I've a Automatic Ford Feista

hiya,

oil from where? engine or 'box?

how much oil for how many miles?

how old's the car and how many miles has it done?

m

Idle it in place for 15" in the driveway and check for puddles again. Is the undercarriage wet with oil? Check the coolant for oil. Halloween is over, but are there any pranksters in the vacinity?

"Quite quickly" may mean a quart per 100 miles to one person; or a pint per

2000 miles to another. Why don't you tell us the actual consumption? And having some idea of the age of the engine + any other concerns would be nice too. Sometimes an oil drip from the top of the engine never reaches the ground, and burns off on the hot exhaust instead. If the leak happens only when driving, oil will frequently be blown and coat whatever is behind the engine - take a look underneath. Seeing blue smoke out of your own tailpipe is difficult. Ask someone to follow you and look. Have them note whether the smoke (if any) is seen immediately after idling (taking off from a stoplight, for example) or on wide open throttle (accelerating uphill). Also, take a look inside your radiator or degass bottle. Can you see black slime floating on top of the coolant?

You need to pinpoint the source of the leak.

It's possible that it leaks oil only when the oil pump is putting it under pressure (while the car is running).

Park it on a clean spot, leave the engine running for a while, climb under with a flashlight, see what kinda spots are left, etc.

Puddin'

Whether there is an oil consumption concern or not, the catalytic converter can do a fine job of removing any evidence from the exhaust stream..... We see many vehicles consuming massive amounts of oil with nary a puff noticed from the exhaust... not even an oily residue inside the tailpipe.

If it isn't falling on the ground, it must be going out the spout.... All that's needed is to decide if it is a valve guide or seal concern, a crankcase ventilation concern or a blowby concern.

my kids gotta 98 saturn that is goin thru oil!and new oil change turns black in justa few days!gets great gas mileage and plugs look good.60k on car.