w115 Oil change question
 

Alright, this may sound horrible guys, and I'm sorry :( Which is why I'm asking about it now.

I haven't been getting my normal oil changes like I'm supposed to and it's probably been like 4 months since my last oil change, and it's because it leaks and burns enough oil to where I'm always putting more fresh oil in, so I feel like clean oil is going in... The only thing that was really bothering me was the filter.

Should I still be getting the oil changes at exactly 3000 miles? I just feel like it's a waste in a way because there is always new, fresh oil going in.... Either way I'll be doing the normal oil changes for now on, I just wanted your take on the matter.. Please have mercy lol :o :(

Yes I would continue to change the oil often. How much does it leak/burn?

Well lately, it hasn't been that bad especially with all the freeway driving i've been doing but still a good amount. It's leaking oil from the back of the valve cover because of the gasket for some reason, but i'll be changing that pretty soon.

I'll leave to go LA which is 97 miles from me, and the oil mark on the dipstick is full, I'll go, drive around and come back and it's below halfway, depending how hard I drive it.. Should I be concerned? Or is this normal oil consumption?

So every 97 miles you burn half a quart. I would not think that is good at all.
Are you using diesel rated oil?
How fast are you driving? My speedo is 5 miles slow in the 220D. If it shows 70 I am doing 65.

yeah that seems to be quite a bit of oil disappearing. I changed the oil on my W115 (OM 617) about 600 miles ago and its still almost full.

Do you have any blue smoke?

1/2 quart every 97 miles? That is a huge oil leak. :eek: If you're using a good quality diesel rated synthetic oil like Shell Rotella-T 5w-40 or Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5w-40 then you can likely extend your OCI to 5000 miles.

I use the Shell Rotella-T 5w-40 and change it every 5000 miles in my E300, and every 7500 miles in my Passat TDI. (The TDI, being a direct-injection engine doesn't dump nearly as much soot into the oil, hence the longer OCI).

Well after the trip of going to LA, around and back it's a good 230 something miles, but still.... I park it and wake up to find a lake of oil that I get to name and open up as a recreational area lol :o

I'm using Delo 400LE "Heavy Duty Motor Oil" SAE 15W-40.... Is this one of my culprits? I don't know my oil grades that much is 15W-40 ok to run in a hot hot summer? I will switch to shell to try it out. I don't hear much about Delo on here, bad or good thing? :S

I haven't seen blue smoke but i'll keep a closer eye out for it... Also, i'll clean my engine take one of these trips and open my hood after I get back and find this... Does anyone else have this problem?

Your engine appears to have quite a bit of blow by, worn valve seals could cause this and or piston rings.

After you have been driving the car take off the oil filler cap and see how much blow by the engine has.

I'll make a video of mine so you can compare.

As for the oil, I personally like Rotella and Mobil Delvac 15W-40. I think Rotella is a bit thicker because my oil pressure is always a bit higher when I use that oil.

Great... :( thankfully though, those can be replaced, right? :)

I just washed and vacuumed her because I picked up my sister and her dog that sheds 2 lbs of hair a second so I'll take her out for a spin and check out the blow by. A video would be awesome and really helpful thanks!!!

I'll start testing around with other oils now, see which one she likes best! As always, thanks for the information and advice! :)

Yes those parts are replacable, just about everything is. The valve seals cost less than 20 bucks from the dealer, but it takes about 4 to 5 hours to install them, its not very fun.

i'll make a vid tomorrow. Search on youtube other poeple have posted some vids.

No problem.

A few things:

-I hear you about the oil changes....well, the drain & refill part is easy, but getting that filter canister out is a pain. I beg my friend to use his commerical lift, then proceed to make a mess of his floor :eek:. I couldn't imagine doing the filter change with the car on the ground or jacked up. Perhaps on ramps it'd be do-able. It takes finesse to get the canister out, then you have to pull it apart & clean the housing. This is one reason to buy a W123 or later model!

-I use Mobil 1 15-50 or 5-40, whatever I can get my hands on. But, because it's expensive, I got the oil leaks fixed first. The biggest culprit was a bad oil pan (it was welded after damage by the P.O. to the person I bought it from, and a new gasket didn't fix the leak). The second culprit is remembering NOT to fill the oil all the way to the top of the dipstick. When I do, I get leaks, and also more oil spray around the filler cap.

-Replace the oil filler cap gasket (yes, you can replace just that piece; don't buy the later style plastic cap that doesn't look right on this engine) and you'll have less mess on the valve cover, but probably still some (mine has a lot of blowby too, and it also ends up in the air intake via the breather tube).

My good purchase this last summer: A solvent tank/parts cleaner. It makes cleaning the filter can & oil bath air filter so much nicer. I think my friend wanted to get rid of it after I turned his solvent black doing just that, so I got a good deal ;)