Hey guys,

My M113 is using or burning a lot of oil. Current mileage is 144,000 Km.

Just did a 1000 Km round trip and my 1998 E430 required 2L of oil to be added. On the way down (500Km leg) and 'low oil' warning came up on the instrument cluster. I added 1L of oil, Elf 5W30 (229.3). On the way back (perhaps 500-600Km later), the same warning came on again. Added another 1L. When I got home, I checked the dipstick and the oil was at the lower 1/3 mark.

I occasionally get a puff of blue smoke on startup, usually after the car has sat for a while. I thought valve stem seals, but every tech I've spoken to says they haven't seen this on an M112/113.

No significant leaks, the ground under the car is bare. However, I haven't inspected the entire engine thoroughly yet.

When running, the car doesn't visibly smoke at all (cats sucking it up?). Car runs and idles well. Even when accelerating hard, there is no visible exhaust.

Mileage is decent - I got approx. 600 Km on about 70L of gas on mostly highway.

When I bought the car in April, it wasn't showing any blue smoke at startup and it got perfect zeros on the emissions test. Consumption seems to have gotten worse since then.

Before I go further, I am wondering what the next steps should be? Could it be anything other than rings/valves? If it is the rings/valves, I am leaning towards buying a used engine rather than rebuilding (cost is about half).

Any advice? TIA.

This is killing me. I love the way this car handles and drives and the chassis is in excellent shape. This car was babied at the dealer since Day 1. However, it seems to have gone 17,000 Km between oil change intervals (as per FSS) on regular (non-synthetic) oil up to about 60,000 Km. Dealer used Quaker State. We don't have the lawsuit extended coverage up here in Canada, so I'm probably on my own as far as Mercedes corporate is concerned.

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon