Low oil causing shuddering?

monkeyslayer

Hey, recently my 2007 focus has been taking a a second or two longer to start up and shudders for the fist few minutes in the lower gears... i kinda ignored it/hoped it was the colder weather but today it was really bad, lots of revving to get it up into 2nd or 3rd on a little hill and then the oil light started flashing. I had a quarter bottle of oil in the boot so topped it up and the car seems fine now. I looked into some clutch test / symptoms checks online, drove it around for a bit there, it didn't really seem to be dropping any revs, went up a bit when went from third to second etc and the pedal feels fine (to me anyway) Just wondering should I take it to a garage considering the problem I had pre oil top up or could my engine have been so dry that was the problem? I guess the next few days will probably prove it one way or another.

demanufactured

You're all over the place there.
I'd say bring it for a service to be honest.
Sounds like you havnt had it done for a while.

demanufactured

You're all over the place there.
I'd say bring it for a service to be honest.
Sounds like you havnt had it done for a while.

sligojoek

Until such time as you get it sorted, keep a regular eye on the oil level.

Alanstrainor

What was the oil level before you topped it up? Flashing oil level would be oil pressure I would think, strange to have that before a low oil light.

demanufactured, your problem description is too scattered to make sense of. Before you start the car in the morning I would check your oil level. If that is okay, then I would start the car and let it idle and see what happens. Does it run smooth just sitting there? Or is the engine erratic/lumpy?

But really, I think the answer here is to go to a mechanic and have it checked. When was the last service? And by that I mean a complete oil change (along with oil and air filter)? This should be done annually.

monkeyslayer

Last service was maybe back in March, probably have only driven it 3 or 4k since then and it was unused for two months recently too but was running fine after. Idle it sat fine, just felt a bit jumpy or shuddery in the lower gears before it warmed up a bit. Not convinced the new oil has fixed it even tho it seems fine now, so gonna book a service if only for the peace of mind.

listermint

Bad fuel. Fuel sitting for 2 months isn't ideal

Toyotafanboi

listermint wrote: »

Bad fuel. Fuel sitting for 2 months isn't ideal

Ah stop, plenty of people would have fuel in the tank longer than two months.

Two years might be another story.

punisher5112

Coil pack and leads

monkeyslayer

punisher5112 wrote: »

Coil pack and leads

This is my fear

punisher5112

monkeyslayer wrote: »

This is my fear

Coat about €100 or there abouts

kerten

monkeyslayer wrote: »

This is my fear

Which engine is it?

I have unused leads and igniton coil for zetec engine in my adverts.

I had similar issues with mine. First time it was leads. After 30k kms it started to shudder again. Bought the parts to replace leads/coils and spark plugs then spark plug replacement fixed the issue.

Those zetec petrol engines need regular spark plug changes as their operating temperature is pretty high.

monkeyslayer

its a 1.4 petrol, thanks for the offer but reckon i'll go to the garage i always go to. frustrating because I spend a fortune maintaining this car and hardly use it

punisher5112

1.4 are well known for burning seals, burning oil and of course as I said coil packs.

Lucky to get 60km out of one.

1874

monkeyslayer wrote: »

This is my fear

Leads and coil pack easy to change, the coil pack is two screws on the Fiesta 1.25 zetec engine, hazard a guess it isnt more on the 1.4, which I read somewhere in the past is a scaled up 1.25?? if its not Im open to stand corrected but it made a huge difference in the running of the engine, it had clearly gone on me.
Oil easy to top up and check even if you arent doing an oil change on it, which is also easy enough if you have somewhere to do it and some tools, be careful and please dispose of your oil (for free) legitimately in a local council or recyclers, Im astonished the amount of people who tell me they aren't aware it is available and as far as I have experienced, free.

It may also be a feature of the 1.4, but I changed the oil every 10k miles in the 1.25, at some point I switched to halfords brands, which I still think are fine, maybe I could have shortened the oil service interval, eventually the engine started to lose oil somewhere and it wasnt a leak, so burning it off somewhere, that said, you wont gain any benefit doing this now if thats the case, just that its happened in another case to me on a ford zetec engine of another cc capacity.
Engine still ran fine and was pokey and powerful and no obvious signs of smoke out the exhaust but it needed to be watched regularily in the end to top up the oil, car ended up in the hands of a relative who didnt watch it, but it still ran, and lumpily until the oil was topped up, but that finished it off regarding emissions.
I think the 1.25 must be a great engine, I should have just changed the oil at 5k or 7.5 k from the start. 1.4 if its scaled up, probably good too, heard a lot of complaints about them, but I think because they were low powered compared to the car weights.

kerten

Yeah your mechanic can do it for you but I would make sure he just doesn't change everything listed here at your expense as it is faster for him to do all at once instead of going one by one.

Tell him to start with spark plugs(20-25 quids) and if it doesn't work out, change the leads(30-40 quids). I doubt it is more than that from your description.

punisher5112

kerten wrote: »

Yeah your mechanic can do it for you but I would make sure he just doesn't change everything listed here at your expense as it is faster for him to do all at once instead of going one by one.

Tell him to start with spark plugs(20-25 quids) and if it doesn't work out, change the leads(30-40 quids). I doubt it is more than that from your description.

That's pure silly.

They come as a replacement kit with Ford plugs and it's not wise just doing one at a time when these symptoms start.

Very easy job to do with right tools.

kerten

punisher5112 wrote: »

That's pure silly.

They come as a replacement kit with Ford plugs and it's not wise just doing one at a time when these symptoms start.

Very easy job to do with right tools.

I can't follow.

Do you mean his mechanic should change spark plugs, ignition leads and ignition coils at once without verifying which one/ones causing the ignition problem ?

punisher5112

kerten wrote: »

I can't follow.

Do you mean his mechanic should change spark plugs, ignition leads and ignition coils at once without verifying which one/ones causing the ignition problem ?

The coil packs fail on them all the time.

Obviously if it's nothing to do with these parts then of course no don't change untill needed.

If issues arrises from the coil pack it's recommended to change the lot and as it's not expensive for what it is.

kerten

punisher5112 wrote: »

The coil packs fail on them all the time.

Obviously if it's nothing to do with these parts then of course no don't change untill needed.

If issues arrises from the coil pack it's recommended to change the lot and as it's not expensive for what it is.

I guess we are on same page then. Because I think like coilpacks goes on them all the time, I have unused ignition leads and coil pack in my adverts now

monkeyslayer

Cool thanks for replies, it's acting up a little again today so it's booked in for a service, I trust the garage so hopefully it's nothing major, they did seem to think it's the coils too but obviously would never commit to that diagnosis over the phone. Will see how it goes.

listermint

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Ah stop, plenty of people would have fuel in the tank longer than two months.

Two years might be another story.

Sitting for two months isn't ideal .fuel can get damp in a month of sitting
It's not outlandish. So enough of the outrage.


Ah would


You


Stop

punisher5112

I've had a Primera sitting up 3 years.

Started it the other day no issue. Drives too.

monkeyslayer

Mechanic couldnt find anything wrong with it, reckons a piston or something was stuck but its worked itself free somehow. Oil top up probably helped. Just something to keep an eye on now.