Giants: you say smoke out traffic. What color?

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

I'm not convinced that the PCV valve in the valve cover is the issue people say it is. The one in my valve cover is 100% dead. My engine has very little blow-by, and the breather tube is usually relatively dry. I've rigged up a catch can on mine, and in 2 weeks of driving had a single drop in the catch can. If there is significant blowby in the engine, I can imagine a very different story. The design of the PCV valve is definitely stupid. There's no reason they couldn't have made that a plug-in unit on top of the valve cover.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 157K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 125K (SLoL)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Gone and wanting to forget:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™) [Definitely NOT a Benz]

Because of the crappy fuel in my area, at WOT, it is capable of producing some black smoke. With 50 cetane fuel it doesn't smoke, if it does it's an extremely thin non-soot haze.

Also, those snakeoil cetane boosters do not stop my car from rolling coal. And this is considering the fact I dump an entire bottle of additive into an empty tank before filling up.

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1998 Ford Escort ZX2 5 speed - 279,000 miles My Daily

1992 Mercedes 300D 2.5 202,000 - Pure junk
2000 Mercedes E320 Black - 136,000 miles - Needs repair

Don't forget to grease the screw and threads on the spring compressor.

Your car is also having some operational issues due to low compression. It isn't really fair to blame the fuel for problems until you correct said issues and know 100% it isn't something mechanical on the engine.

Our average cetane rating here is 42. You can get better fuel if you visit one of the truck stops or go further towards San Antonio, but out here we get whatever's left. Other than getting clattery with a lousy fillup, mine doesn't roll coal or smoke now that the IP's been tuned properly (IP came from a 3.5L).

For what it's worth, I've never had any of the "bottle fixes" cure anything for me either. I run straight diesel. If I get a lousy batch, I'll throw in some 2-stroke oil, but that about it. I'm still bleeding down a stash of marine oil from the 90s, when I run out of that I probably won't bother replacing it either.

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 157K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 125K (SLoL)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Gone and wanting to forget:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™) [Definitely NOT a Benz]

That's extremely normal for any diesel to produce black smoke at WOT. My cars all do it at 4k rpm. If they didn't I wouldn't think it was a diesel

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

My 91 burns a lot of oil, and misses when it's cold. Has low compression on a few cylinders.. hope yours isn't as serious! Oh I also rebuilt the turbo thinking that would help, and it did nothing lol. Well at least my turbo is good for awhile!

The low compression is the valve stem seals likely. I'm pretty syre my compression is low from the top end. I won't likely do a valve job just the stems and see where it gets me

__________________
Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

Here's a video of how it runs from cold.. just in case anyone is interested.

Before anyone mentions it no fan clutch.. It's cool in pa and it doesn't go over 80 so I haven't put it back in. I'd If it did full blast of heat cools it down!

https://youtu.be/RgFiWMxNej4

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

Hmm...

My SDL did that same sort of random slow hunt/miss when I got it, complete with "fog out the neighbors" white smoke. My IP was trashed, rear bearing had failed and the camshaft and governor were just sort of flopping around in there. Amazing it even ran, but it was behaving very similar to yours there!

Not saying your IP's packed up, but I'd be willing to bet there are some IP issues contributing to the craptastic running quality you show in the video there.

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 157K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 125K (SLoL)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Gone and wanting to forget:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™) [Definitely NOT a Benz]

Jake have you checked by removing oil cap your blow by?

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92 e300d2.5t
01 e320
05 cdi
85 chev c10

From your previous posts I got the impression that you were burning a lot more oil than on that video.


Valve stem seals have nothing to do with compression. They only prevent oil from seeping to the cylinders. The valve seats however are responsible for compression.

Yes it does have blowby but no more than my other 2.5 turbo engines with similar mileage. What is a lot of blowby? I know the bottom end on these cars is good for a couple hundred thousand. At least 400k.

It's a decent amount of oil I guess, but may have been a little dramatic. I hear you on the statement of compression, I'm sure the guides are still good at 300k. I really can't make that compression statement since I haven't checked it yet. I don't have crush washers and prefer to not use the old ones since I drive this car.

Diseasel, I would think if I'm having IP issues it would be fuel. But I can't imagine all that algae promoted longevity of the IP. The rough idle loping I think is the oil dripping into whatever cylinder and making it run rough.

__________________
Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

You posted this pic (http://i.imgur.com/MllUhNT.jpg) of your pre-filter on another thread, and some people commented that your fuel line was bad. Did you changed it? If so, any improvements on the idle?

I'm starting to think that you have many small issues that are combining to create your symptoms.

Don't be so certain about the valve guides. My car had what the odo claimed was 173K when I got it and the valve guides were TOAST. The valve stems were all wobbly in there, there was no hope of getting a good seating.

If oil was dripping in one cylinder, you'd be getting a skip in time with whatever cylinder was having the problem, or something similar. You've got a lope going on there, exactly what mine was doing with IP issues. A skip/miss is due to one cylinder having less power than the rest. A lope is due to the fuel rack oscillating and causing acceleration/deceleration of the engine. If the internal works of the IP are gummed up, you can expect that kind of behavior.

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 157K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 125K (SLoL)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Gone and wanting to forget:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™) [Definitely NOT a Benz]

I get a skip and a lope... I think your right on the IP being gunned up. When I performed a diesel purge a lot of algae microbes showed up in the purge bottle aka gatorade bottle. I'll diesel purge once I'm for sure all the algae is gone. That will probably clear up the cold start issues. I also need glow plugs too. The light doesn't come on anymore. Only after it's started. So I'd assume one or two more glow plugs are bad.

How much would I expect to replace the guides if they are Bad? I'm not looking to spend a lot of cash, but I will do the job right. Even if that means just finding a lower mileage used head.

__________________
Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k