Hi,

I am running 2 quarts of oil to 1,500 miles, and getting blue smoke on accelerating after stop. Valve stem seals are NEW (less than 3 k miles) and stopped the smoke for a while, now it is back, but less than before.

Am I losing the heads, and if so, how long do I have? How bad is this oil consumption?

Thanks for any help.

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Henry Bofinger
1989 560 SEL (black/black)
2001 Audi TT Roadster (silver/grey)

could be the valve guides; how many miles on the engine?

Sorry I forgot to mention - 125,000. A bit too early, eh?

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Henry Bofinger
1989 560 SEL (black/black)
2001 Audi TT Roadster (silver/grey)

Did the oil burning stop after the valve guide seals were replaced and then start back after the 3K miles. If so, then you need to pull the spark plugs (keep them in order) and see if one or 2 have more buildup on them than the others. If one is bad but the others are clean, then you have found the problem cylinder. It could be that one of the valve guide seals has slipped off. I have had that problem before. It could be that a valve guide has come out of the head. Had that problem also. Both of these problems can be fixed without major dis assembly. If all the plugs look about the same then you need to remove the valve covers and look at the cam oilers and make sure none of the plastic pieces is broken. That can also cause a lot of oil usage. I have had that problem also.
My 84 500SEL with somewhere over 260K miles uses about 1 qt/1500 miles at interstate speeds but uses almost none in city driving. I know the guides need to be replaced but I can not justify a job that big at this time just to fix 1 qt/1500 miles only when we go on a trip.

Paul

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)

If the blue smoke went away after the seals replaced, I wouldn't have thought it would be back in under 3K? How much oil does it leak? How much oil did it use before the seals were replaced? If it was nearly the same you might try a quality high mileage oil in it. That could possibly get it to 1qt. in maybe 1K or so. A quart in 1K use to be pretty acceptable, but getting below that is ify! It's an inconvenience, but mainly is how are you with the problem??

Thanks for all of those replies. I will check the plugs to see if I have a slipped seal. That would make sense. Problem complteley gone right after new seals, comes back, albeit less severely, after two big road trios.

I also wonder if the oil is too light. Mobile 5W30 is what is in it right now. The trips were between Washington DC and Boston.

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Henry Bofinger
1989 560 SEL (black/black)
2001 Audi TT Roadster (silver/grey)

I believe 15W-40 is the recommended oil for the 560. I run 15W50 in my 500SEL. I think 5W-30 is a little thin this time of year. It may be ok if the temperature is below freezing but that doesn't happen often around here.

Paul

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)

i would run 15-40 or 20-50 in that engine

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1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

5w30 is way too light, in one of ours we run 5w40 T6 rotella, and it doesn't use any, less than 1/4 qt per 5000 miles even w/high speed driving, and it has 299k on it. Mine has 147k and uses nothing at all in 5000 miles running Mobil 1 15w50

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

So:

Step 1: Heavier oil.
Step 2: Watch behavior.
Step 3: If no improvement, do spark plug analysis to see if a seal had come lose.

I never do the oil changes - I have someone else do it. I do all the serious work. So I trusted the guy who is doing the changes - I will tell him to go heavier.

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Henry Bofinger
1989 560 SEL (black/black)
2001 Audi TT Roadster (silver/grey)

Henry, maintain the "full" level midway between the "full" and "low" marks on the dipstick and see if that reduces your engine's oil consumption. The engines in our early 1990's vintage MB engines quickly consume oil to the midway point and then the consumption rate drops off dramatically.

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Fred Hoelzle

Small world, I have a 87 560sel and go between Fairfax VA and Cape Cod Ma, so i know your situation. I know this reply is about a year after you last posted on this but I am wondering, for a 560sel, what if any is a expected amount of oil usage between 3k or 4k mile oil changes? And i will add that 99% of the driving is stop and go heavy traffic.

Thank you.