I'd really appreciate some urgent advice re. my father's C Max 1.6 TDCi 110
My father arrived at my house today after a 150 mile drive. A few hours later I went outside in the dark to move my car to the drive and noticed large amounts of engine oil over the front bumper and dripping onto the road. Alerted my father - he had no idea.
Lifted the bonnet and the oil filler cap is missing and the whole engine bay covered in oil. Checked the dipstick - a tiny bit at the very bottom of the dipstick.
Questioned my father - he says he topped up the oil 3 days ago prior to taking another long journey (400 mile round trip to Sussex), says he did have a bit of trouble putting the filler cap back on (he is a complete mechanical novice, just about manages to check the oil!)
The car apparently drove fine all the way up here today. My opinion is that the cap has blown off either on the motorway or quite close to my home resulting in the oil loss. My intention is to hope for the best, go out and buy 4 litres of the correct oil at Halfords tomorrow, top up, and try and get a new oil filler cap from a local ford dealer. It seems there is little else we can do, I obviously will not start the car until refilled with oil.
My question is how on earth does one clean the engine bay? I rang my FiL who said as it's a diesel, just pressure wash it! This didn't sound like a very good idea to me, but neither does steam cleaning, and I certainly don't like the idea of driving any distance with the oil heating up on the hot engine and burning up. Would it be better just to "wipe" everything with lots of rags?
Your learned advice please on all aspects of managing this. My father is supposed to be travelling home on Sunday - but only if we can get the car sorted!
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 19/01/2008 at 01:24
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Very common problem on the HDi range; the engine cover either prevents the cap from seating or vibrates against it and winds it off. Checked the undertray for the cap?
If the oil light wasn't on, then probably no harm done. Unless there's lots of oil dripping on to the exhaust manifold, then just remove the worst and the rest will either have to stay, or get it valeted/steam-cleaned when he's home. Spilt oil is smoky, but not that flammable.
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I am having a problem with a car rental company - {name generalised as it's not really relevant who you rented it from}. I rented a C-max from them while touring Europe and the oil cap came off. I did not see any indication of an oil light and only realized I had lost oil once the engine started knocking. I left it where it was and paid 230 Euro to get to Amsterdam for a new rental. I am assuming the oil cap was replaced improperly. Is this a common problem for this car? They are holding me responsible for the entire cost to replace the engine. Where is the oil light located? Apparently the computer said it was light up but I did not see it and as a Canadian military pilot I'm trained to see caution lights. Can you give me as much info as you have. Thanks.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 27/01/2008 at 03:44
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CDN guy
It's not a C-Max problem as such - more a problem with one specific engine.
If you had no reason to touch the oil cap, then how does it's loss come to be your fault? Or did you have to top-up the oil? Generally; if parts fall off hire cars it's their turn to cough up.
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The C-Max oil light is a bright red oil can that displays in the middle of the speedo. Like most cars it turns on when the ignition is turned over, then turns off a second or two later when the oil pressure is ok.
If it came on while driving it'd be almost impossible to miss. Perhaps the light wasn't working?
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