Could bad turbo cause oil consumption? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

muleears · #1 08-04-2007, 06:28 PM

I recently determined, due to help from this forum, that the turbo on my 124 no longer functions. I don't know why I just know it doesn't work anymore

About the same time I started having turbo problems the car began to consume much more oil than it had been. From 1qt per 2500mi. to 1qt. per 500mi

The car does smoke more but other than startup it is primarily black smoke. At startup I get some white/blue for about 10-15 seconds. Could a turbo seal or oil line be broken and causing this sudden increase in consumption?

Fuel consumption has also dropped from 29+ to 25. I attribute this to driving a turbo car with a bad turbo. I'm sure it can't run its best pushing exhaust through a bad turbo.

Matt L · #2 08-04-2007, 06:42 PM

A bad turbo can leak from the seals, and indeed cause oil consumption.

Get it out of there before you get enough leakage to run the engine.

pjc · #3 08-04-2007, 07:14 PM

If the internal seals are bad and oil is leaking into to the intake/compression side of the turbo, then yes, that oil can feed into the engine, causing smoke, excessive oil consumption, and other problems. Matt L is right, if you lose so much oil that there's not enough to properly lubricate the engine, you're sunk.

But oil "consumption" can also be caused by many kinds of leaks. How much oil leakage is visible on the engine or ground? Are you sure it's from the turbo?

Turbos are pretty simple devices, mechanically speaking, so a complete failure is pretty hard to achieve. If you remove the intake tube connecting the air filter housing to the front of the turbo and try to spin the shaft (engine off and cold, of course), what happens? How much side to side (radial) and in-out (axial) play is there? How much oil can you see in the compressor housing?

Matt L · #4 08-04-2007, 08:21 PM

Actually, I was referring to leaking on the intake side, and running on the engine oil. But certainly, running out of oil is just as catastrophic.

I knew a guy years ago who started leaking oil from the turbo seals in a Saab 900. He had the bright idea of blocking the intake oil with a piece of cardboard and continuing on. Guess what his turbocharger looked like after the trip was done.

muleears · #5 08-04-2007, 08:24 PM

The car was driven 800mi. today (yes, thats right) It needed 3 quarts to complete the trip and keep the low oil light off. I won't be able to pull the intake tube until tomorrow. I'll report back with findings.