Originally Posted by Lampbum2

To answer your question Tom W. I bought this car in June of 1999, It had 166,000 miles on it then, It used maybe 1/2 a quart of oil in 5,000 miles then, this is when I change my oil at 5,000 miles.
My car is always plugged in and I count to 10 when the glow plug light goes out, then I start the car, It doesn't miss at first start or ever and the glow plugs are all good.
I would think that valve steam seals being bad, the oil should burn off by the time the temp is at 80c, I may be wrong on that judgment, I'm sure they are as hard as a rock and need to be changed.
I have heard that these motors can just let go, I hear when they start using oil is when you want to make a plan to rebuild the 3.5 or go with a 3.0 bottom end. So I am going ahead with my plan, The 3.0 liter motor.
My 84 300SD never burns blue and I keep it outside in the cold (Washington State) and it has no block heater, It does have a bit of smoke, but not blue, more like a light gray.
Thanks again for all your help.
Jim