Fair enough. I guess it's possible the seals have just gotten worse recently. Is there anything else that would exhibit these symptoms? Sticky ring(s)? Head gasket (not losing coolant)? valve stem seals? I'm planning on a compression check soon. I guess I would have to pull the turbo to find out for sure?

If the symptoms are as described........with a noticeable delay in oil consumption at idle........and if the oil consumption is also present at all other engine speeds, then the turbo seals are the only possible culprit.

But, your description of the problem and your observations are sketchy, at best, so I won't be held accountable for the conclusion.

Just an update for a long ago thread that I never resolved. I have no idea what contributed to the smoking at idle but it is a problem that long ago corrected itself. I'll leave the speculation to people who know more than me. The oil level drop was operator error (forgetting about the level drop at first start-up after a filter change). I CAN for certain say what the lack of power was, though (the need to floor it to get up a steep driveway). After I adjusted all of the throttle linkages to spec the power was VASTLY improved. The rack just wasn't getting enough fuel at full pedal.

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1985 300SD 99K