It's a long time between blogs. As both my cars have been running well, I haven't done much to them lately. However, due to my overcautious concern about the oil pressure in my white XL, I decided to add some engine oil. I have a great deal of trouble trying to read the dipstick as it is not clear to me exactly where the oil level is, even though I have made marks on the dipstick. I put in about 1/3 to 1/2 a litre. All good, well for a little while!!
As I drove up the street, I noticed huge clouds of blue smoke in the rear view mirror. As I drove up & down a small hill near my house, it was really bad. OK, I knew what was going on as it had happened once before in my green car after I had overfilled the engine oil. I tried to keep driving in the hope that the excess may be burnt out but things only seemed to get worse & home I went. I have had one opinion that the oil seals can be damaged when this happened but I don't know how correct that is. So the easiest way to correct the problem was an oil change. A new filter was due anyway.
I found my original spare Motorcraft long life oil filter (AFLE-227) that I had bought on Ebay a while back so on it went. Now to the oil - I use Valvoline Classic 20W-50. To ensure that I did not overfill it again, I checked the official Ford Workshop Manual which states the correct amount, including the oil filter is 7 Imperial (UK) pints. That converts to 3.977 litres so 4 litres sounds pretty good to me. After checking that the filter was tight & the sump plug tight, a short idle of the engine indicated no leaks.
Out on the road, no smoke, which is a relief! On returning home, another inspection indicated a very slight leak at the bottom of the front oil seal cover. Hopefully, a quick tightening of the two lower cover bolts will sort that out but I will check after the next run.
So, the lesson for me again is, don't overfill the engine oil & for the 1600 Kent engine stick to the 4 litres.
