Oor lad rang me this evening re the oil in his wife's car. He's not the most mechanically minded chap on this planet, but I gather the "low oil"light has been flashing this week on her Peugeot 207. Being 1,000 miles away and unfamiliar with the Pug, can anyone tell me whether there is a known problem with oil consumption on these cars - a quick google throws up nothing out of the ordinary.
In addition, he mentioned mayonnaise under the filler cap. I'm guessing that it's probably a combination of relatively short runs (~10 miles), and a thermostat stuck open, which he mentioned a couple of months ago and has failed to get fixed (symptoms being a heater which never really gets warm, and a windscreen that mists up on the inside). Does that sound about right?
It's at times like these I wish I was nearer!
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 10 Feb 15 at 09:37
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>> In addition, he mentioned mayonnaise under the filler cap. I'm guessing that it's probably a
>> combination of relatively short runs (~10 miles), and a thermostat stuck open, which he mentioned
>> a couple of months ago and has failed to get fixed (symptoms being a heater
>> which never really gets warm, and a windscreen that mists up on the inside). Does
>> that sound about right?
>>
>> It's at times like these I wish I was nearer!
Sounds like an airlock in the system which could be a head gasket.
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>> the "low oil"light has been flashing
Or do you mean the low oil pressure light and there's a very low oil level in the car?
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This car will be fitted with the "Prince" engine as found in many makes including the Mini.These are notorious for heavy oil consumption and there are various fixes (not all successful )including a modified crankcase breather system.
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>> >> the "low oil"light has been flashing
>>
>> Or do you mean the low oil pressure light and there's a very low oil
>> level in the car?
>>
TBH, I don't know, I'm getting all this second hand! There's a danger of causing a marital between son & d-i-l here due to his inaction. I was trying to keep the peace by persuading him of the urgency, while assuring our d-i-l that there will have been no damage done due to his inaction. We were on skype and they were both in on the conversation!
Are there two lights on this car? I'm assuming that there is just the one low oil pressure light, which makes it worse! Fingers crossed no serious damage.
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I'm not entirely clear from them whether it's just a case of not getting enough heat to demist it, or whether the misting up is significant.
The advice I gave him was, for now, to top the oil up to the correct level, and wheel it along to the Pug specialist which is only a mile away for a proper diagnosis as to why it's not heating up. This problem has been known about for a while but he "hasn't got round to it" *rolls eyes*.
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Not sure if this engine has the "on demand"water pump,where the pump is only driven when required.This system can cause poor heater circulation when it fails.Just a thought.
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>> Not sure if this engine has the "on demand"water pump,where the pump is only driven
>> when required.This system can cause poor heater circulation when it fails.Just a thought.
>>
Thanks for the suggestion, as I mentioned in another post I have suggested he gets it to the nearby Pug specialist for a proper diagnosis.
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>> The advice I gave him was, for now, to top the oil up to the
>> correct level, and wheel it along to the Pug specialist which is only a mile
>> away for a proper diagnosis as to why it's not heating up. This problem has
>> been known about for a while but he "hasn't got round to it" *rolls eyes*.
Sooner or later, both you and he will have to realise that he is now an adult. He is going to have to make his own mistakes and take the consequences of those mistakes.
If he is going to drive around with the 'low oil' light flashing - whether that means low oil level, or low oil pressure, and do nothing, then he is going to learn the hard way.
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>> Sooner or later, both you and he will have to realise that he is now
>> an adult. He is going to have to make his own mistakes and take the
>> consequences of those mistakes.
>>
Quite agree, but I just wondered if you have kids Duncan, you can keep on at them all you want but it doesn't always help! ;-)
And I'd like to be constructive, rather than let him stew in his own juice. He rang me for advice and I gave it to him.
>> If he is going to drive around with the 'low oil' light flashing - whether
>> that means low oil level, or low oil pressure, and do nothing, then he is
>> going to learn the hard way.
>>
Definitely the hard way - it's his wife's car, which she chose and paid for, so he'll definitely get a hard time if it explodes!
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Why doesn't she get it fixed then? Yes, I know it comes back to the male side usually, but why on earth can't some women take an interest in a mechanical device that they rely on? Can see the Saudis point.......
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>> Why doesn't she get it fixed then? Yes, I know it comes back to the
>> male side usually, but why on earth can't some women take an interest in a
>> mechanical device that they rely on?
>>
Nice bit of lateral thinking there, I'll suggest it to her. She does like to be an independent modern woman, so it might work.
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Is the 'low oil light' the electric dipstick, used in several PSA cars, which shows an oil level on start up? If so they're easily mislead, particularly by parking on a gradient. Needs to check it properly and top up though.
Then, as already advised get it down to garage and get a proper diagnosis for the cool running.
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>> Is the 'low oil light' the electric dipstick, used in several PSA cars, which shows
>> an oil level on start up? If so they're easily mislead, particularly by parking on
>> a gradient. Needs to check it properly and top up though.
>>
>> Then, as already advised get it down to garage and get a proper diagnosis for
>> the cool running.
>>
There's something that bleeps when the oil level is low I discovered today, but that's all I know. The oil level has been corrected, and the car has been booked into the local specialist on Friday.
As an aside, I remember that his first car, a 1996 1.4 Megane, had one of the instruments (water temperature or somesuch) which doubled up as an oil level indicator when the ignition was switched on. Fooled me for a while as I'd never come across this before, seemed quite sophisticated for an almost bottom of the range cheap French car.
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you probably find a hard time looking for the oil dipstick in a clio
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Just to round this off, the car went to the Pug specialist, who in my son's words "hooked it up to the diagnostics" which indicated no issues. They also seemed to think that the warmup wasn't particularly slow, although they did offer to replace the thermostat anyway, which at £150 he declined. They also confirmed that these engines have a habit of using lots of oil.
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Peugeot 207 - 07 1.4 Oil consumption and mayonnaise on filler ca - Zero
