Used engine oil

af_thefragile

What do you do with it?

Sorry for starting another thread. I'm planning on changing the engine oil on my car. Give it a little engine 'flush' and pour some new oil with that wynns thing which makes your engine use less oil. As my engine uses lots of oil (about a litre every 500 miles). Should also make the engine run smoother.

Anyway, so after i've drained the oil from the car, what am I supposed to do with the old oil? How do you get rid of it?

Also my engine probably needs a coolant top up as well as its like 90% water and only 10% coolant. I'll need to drain the radiator to fill it up with more coolant. So how do you get rid of the coolant-water mix as well? Heard its toxic and bad for the environment so you can't just run it down the drain and all...

GTE

af_thefragile wrote: »

What do you do with it?

Sorry for starting another thread. I'm planning on changing the engine oil on my car. Give it a little engine 'flush' and pour some new oil with that wynns thing which makes your engine use less oil. As my engine uses lots of oil (about a litre every 500 miles). Should also make the engine run smoother.

Anyway, so after i've drained the oil from the car, what am I supposed to do with the old oil? How do you get rid of it?

Also my engine probably needs a coolant top up as well as its like 90% water and only 10% coolant. I'll need to drain the radiator to fill it up with more coolant. So how do you get rid of the coolant-water mix as well? Heard its toxic and bad for the environment so you can't just run it down the drain and all...

Dumps and recycling centers generally take that stuff.

doctorchopper

waisting your money with the engine flush, i'd say you have bigger problems than that if its using 1 litre every 500 miles, but to answer your question the recycling places like ballymoun or ballyogan take it for free.

johnos1984

af_thefragile wrote: »

Also my engine probably needs a coolant top up as well as its like 90% water and only 10% coolant. I'll need to drain the radiator to fill it up with more coolant. So how do you get rid of the coolant-water mix as well? Heard its toxic and bad for the environment so you can't just run it down the drain and all...

I hope there is no damage after the cold spell :eek:

-Corkie-

doctorchopper wrote: »

waisting your money with the engine flush, i'd say you have bigger problems than that if its using 1 litre every 500 miles, but to answer your question the recycling places like ballymoun or ballyogan take it for free.

I didnt see the oil usage bit...:eek::eek:.

af_thefragile

doctorchopper wrote: »

waisting your money with the engine flush, i'd say you have bigger problems than that if its using 1 litre every 500 miles, but to answer your question the recycling places like ballymoun or ballyogan take it for free.

Well, it should atleast make the engine run a bit smoother and use less fuel hopefully... Squeezing out a bit more life out of it...

No point repairing the engine really. I'ld rather wait for the engine to completely cease and then I'll probably sell it cheap for anyone interested in fixing it or break it apart and sell it as parts.

Even then, just gonna keep the car for another year so if it survives till then, I'll sell it and get another car next year!

johnos1984 wrote: »

I hope there is no damage after the cold spell :eek:

Well, one reason why I didn't start the car during the cold spell. Didn't want to damage the engine because I don't have enough coolant in there. It'll be something I'll be doing soon though. Getting the coolant in there.

BTW do any of you know what the coolant to water ratio in a ford puma should be??

johnos1984

I was shocked by the coolant mix but using that much oil?

Are you sure?

Af with the kindest of thoughts, put the car on blocks, sell as many parts as you can and scrap whats left.


Then buy a Micra or Corolla

johnos1984

af_thefragile wrote: »

Well, it should atleast make the engine run a bit smoother and use less fuel hopefully...

I would be very slow to go disturbing the contents of your engine if it has anything above 100k miles and has never had an engine flush.

It could make matters a lot worse

af_thefragile

johnos1984 wrote: »

I would be very slow to go disturbing the contents of your engine if it has anything above 100k miles and has never had an engine flush.

It could make matters a lot worse

Why would it? Like the car has been serviced in the past and soon after I bought it early last year, I had it fully serviced. Changed oil, oil filter and all.

Its done only 73k miles so its not an old engine. It just hasn't been looked after properly by the owner. Actually I think its more of a leaking gasket than anything else. Could be a leaking valve as well...

