My expensive synthetic oil has started being consumed fairly quickly. Maybe a quart every 100 miles.

Just to double check that it is not blow by I will disconnect my oil separator from the air intake, however looking at the clear tubing that I used to plumb it there is no more oil in the blow by gasses than usual.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

It's not blowby at that rate. Either one of the valve seals fell off or it's the turbo. My bet is on the latter.......but.......I have some bad experiences with the latter.

Well I finally got around to inspecting this further. I pulled the silicone boots off either side of my intercooler. The hot side (directly off the turbo compressor) is an oily mess. Looks like the seals did let go. The cool side however is clean as a whistle. Looks like my intercooler was acting as a oil filter. Why is it smoking if no oil is entering the intake manifold, a leak on the turbine side too?

Any suggestions for cleaning out my intercooler?

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Well I replaced the turbo with a recently rebuilt one. Still smokes, and I seem to have gained a big oil leak at the turbo oil drain. Ugh. Could there be some residual oil in the system or should I start investigating the valve stem seals or something else?

Just to recap I get some smoke at idle with a large plume as the boost comes up.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

One more thing I should add. The compressor of the old turbo was quite sooty but not noticeably oily. Also keep in mind that my oil consumption number was just a rough estimate. I have not driven the car 100 miles since this problem began.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Probably oil from the old CCV system.

It's simple job to put new seals in your turbo if you are handy at all. Make sure you mark the casing before you pull it apart. Kit for a Garret T-4 is appox. $100. at a local turbo shop.

The turbo I swapped in was rebiuld 30K miles ago. I chose to swap turbos so I could rebuild my original one at my leasure and not have the car down.

Just to be sure it is not the crank case vent I disconnected the tube that runs from my oil seperator to the intake of the turbo. Still smoked just the same. That is the only crank case vent correct?

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

under $20 from MM distributers

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-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

I think I have ruled out the turbo by swapping it with a recently rebuilt one. I'll double check that this one is not leaking too by cleaning out my intercooler and seeing if more oil appears.

Anybody have any other possibilities for the cause of this smoke? I would like to get this issue fixed ASAP. Thanks.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

head gasket?

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green 85 300SD 200K miles "Das Schlepper Frog" With a OM603 TBO360 turbo ( To be intercooled someday )( Kalifornistani emissons )
white 79 300SD 200K'ish miles "Farfegnugen" (RIP - cracked crank)
desert storm primer 63 T-bird "The Undead" (long term hibernation)

http://ecomodder.com/forum/fe-graphs/sig692a.png

I'll take a look at the coolant but I'm thinking it is an oil seal somewhere. Blue smoke = oil right?

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Blue smoke does equal oil being burned. I think (but don't know for sure) that there is an oil passage that pases through the head gasket to provide lubrication for the cam bearings.

Edit: Yes there is an oil passage that goes through the head gasket. Its near the front of the block and it would be possible to leak into the first cylinder.

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green 85 300SD 200K miles "Das Schlepper Frog" With a OM603 TBO360 turbo ( To be intercooled someday )( Kalifornistani emissons )
white 79 300SD 200K'ish miles "Farfegnugen" (RIP - cracked crank)
desert storm primer 63 T-bird "The Undead" (long term hibernation)

http://ecomodder.com/forum/fe-graphs/sig692a.png

Slightly OT but if you get a lot of oil smoke at start-up and while cold, a lot of oil smoke but, after warm up, only a slight amount of oil smoke (excessive but not vehicle obscuring clouds worth) would that be a turbo seal as well?

Last Friday, we went out and retrieved Thing One's '85 300TD (Passion Flower) from Leathermang's place. Sat under a tree for about two years and we basically dropped a battery in and fired it off...huge clouds of oil smoke untill well after warm-up. Slight blue haze at highway speed with a little more appearing on acceleration.

Oh yeah, it was smoking like this before we parked it.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I would suspect valve stem seals. I plan on replacing those my self next if nobody has a better option to pursue.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine