Check the turbo for massive oil contamination -- pull the air intake hose off and see if the compressor is covered with oil, and there is oil dripping out the bottom of the housing. If so, the seals are shot. You will also have turbo troubles -- slow boost, or no boost, noise, or rough rotation (you can check that by spinning the intake wheel by hand ENGINE OFF, PLEASE). If it has rough or sticky spots in rotation, or moves back and forth, the seals and bearings are shot.

You usually have blue smoke under load with bad turbo seals since there is oil burning in the pipe behind the turbo.

You will also be pumping it down the intake when the turbo spins up -- more oil lost.

Check it out, I spent $750 on a cartridge (new guts) for the turbo on the Volvo, not too bad since I paid extra for shipping and overnight work!

A leaking vac pump will also suck quite a bit of oil out of the chain case and send it to the intake, too -- if there is oil in the air return line from the vac pump to the intake or air filter, fix the vac pump and oil consumption will drop dramatically.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!