Its been like that since the day I bought it and has been running fine since then. Just gotta keep checking the oil level every few weeks and topping it up whenever the level drops below min...

Also as I said, I've decided I'm not gonna spend any more money fixing the car (just enough for it to pass the NCT, which actually I think it'll pass without much major trouble). After than just run it till it dies! Then I'll sell it for scrap/parts. Atleast then I'll know I made full use of the last days of the car!!

johnos1984

af_thefragile wrote: »

Why would it? Like the car has been serviced in the past and soon after I bought it early last year, I had it fully serviced. Changed oil, oil filter and all.

Its done only 73k miles so its not an old engine. It just hasn't been looked after properly by the owner. Actually I think its more of a leaking gasket than anything else. Could be a leaking valve as well...

Its been like that since the day I bought it and has been running fine since then. Just gotta keep checking the oil level every few weeks and topping it up whenever the level drops below min...

For all of the reasons above I would not go disturbing whats in there.

Dirt and poor servicing leads to the build up of deposits in the engine. If you loosen these you may not remove them fullly during the flush if you don't know what your at. Leaving these inside once they have been dislodged can lead to all sorts or poor running issues.

Others may disagree but I don't see any benefit to doing it at this stage in the cars life.

af_thefragile

johnos1984 wrote: »

For all of the reasons above I would not go disturbing whats in there.

Dirt and poor servicing leads to the build up of deposits in the engine. If you loosen these you may not remove them fullly during the flush if you don't know what your at. Leaving these inside once they have been dislodged can lead to all sorts or poor running issues.

Others may disagree but I don't see any benefit to doing it at this stage in the cars life.

Well, that was why I was planning to do the engine flush. I poured an injector cleaner in it about a month or so ago and so there would be some dislodged dirt that might have come off the injectors. I was planning on pouring the injector cleaner once again, let it run its cycle and then I'll do an engine flush with the wynns engine flush thing and change the oil filter, should get rid of the dirt and dislodged deposits and so when I pour the wynns "engine use less oil" thing, it should seal up any leaks in the engine and make it run smoother...

Or so I'm planning to do...

doctorchopper

johnos1984 is right on the money, those engine flushes are full of detergents that dislodge the carbon and sludge that is in the engine and can cause seal to leak. You should know if its leaking that much oil as your drive way or normal parking spot will be covered with oil. Oil leaks are a nct failure if they are too bad. As far as not starting the engine when its cold because of lack of antifreeze, i would be more concerned with cracking the block, head, or radiator as the water expands when it freezes due to lack of coolant mixture. Get this sorted immediately or will be very costly.

af_thefragile

doctorchopper wrote: »

johnos1984 is right on the money, those engine flushes are full of detergents that dislodge the carbon and sludge that is in the engine and can cause seal to leak. You should know if its leaking that much oil as your drive way or normal parking spot will be covered with oil. Oil leaks are a nct failure if they are too bad. As far as not starting the engine when its cold because of lack of antifreeze, i would be more concerned with cracking the block, head, or radiator as the water expands when it freezes due to lack of coolant mixture. Get this sorted immediately or will be very costly.

Hmm... Yeah, changing the coolant will be the first thing I'll do.

I really can't figure out where the engine is leaking out because there are no oil patches on the ground under the car and can't see where the oil could be leaking from either. Like if I didn't tell the NCT guys about the oil problem, there's no way they would find it out themselves.

I think there might be a small leak in either the rocker cover gasket or the cylinder head gasket where oil slowly leaks out as you drive it. Or it could be that the piston rings are gone and engine could be burning oil or also could be that the oil is leaking out from the valves which could be why end engine has pretty bad fuel consumption and why I can't see any obvious oil leak around the engine. One thing I've noticed is that the harsher I drive, the more oil the engine uses. Like for example if I'm driving to collge on a normal day, I drive at a low rpm, using as little fuel as possible. On the other hand if its the holidays and I'm driving around twisty country roads where I'm usually driving in a lower gear at much higher rpm, the engine uses more like. Economy driving, it uses about a litre of oil every 500-600 miles. Hard country driving, it uses about a litre of oil every 400 or so miles.


