Thanks much. I passed your number on to her this morning. She'll be calling you this evening sometime. Her name is Faithe and she has a 504 area code.

peace

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peace,
Woody

Just made contact; she's on her way over and I'll report what I find.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Just looked at the 240D. Starts easy but, she's got a LOT of blowby. Oil cap teakettles on the valve cover and there's a lot of oil mist at the filler opening...other than that, no terrible oil leaks (other than the usual drips) so it's not a main or a gasket that's failed.

I recommended that she keep her highway speeds down to 60-65 (was running 70-75) to help on the oil consumption and how to properly check that oil level too.

Coolant looks OK and is at the right level. Faithe said there is an intermittent leak at the hose that connects to the heater valve. I would have replaced it but, I didn't have any hose that was the right ID. ;-(

R

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Randy,

Thanks a million for your quick and quality assistance. As one would expect, a woman traveling alone can feel very vulnerable, especially with car trouble. I spoke to Faithe just after she left your place and she told me you were very kind and welcoming to her. Of course the first thing she told me was that you have three dogs. That alone was enough to put her at ease.

I am sure this type of situation has happened before on this forum but I am amazed with the quality of individuals that seem to participate here and how willing you all seem to be sharing your knowledge and time. I hope i can repay the favor someday.

As for the car: What can be done to remedy this situation? Where does all that oil go and where is it leaving the engine compartment? I do not know much about blowby but will do some homework. I have another 240D with a bad engine but could there possibly be any parts i might be able to pull out of it that would help the situation? I will pull the coolant hose that is leaking and replace that when she gets back. thanks again so very much.

peace,
woody

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peace,
Woody

Blowby is caused by the inability of the piston rings, because of excessive wear or breakage, to keep all the combustion pressure and gasses in the combustion chamber. This gas bypasses the piston rings and pressurizes the crankcase and the pressure is equalized through the breather hose at the top of the valve cover. At high engine speed, the volume of gas produced and moved through the crankcase transports some the engine lube oil (there sort of a fog of oil in the crankcase) into the oil separator where some of it drains back into the crankcase and the remainder is sucked into the intake manifold and burned in the engine, exiting through the exhaust pipe.

A gasoline engine with bad blowby would oil eventually foul it's spark plugs and, while it was running, leave a blue cloud in its wake. But diesels use compression heating to ignite their fuel, and they can soldier on and on with some really significant blowby, using a little of their crankcase oil as a fuel. Diesel combustion is relatively efficient so you don't usually see a blue cloud, but a Pepe le Pew exhaust smell is a good indicator of a diesel burning engine oil. I didn't detect that odor last night but when I described the smell as a skunk or 'french roast coffee', Faithe said she'd detected it when stopping after a highway run.

Meanwhile, running at lower PRMs may help reduce oil consumption but eventually, that engine will need a rebuild (or replacement). At the least, it needs a set of piston rings and the machining/honing necessary to get them to seat.

In cold weather, Faithe's engine is probably going to exhibit the classic signs of a worn, low compression engine: it will be hard if not impossible to start. On the good side, she lives in NOLA where it never gets really, really cold.

Take care and let me know how her return trip goes.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Could a bad vacuum pump diaphragm also be contributing to the high crank case pressure?

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1984 280SEL, 62,000 miles
Euro model in the USA
1983 300D (Totaled out 10/2004)
New Factory Mint Green paint
Palomino int
1982 240D (Steak dinner for two)

It certainly could. I didn't think to ask about the functionality of vacuum appliances or check the vacuum.

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

This is definately true of her car when it gets cold; much more hesitant to start

No working vacum to speak of so perhaps that is part of the problem. I will replace the vpd and see if that improves things. For the time being she is going to return back here and just keep the car as her local around town transportation. perhaps this is the incentive I need to fix the tranny on my 85 TD and then i can let her drive that. Much better vehicle for three dogs anyway. Thanks again for all the help

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peace,
Woody

By all means check the vacuum pump but that hard to start syndrome in cold weather really points to a low compression engine.

Good luck!

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.