Excessive oil use

I have an '06 sprinter that recently has been going thru excessive amounts of oil (1 to 2 quarts every 500 miles) and it is leaking out of the charge air cooler. When I first tried to diagnose the problem I found oil on the out-put of the turbo compressor but not on the inlet, so I replaced the turbo. It is still going thru the oil! After pulling hoses off again the inlet of the turbo had oil in it. Any sugestions on what could be causing this?

Scott

snm said:

I have an '06 sprinter that recently has been going thru excessive amounts of oil (1 to 2 quarts every 500 miles)
After pulling hoses off again the inlet of the turbo had oil in it. Any sugestions on what could be causing this? Scott

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Oil is normally present at the compressor inlet. The crankcase vent line enters the intake tract just upstream of the compressor inlet. That said, excess oil at that location can be the result of obstructions in the air filter box or inlet to the box. The oil mist separator that removes excess oil before reaching the intake tract has a valve that will interrupt flow under abnormal vacuum conditions at the compressor inlet.

Check for air filter box obstructions, check the operation of the vacuum protection valve in the oil separator and then look for evidence of excess oil consumption elsewhere in the engine. Doktor A

Thanks for the reply Docktor A.

There are no obstructions in the air intake, air filter is fresh, and the gauge on the filter box shows 0%. If the excess vacuume valve is the diaphram with a spring, then that appears to be working and has no visible holes in it. Oil and filter are also fresh.

There is a large amount of oil coming out of the air charge cooler (leaving puddles on ground), and there are not any codes showing. The oil appears to be coming out at the seam near the outlet of the cooler, all clamps are tight and no visible holes in the hose.

Scott

snm said:

Thanks for the reply Docktor A.

There are no obstructions in the air intake, air filter is fresh, and the gauge on the filter box shows 0%.

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Don't trust that gauge - I have never seen mine move beyond 0% in 7 years. Check the whole intake.

Can this oil be coming from the breather, and if so how can this be fixed?

Scott

snm said:

Can this oil be coming from the breather, and if so how can this be fixed?

Scott

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I have the same thing and I just ordered a separator under the advice of a random mechanic I had to go to on a road trip. We'll see if it works... $480 shots in the dark are always fun.

Did you ever figure out what was causing your issue. I was looking into the turbo as well but figured a 480 shot in the dark was better than $1500 one.

There is also a post/thread somewhere here with cleaning instructions for the air/oil separator... looks straightforward to take it out and open the bottom covers, cleaning as you go. The separated oil drains back to the sump via a hole in the head, which can become blocked.

-dave