You think pouring this in the engine would do any good or bad??
http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_203587_langId_-1_categoryId_212351

johnos1984

af_thefragile wrote: »

Hmm... Yeah, changing the coolant will be the first thing I'll do.

I really can't figure out where the engine is leaking out because there are no oil patches on the ground under the car and can't see where the oil could be leaking from either. Like if I didn't tell the NCT guys about the oil problem, there's no way they would find it out themselves.

I think there might be a small leak in either the rocker cover gasket or the cylinder head gasket where oil slowly leaks out as you drive it. Or it could be that the piston rings are gone and engine could be burning oil or also could be that the oil is leaking out from the valves which could be why end engine has pretty bad fuel consumption and why I can't see any obvious oil leak around the engine. One thing I've noticed is that the harsher I drive, the more oil the engine uses. Like for example if I'm driving to collge on a normal day, I drive at a low rpm, using as little fuel as possible. On the other hand if its the holidays and I'm driving around twisty country roads where I'm usually driving in a lower gear at much higher rpm, the engine uses more like. Economy driving, it uses about a litre of oil every 500-600 miles. Hard country driving, it uses about a litre of oil every 400 or so miles.

Coolant: It may be too late now just changing it however if there are no leaks or signs of damage you may be ok. Thats a silly thing to do if you knew it was mainly water.

From the description of the oil usage I'd say it is the piston rings which are gone and that fits with poor maintenance. No engine flush will cure that.

It'll be picked up during an emissions test at NCT time.

As for not telling the guys in the NCT center,do you think they are stupid? It's their job to find the problems and some of them are VERY good at it

af_thefragile

johnos1984 wrote: »

Coolant: It may be too late now just changing it however if there are no leaks or signs of damage you may be ok. Thats a silly thing to do if you knew it was mainly water.

From the description of the oil usage I'd say it is the piston rings which are gone and that fits with poor maintenance. No engine flush will cure that.

It'll be picked up during an emissions test at NCT time.

As for not telling the guys in the NCT center,do you think they are stupid? It's their job to find the problems and some of them are VERY good at it

The exhaust does smoke a bit and its full of black sooty stuff. Like that's the one thing I feel my car would fail on for the NCT would be the emissions.

You think it'ld be expensive to change piston rings?

I might as well exchange it for another car at a dealers place if its expensive job to fix the engine to pass the NCT...
Or sell it to whoever is going to bother to buy a car with a broken engine and a few more broken bits for cheap. Though, I still have to say the chassis is perfect and the body is 99% rust free though it could do with a bit of a paint job.

Sorta why I'ld prefer getting it NCTed early so I'll have the time to fix it or sell it before the NCT runs out...

johnos1984

af_thefragile wrote: »

You think it'ld be expensive to change piston rings?

I might as well exchange it for another car at a dealers place if its expensive job to fix the engine to pass the NCT...

AFAIK the piston rings can work out expensive as there is likely more work to be done. It ends up being an engine rebuild.

It sounds fecked if it is putting out black smoke. No dealer will give you much for it and if they do they won't give you money off what you are buying.

Put the car on DD and be rid of it

af_thefragile

johnos1984 wrote: »

AFAIK the piston rings can work out expensive as there is likely more work to be done. It ends up being an engine rebuild.

It sounds fecked if it is putting out black smoke. No dealer will give you much for it and if they do they won't give you money off what you are buying.

Put the car on DD and be rid of it

It doesn't put out black smoke though. Just soot gets collected in the exhaust over time.

As I said, it runs absolutely fine though. The engine is still fairly powerful. A bit sluggish but it still pulls good!

I paid about 1800eur for it (this was the cheapest Puma on sale back then), so if I manage to haggle and get the dealer to knock off a grand off the car I buy off him, it won't be too bad.

johnos1984

af_thefragile wrote: »

I paid about 1800eur for it (this was the cheapest Puma on sale back then), so if I manage to haggle and get the dealer to knock off a grand off the car I buy off him, it won't be too bad.

That all depends on what you are buying and how much you are spending.

