hopefully this isnt bad! teakettle test
 

Hello,
I have an 81 240d. Pretty new to me so I am little scared. I had been reading a couple of threads that said you could tell a little about the engine when you take the oil cap off and look at the amount of smoke coming out.

Well I took mine and I had oil puffing out. Car seems to be peepy and run well. Just hoping that doesnt mean anything bad.

jake

you're supposed to leave the cap in place, just loosen it and see how much it dances around, if it blows off, you have a problem.
open hole over the cam will spray oil...

John,

Thanks, I started reading other stuff that said I could have a bad engine and got al ittle scared. So you leave the cap on. It danced but didnt come off. then I took it off and caused a mess.

Jake

sounds good to me.

I've certainly taken the oil fill cap completely off before to check for blowby. On a TD I was considering, it was chuffing smoke like an old time locomotive. I haven't noticed much oil coming out when I do it at idle.

Yeah pull it off and not only will splatters come out, but whipped up oil mist will come out.

On the early diesels the cam gear is right under the cap , thats why oil comes out. :D:D:D

There are vids on youtube & perhaps dieselgiant.

If you really want to know the condition of your engine in general... you need to do a compression test and a leak down test.....
If it runs peppy just read up on regular maintenance... like adjusting the valves..and changing your oil properly ( research the hole and o rings on the tube inside the oil filter )..and just enjoy your car.... the 'tea kettle test' is not anywhere in the FActory Shop Manual in any form or fashion....

X2 leathermang


Jake,

If your car starts easy & runs well with little oil use, just enjoy the drive !!
When people start to tinker for no good reason they risk messing things up in a big way. Nothing you have posted suggests that you have a bad motor. Set the valves & give it an oil change & filter & it will be sweet.

It seems a lot of these old mercedes diesels get better the more you drive them but i have noticed that fuel quality plays a part too . if the car smokes and everything is adjusted properly, try buying your fuel somewhere else. I once bought a tank full of fuel and within 20kms the vehicle was smoking really heavily . It turned out later,that owner of the gas station had been buying used turpentine and was adding it to the fuel . He was prosecuted for this .