Blowback

[...]

Modern cars have closed breather systems to minimise pollution, so that test is meaningless.

A full check that *everything* works, there is some evidence of it having been serviced, that it has four decent tyres of a make you may have heard of, and that it drives OK are about all you can do.

Chris

Not necessarily. Why is there puffing if it isn't due to piston ring wear? It may be inconsequential in terms of environmental pollution but it may be indicative of engine wear.

Tim

Definitely not an expert, but puffing plus idle variation at 06 would make me nervous. But £1k isn't much, especially from a dealer. I just gave away a good 03 plate Astra to a niece, paid a dealer £3k for that about five years ago and it was virtually trouble-free.

You know it's really bad when the dipstick gets pushed out. Engine will still run for years and years but you pay in oil and fuel.

Every car I've had for the last 25 or so years would push air out of the oil filler if you removed it when running. None of them used enough oil between changes to require topping up.

The OP would do better to let the car idle until the fan came on, then rev it and look for smoke as a very rough guide.

If anything with a cat had sufficient piston/bore wear to burn significant amounts of oil, it would poison the cat (!) and you would see the results as an MOT fail.

Chris

Take the filler cap off my 2001 model and it spits out oil.

That may be as simple as the cranck-case breather hose at the front of the engine (hidden by the manifold) that has split/collapsed. Can be a bit fiddly but a 15 minute DIY replacement job. Rough idle on my car was cured when I replaced the hose at 85K miles - the inner had collapsed. I also replaced the valve at the same time (approx £10)

Video with a USA engine but the general (generic) instructions may be better for some aspects. On my UK model no clips on hose so it could be destroyed taking it off.

[...]

+1.

Common fault.

Chris

Quite a few modern cars have negative internal pressure at idle. The cap has to be pulled out (after turning), rather than being blown out. Some BMW (for example) will not idle correctly if the oil cap is off.

FWIW the car in the OP sounds pretty normal.

I found that the only way to really spot oil burning these days is to start from cold and see the exhaust in sunlight when it will be blue smoke, once the cat is up to temperature the smoke will stop, you may find the exhaust now has a bad eggs smell. This came up on a normal mileage petrol A6, goodness knows what had happened to it, the owner got shot of it asap.

So, I'm currently looking for a newer Focus to replace my 1999 one, which has been absolutely stellar, and cost very little to run and maintain from

58k miles to the current 149k.

(just had MOT fail, plus lots of advisories, I can see all the future bills to keep it on the road, and the clutch is pretty much f**ked)

Saw a nice '06 one today, 80k miles, for less than a grand from a trade dealer, but my engine diagnostics are not good. I took off the oil filler cap, and there was a fair amount of puffing out of the orifice.

Now I have no idea how much puffing you should expect from this diagnostic. Does a new engine not puff at all? (My 1999 one puffs not quite as much, and still seems to be a fine engine)

Slightly more concerning was the idle speed was varying a fair bit. It wasn't properly warmed up, but it was varying, my 1999 is rock solid.

Engine otherwise sounds nice and quiet. No smoke I could see.

I'm going back tomorrow for a test drive with a friend, who is somewhat more knowledgeable than me. I'd like to buy this car if the engine isn't toast.

Cheers,

Gareth.

**********************************************************

Thanks for all the info. Bought the car today, my friend was unable to go with unfortunately, but my fears were allayed greatly by replies here.

Collecting it tomorrow and with leave it with my friendly Russian mechanic to assess. It is a little bit lumpy to drive, but hopefully isn't anything major. (It's a trade-in, don't think the dealer has touched it, there are a couple of minor faults)

Thanks again.

Gareth.

So, I'm currently looking for a newer Focus to replace my 1999 one, which has been absolutely stellar, and cost very little to run and maintain from

58k miles to the current 149k.

(just had MOT fail, plus lots of advisories, I can see all the future bills to keep it on the road, and the clutch is pretty much f**ked)

Saw a nice '06 one today, 80k miles, for less than a grand from a trade dealer, but my engine diagnostics are not good. I took off the oil filler cap, and there was a fair amount of puffing out of the orifice.

Now I have no idea how much puffing you should expect from this diagnostic. Does a new engine not puff at all? (My 1999 one puffs not quite as much, and still seems to be a fine engine)

Slightly more concerning was the idle speed was varying a fair bit. It wasn't properly warmed up, but it was varying, my 1999 is rock solid.

Engine otherwise sounds nice and quiet. No smoke I could see.

I'm going back tomorrow for a test drive with a friend, who is somewhat more knowledgeable than me. I'd like to buy this car if the engine isn't toast.

Cheers,

Gareth.

**********************************************************

Thanks for all the info. Bought the car today, my friend was unable to go with unfortunately, but my fears were allayed greatly by replies here.

Collecting it tomorrow and with leave it with my friendly Russian mechanic to assess. It is a little bit lumpy to drive, but hopefully isn't anything major. (It's a trade-in, don't think the dealer has touched it, there are a couple of minor faults)

Thanks again.

Gareth.

*********************************************************

Paid £900 in the end. My friendly mechanic had a good look. Original cambelt, (I suspected as much), which was cracking.

Mechanic charged £280 for service, welding an exhaust bracket, and a cambelt kit. (Plug gaps were several mm!! No wonder it was rough.)

4 tyres will need changing before next MOT.

Just done my regular 700 mile motorway run, and the car is good.

Not sure I could have got this much car at this price at auction.

Cheers,

Gareth.