The dealer could refuse to accept a trade in if its a cheap car or not give as much of a discount as you want.

af_thefragile

johnos1984 wrote: »

That all depends on what you are buying and how much you are spending.

The dealer could refuse to accept a trade in if its a cheap car or not give as much of a discount as you want.

What do you think of the Alfa 147?

I just can't see myself getting a micra or a yaris or something else bland like that... I could go for a good condition 1.7 Puma but the insurance would be expensive...

Right now I have no idea how much I can spend. I would prefer keeping the Puma for another year. But if it can't pass the NCT, I'll have to sell it and get something else... Might be able to spend upto 3000-4000eur depending on how much I can get back from the Puma...

doctorchopper

sorry had to laugh a bit there when you say it has engine problems and needs a re spray on a car that only cost you 1800 euro 2 years ago, and you think you will trade it in to a dealer, to be honest you would do better bargaining with cash and scrap the puma, They are not selling for much in mint condition these days

af_thefragile

af_thefragile wrote: »

Also my engine probably needs a coolant top up as well as its like 90% water and only 10% coolant. I'll need to drain the radiator to fill it up with more coolant. So how do you get rid of the coolant-water mix as well? Heard its toxic and bad for the environment so you can't just run it down the drain and all...

Just drain out a litre or so and throw in a litre of coolant If you had no issue over the last few weeks its defo more than 90% water. Also don't use an engine flush on it, just drain out the old stuff and by all means lash an additive in with the new stuff if you want. I would be very slow to flush an engine burning that much oil, might well too altogether too harsh for what's remaining of the seals etc.

af_thefragile

doctorchopper wrote: »

sorry had to laugh a bit there when you say it has engine problems and needs a re spray on a car that only cost you 1800 euro 2 years ago, and you think you will trade it in to a dealer, to be honest you would do better bargaining with cash and scrap the puma, They are not selling for much in mint condition these days

Do the scrap yards buy it for money? or take it for free??

jimmyw

As much as I hate to admit it:D I agree with some of the other posters.If the car has alot of miles, putting an oil flush is a bit silly.Why not put in a slightly thicker grade oil instead of the flush?.Change the coolant and put in a 50/50 mix or even 30/60.Maybe if like me you are lazy;) just drain the rad and put a strong mix in there.It will circulate with the rest.She could be burning oil in the engine too.

doctorchopper

drive it till it drops or until you are ready to replace it but just don't bank on much for trade in, scrap yards will take it for free (if your lucky) you might be able to get a couple hundred out of it from someone looking for a banger to trade in on a new car to take advantage of the end of life scrapage incentive the government offers

af_thefragile

doctorchopper wrote: »

drive it till it drops or until you are ready to replace it but just don't bank on much for trade in, scrap yards will take it for free (if your lucky) you might be able to get a couple hundred out of it from someone looking for a banger to trade in on a new car to take advantage of the end of life scrapage incentive the government offers

Can't afford a new car. I don't think I'm gonna stay in this country for long either. I might be going off to US probably after I graduate from college.

Anyway, my problem is if the car doesn't pass the NCT, I don't wanna spend more money on repairs on the car. I'ld rather sell it for a few hundred to someone who can be bothered to fix it or sell it as parts or if a dealer exchanges it for another car, that'll be best!

PaulKK

You can bring your old oil to a recycling centre.

It may be worth using a slightly thicker oil than what you are using right now, that oil consumption is cat. I would bet your piston rings are knackered and thats not going to be cheap to sort out.

Try a 10w40 if you are using 5w40 now or 15w40 if your using 10w40 now.

af_thefragile

PaulKK wrote: »

You can bring your old oil to a recycling centre.

It may be worth using a slightly thicker oil than what you are using right now, that oil consumption is cat. I would bet your piston rings are knackered and thats not going to be cheap to sort out.

Try a 10w40 if you are using 5w40 now or 15w40 if your using 10w40 now.

I use 5w40.

I have the can of that Wynns supercharge thing which supposedly makes the engine more viscous. Will pour that for the moment.

I'll then use 10w40 and see if it makes any difference...

PaulKK

af_thefragile wrote: »

I use 5w40.

