Journal: Jimmy James's Journal

Had been using the car as a daily driver since picking it up in August2007; it had been running well but I started to notice an increase in oil consumption accompanied by a sooty exhaust. By December the oil consumption was noticeably worse and on the last day of work, just before the Christmas holidays, the car lost power on the way home. A compression and leak down test confirmed in my mind that the piston rings were goosed. Pulling the engine confirmed my fear and worse - each piston showed clear signs of blow-by but piston 2 in particular had suffered significant damage to the crown and skirt – friction doing its work!