I have been looking at a Fiesta which is only 4 months old from Jersey. A lovely car but when I started the engine I noticed a lot of water dripping from the middle of the exhaust pipe - NOT the tail pipe - looks like the back box section. My nephew said there also appeared to be water in the engine when he took the oil cap off. I know this could be condensation, but would that normally drip from anywhere other than the exhaust tail pipe?

winny219, August 2007

As it's from Jersey, it's probably never got hot in it's life. The oil emulsifies in the rocker box. I suggest you buy a new gasket, remove the rocker cover, give it a thorough clean and replace it. Then run the car till the engine's really hot, drain the oil, refill with flushing oil and give the car a gentle run to clean it out. Next, drain the flushing oil, renew the filter and refill the sump with a good quality oil. If your normal usage of the car gets it up to working temperature, then you should have no further problems.

PS Clean the breathers out, too.

Pete, August 2007

yes this is normal even the muffler is made with a drip hole so condensation can get out ....if you never drive very far to get car at operating temp the oil cp will look like this also

bg, August 2007