If there was a leak that big, you would see oil all over the place and the encapsulation panel at the bottom would be drenched in it. Was the engine serviced with Mobil 1 during the oil changes or regular dino oil? How often has the engine oil been changed. I believe that there were some problems, especially in the ML where they had sludge problems due to extended oil change intervals with dino oil during th early FSS models. The sludge combined with the low tension rings would cause the ring to stick to the piston and there would be excessive oil sneaking by and burning off.

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record