I have the can of that Wynns supercharge thing which supposedly makes the engine more viscous. Will pour that for the moment.

I'll then use 10w40 and see if it makes any difference...

Woah, is that recommended for that engine?

That seems very light for an engine of that age, its no wonder you arre using loads of it!

Try 10w40 magnatec, I would have thought that would be perfect for it.


OT: I know a lad that had an old MK4 golf that he drove the crap out of.. he got so sick of putting oil in it he started using tractor oil

-Corkie-

PaulKK wrote: »

Woah, is that recommended for that engine?

That seems very light for an engine of that age, its no wonder you arre using loads of it!

Try 10w40 magnatec, I would have thought that would be perfect for it.


OT: I know a lad that had an old MK4 golf that he drove the crap out of.. he got so sick of putting oil in it he started using tractor oil

LOL I have a drum of Castrol dynadrive 80W/90 in the shed if the OP wants it..:p

Gary ITR

af_thefragile wrote: »

I use 5w40.

I have the can of that Wynns supercharge thing which supposedly makes the engine more viscous. Will pour that for the moment.

I'll then use 10w40 and see if it makes any difference...

Adding chemicals are a very short term solution imo, it really would need to be rebuilt to solve the problem. It might be great for a few weeks after the flush but after that you'll be back to square one. All you're going to do is selotape over the cracks

I'd leave it be tbh, a lot of effort for nothing

PaulKK

af, apologies, I check the recommended oil for your car on the Castrol site, and it is indeed 5W30.

http://www.castrol.com/castrol/iframe.do?categoryId=9024084&contentId=7044829

I wouldn't advise to deviate from this in this case, don't want the engine totally getting banjaxed on you

-Corkie-

I still wouldnt use the 5W/30 though,its too light. I would definitley go with your recomdation. Hows your mans Golf going with the tractor oil!!

johnos1984

I saw tractor oil put into a Civic about 12 months ago that was eating engine oil.

The guy was preparing to sell it and didn't want the new owner to realise. He sold the car in the end, god help whoever bought it

PaulKK

-Corkie- wrote: »

I still wouldnt use the 5W/30 though,its too light. I would definitley go with your recomdation. Hows your mans Golf going with the tractor oil!!

It was grand last time I heard, this was a few years ago so he's changed since.

This car was seriously abused now he claims to have done Tralee to Johnstown in KK in an hour and a half or something(pre motorways).

Good old VW 1.4 8v

-Corkie-

PaulKK wrote: »

It was grand last time I heard, this was a few years ago so he's changed since.

This car was seriously abused now he claims to have done Tralee to Johnstown in KK in an hour and a half or something(pre motorways).

Good old VW 1.4 8v

Oh he was one of them....:rolleyes:

I live an hour and a half from urlingford(pre motorway too) and it takes me 45 minutes to get to Tralee and he would be passing my house..;) Anyway thats way O/T..:)

PaulKK

PaulKK wrote: »

af, apologies, I check the recommended oil for your car on the Castrol site, and it is indeed 5W30.

http://www.castrol.com/castrol/iframe.do?categoryId=9024084&contentId=7044829

I wouldn't advise to deviate from this in this case, don't want the engine totally getting banjaxed on you

I reckon the engine is loosing enough not to worry about it, I would defo try a 10w40 to see does it improve things.

Matt Simis

On the whole used oil thing, Ive been collecting a stupid amount of it too. Kinda dont like the idea of dumping it though, its technically a viable fuel.
Was reading today about guys in the US using Centrifuges (www.dieselcraft.com) and some other little steps to filter and reclaim used Oil to use as (diesel engine) fuel. And yes Im aware that isnt legal as a road fuel, but its intelligent conservationism, if it works well.

Anyone got any other uses for it?

PaulKK

Matt Simis wrote: »

Anyone got any other uses for it?

Yep, mixed with creosote when painting fences. How legal/environmentally friendly this is I don't know

Esel

af_thefragile wrote: »

Like if I didn't tell the NCT guys about the oil problem, there's no way they would find it out themselves.

Unless the emissions test gave them a clue....

I believe most garages will take old oil, or else you can bring it to a recycling centre.