So I have a Ford 1.4 Zetec SE engine, done 97k miles, about 50k miles on LPG, and it is starting to go wrong, big time.
There is a loss of power, only noticeable on motorways and usually only on inclines, but it simply cannot hold its speed, whereas it used to. I strongly suspect loss of compression in a cylinder because of the noise it is making, and I am going to do a compression test shortly... but...
I already had loss of compression in cylinder 2, and this was due to a burnt valve. To replace the valve and all the labour associated with that cost £500 and I am annoyed that I may face the same problem again.
But it isn't that, it appears to be consuming oil at an alarming rate, about 1 litre every 500 miles, yet I cannot find evidence of an oil leak, and there is no smoke in the exhaust.
To add insult to injury the coolant level seems to be slowly going down, and I did find something dripping under the car, it could have been coolant but it could have equally been water from the aircon.
So bearing in mind the top of the engine has just recently been taken apart and put back together, and a new head gasket fitted, what could cause both loss of compression, and excessive oil and water consumption?