Since I am in the middle of a little headgasket work I am spending much time looking at my MB shop manual (CD). Many of the pictures in the manual show the Euro engine setup with no oil separator. That little flat spot right before the turbo inlet on the U-pipe from the air cleaner to turbo is shown with a simple fitting and the vent tube from the valve cover is directed right into it. My guess is the oil separator unit was added to please US emissions standards? Seems perfectly reasonable to just run like this and do away with the factory oil separator. None of my other diesels have an oil separator and they all run fine. Why not? RT

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