there will probably arrest the flame front, and cause the misfire.
One thing that *might* help, if it is gummed up rings would be to pour an egg-cup full of diesel into each of the bores, and leave it there for a few hours. Then go for a decent length drive. The slight dilution of your oil won't matter for a few miles, but I'd change it pretty soon (maybe do this before you're due an oil change anyway). The theory here is that diesel fuel is amazinly searching, and will dissolve carbon deposits/varnish/gum. Beware though.. the engine will smoke like a goodun for 20 seconds after startup! It also won't do your cat much good, but I get the feeling it's probably completely shot by now anyway.

Mosser · Post by **Mosser** » 19 Mar 2005, 03:08

Unfortunatly you cant remove plugs leads one at a time on a xantia because they have individual coils fitted into a single unit that just bolts to the top of the engine and a spring makes the contact to each plug,
It seems to have stopped drinking so much oil lately, not sure why but it only used 3 litres last month