Fiesta Oil Sump

[Dustyy]

I have a K reg Ford Fiesta which is currently leaking oil from what appears to be the base of the sump. I have vague recollections of reading somewhere that sumps can become 'porous' with age and begin to leak oil although there is no visible crack or damage. Is this true and has anyone else experienced this?
I have had a look under the car and the sump does look quite rusty and has certainly flaked in places. I am thinking of getting a second hand sump and changing it myself - is this something that can be done fairly easily when following the Haynes manual instruction??

 

[chainsaw_masochist]

If you have the Haynes manual it should give indication of how difficult the job is - a spanner icon is used to denote complexity of job ie the more spanners the more difficult the task.

Removing the sump (after draining the oil of course) might appear relatively straight forward but I had a Fiesta years ago and I seem to remember that the front cross-member had to be removed before the sump could be dropped.

You should try to leave a layer of oil smeared on the sump exterior to prevent the onset of rust. Suprisingly sump corrosion is quite commonplace. Good luck.