OK, just before I finally buy a new engine or get mine fully reconditioned.. does anybody have a clue as to what these symptoms might indicate?
It's a fuel injected (Bosch Jetronic) 1905cc Peugeot XU block, by the way. I'll give you the full list of symptoms since I first noticed the problem.
First off... last year sometime. I got stuck in traffic for a long time with the engine idling and I had blue smoke out the back for about ten miles afterwards - so it was burning oil. Figured it was making it's way down the valve stems or something. This only seemed a problem when left at idle for a long time. Second, it starts consuming oil at increasing rates. I don't notice any blue smoke though except when left idling as before. Begins to look like it may be leaking a bit of oil out of the engine somewhere, but I'll be damned if I can see where. By the start of this year, it's still using up oil and now I'm hearing a ticking noise when I start the car up, coming from the top end on the opposite side to the distributor. It's not too loud and goes away after a couple of minutes driving. Next, I think I started smelling petrol pretty badly whenever I stop anywhere. It seems to be coming out with the exhaust gases, but it's never backfired (so maybe not?). Over the past couple of months, the ticking noise has worsened. I also had a rather bad fright when I managed to pour 2.5 litres of oil into it about a month ago before it was up at the maximum (quite a sudden drop, although I didn't note the miles - possibly around 1000). Next, I drove it maybe 50-60 miles and the ticking noise got quieter, but didn't actually go away all through the journey. Now, it's ticking very loudly. Sounds just like a bad old banger should. It's been three or four weeks ago since I last put oil in it, but the oil level hadn't gone down from the maximum - so it's stopped consuming oil??!? Sounds like maybe the oil isn't getting to the head? What's likely to happen? Loud explosions?!? Should I get it fixed now or would it be more fun to let it go pop? ;)
And yes, I understand that all this probably means 'shagged engine', but it'd be cool if I actually knew what was causing all this before I get it reconditioned.. might be better off scrapping it and looking for another engine if this is *really* serious. If it's likely to just be a problem with the head, I might go down the cheaper route of just replacing/repairing the top end.
Final note, I can still actually put my foot flat down and it seems as responsive as it ever has been.
Cheers,
Chris.