Oil disappearing. Idles rough.

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FINNDIAN

Member
I'm a sprinter newbie.
I've been wanting a sprinter or transit for a while and one recently fell in my lap.

I'm an automotive technician (not in the field anymore) so I have some understanding but not sprinter diesel specific.

I ended up with a 2003 2500 camper conversion with a claimed blown motor 2.7 om612.

I was told the dealer had to add 8 liters of oil and it wouldn't crank over after it blew out a bunch of smoke on the highway and died.

I charged the battery and it cranked over a bit and finally caught on and started. It sounds ok other than idling fairly rough but does smoke out the exhaust (oil).

My questions are:

I tried unplugging injectors to see if a cylinder was not contributing but it stalls immediately when any injector is unplugged even when revved a bit. (How else can I do this?)

Is there any other place the oil could be getting through other than a failed piston? I did check the turbo while running and it doesn't seem to be losing any oil.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Gord

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jmoller99

jmoller99

Own a DAD ODB2 Unit.
The ECU will shut down the engine if any injector is unplugged.

Try to locate someone with a DAD odbii device and get some readings from all over your Sprinter. Very hard to guess without Sprinter specific error P codes. You can monitor the injectors with a DAD unit.

Please update your User CP (profile) and add the Sprinter model, year and your general location. It really helps a lot when trying to help address issues. There are real differences. You may be near someone with gear that can help you. Don't just start replacing parts hoping to replace the problem part - things are often the result of a combination of errors.
 
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F

FINNDIAN

Member
Thanks for the info jmoller99. I added some info to my profile.
I have a basic device, I'll see if I can get any codes.
There are no shops here that work on any import vehicles. We're fairly secluded.
The extreme oil usage is my main concern now.

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autostaretx

autostaretx

Erratic Member
The oil consumption could be any of the standard causes: cracked piston, blown rings, head gasket, cracked block.

Lacking a diagnostic tool, you could even do the real old trick of removing all of the glow plugs or injectors (not both, you just want one open hole per cylinder) and take a classic compression reading (remembering that "normal" is an 18 to 1 compression: expect over 300 psi) ... or simply put your thumb over the hole.
I'm expecting that (at least) one cylinder will have near to zero pressure (it's the one that won't blow your thumb out of the way).

The DAD or DRBIII diagnostic device can command such a test on its own: it asks you to crank the starter while it measures instantaneous RPM without turning on the injectors ... a weak cylinder turns faster during its compression stroke. (less resistance to the starter motor's pushing)

If you look at recent threads about diagnostic tools, there's the Autel MD802 and the iCarSoft scanners: about us$200 to $300 and about as capable as the DAD.

--dick
 
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autostaretx

autostaretx

Erratic Member
The turbo "didn't seem to be losing any oil"?

Did you check inside the thick hoses that carry the turbo air to the intake manifold?
(there's usually *some* oil covering their inner linings, but not quarts)
It's trivial to unplug the IAT sensor (squeeze clip, pull) and look to see if it merely has a drip on it, or if it's really really drowned.

A consequence of heavy oil loss by the turbo is that the intercooler can collect a bunch of it, leading to glops of it getting into the intake stream at unexpected moments.

--dick
 
M

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
An Exhaust turbine seal leak may not be immediately obvious. Does the exhaust have lots of oil in it?
 
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FINNDIAN

Member
It is smoking out the exhaust constantly. To check the turbo I removed the boost hose to the intercooler and ran the engine like that. I didn't see any oil coming out of the boost side of the turbo while it was running or after it was shut down.

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F

frambach

<3 our '06 2500 118WB
FINNDIAN said:
It is smoking out the exhaust constantly. To check the turbo I removed the boost hose to the intercooler and ran the engine like that. I didn't see any oil coming out of the boost side of the turbo while it was running or after it was shut down.

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Click to expand...
Sounds like you're blowing oil from the center section of the turbo past the seal on the EXHAUST side.

Next step, take the exhaust off and look for oil in there (like you did for the charge pipe/intake side).
 
F

FINNDIAN

Member
I'll check that next week. Will also have a drb2 to connect. It does have a lot of blow by when the oil filter cap is removed. Possibly sign of a piston issue and pressure to push oil past the turbo seal rings.

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S

smcguyer

2006 3500 Cab chassis. With 12' Box.
A compression loss may not necessarily throw a code. A standard compression test can prove what the cylinder pressures are.

The DAD scan tool, and maybe the dealer type scan tools has a crude rpm compression test, a cylinder cut out test, and also maybe an injector compensation test that might reveal bad cylinders. My understanding is bad cylinder pressure problems will show up on the scan tool tests.
 
F

FINNDIAN

Member
I haven't had time to look at it much more but the blow by pressure is very excessive so it can't be good.
I did find a damaged but drivable 05 sprinter that I purchased as a donor though. Hopefully everything is compatible between the 03 and 05.

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autostaretx

autostaretx

Erratic Member
The 03 and 05 engines are different (OM612 vs OM647).
The blocks are pretty much the same, but the surrounding stuff differs.
(there's a possibility the valves and cylinders are different?)

There's another recent thread about putting an 02 (or 3) engine into a 2005(ish), and that thread had a link to a previous thread evidently containing a "I did it and here's how" series. I didn't chase down that "how" series, hence the "?" above about the valves/cylinders.

good luck
--dick
 
L

lindenengineering

Well-known member
Woo Hoo:thumbup:
Looks like a field workshop AND some covering to boot--absolute luxury!
My favorite repair environment as it was for ver' nigh 20 years.

All it needs now is a few African or ME Arab faces brewing tea --with milk (Chai) And a transistor radio to listen to Auntie Beeb and the world service!
Plus the sounds of the African bush rising with the falling sun--and time for a sun downer on a dusty verandah several miles west of Kampala!

Unattainable luxury!
All the best with the project.:thumbup:
Dennis
 
F

FINNDIAN

Member
:thumbsup: only problem is we're nearing the freezing mark and it'll be full on winter in a few weeks here. :(

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F

FINNDIAN

Member
Looks like a cracked piston #5 with a hole burnt through at the end of the crack.
I don't have the history of this engine or exact details how it failed.
Any experience of the forum would be appreciated as to what could have caused this?

The van has 340000 km. The injectors look fairly new and all pulled out very easy. The injectors say mopar remanufactured.
Possibly a past injector failure??
Should I get these ones tested?

I'm going to replace cyl 1 and 5 pistons and rings in the other 3.
Where is the best place to get parts? I'm in Canada but can buy from the u.s. Also if it makes sense.



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