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Old 11-28-2003, 11:57 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 6
High Oil Consumption

I just purchased a '94 S350D with 140,000 miles on her. The car was previously owned by my in-law’s neighbor - who has since passed away so there is not much history I can get mechanically on this car. The car looks wonderful, but this is my first experience with a diesel.

The price warranted me taking a chance on the car. I noticed a small oil leak from the head gasket when I bought it. I have since had the head gasket replaced as well as the valves & valve seals replaced. When the head was off I could not see (from the top anyway) any pistons out of round. I did notice that #1 & 6 pistons showed some sign of oil burn off.

There is no external oil leak that I can see, but the car is consistently using about a quart of oil every 500 miles (Mobil 1 15W50) for 3,500 miles - then I switched to Mobil Delvac (currently 3,000 and counting). I have to be burning it up. There is no visibly raw oil blowing out the exhaust.

I have heard some stories about the 603 engines having problems bending rods. I was concerned about the pistons ovaling out & possibly causing the oil to seep up and burn off. Is anyone aware of any audible knocking or tapping that might occur during this process? What are some signs if any prior to failure? The car sounds & drives perfectly to me (or am I just in denial). I don't want to spend big $$$ in diagnostics - I am hoping to narrow down the search.

My next step (unless you guy's talk me out of it) was to look into the turbo. Can worn Turbo seals account for that amount of oil usage? What should that repair cost?

A bit of history - I drive about 90 miles a day - mostly highway so figure 75-80 MPH. From a dead stop or engine downshifting I can visibly see puffs of smoke. Don't know if this is normal diesel smoke or oil - How blue does blue smoke need to be to be considered oil burn off? Logic seems to dictate the smoke must be oil because I need to keep adding.

Any ideas or comments would be appreciated.
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