320d troubles

[L~C~G]

Hi Guys.

Hope you can shed some light here for me.

my E46 320d recently started smoking in the engine bay after a bit of boosting. It would only become noticeable when i stopped at a robot for a while. There is smoke pouring out all over with the smell of burning oil.

This morning I pulled off the covers to see if I could find out what was going on.

My first concern was that the turbo seals may have gone but when I pulled the covers off I noticed that my injectors are sitting in about 1 cm of oil.

It looks like the oil is running off the top of the motor and down onto the exhaust / cat converter off the turbo.

Where could the oil be coming from on the top of the motor that would cause it to pool up around the injectors.

Could it be the crank case breather that is buggered or possibly an oil feed line to the turbo?

I cant see the turbo properly with the covers off but the area around the turbo itself looks pretty clean.

 

[zaleonardz]

Crank Case Breather very likely, and because it went,it may have pushed some seals out, and thats why it looks as if the motor is sweating from multiple sources.

A common leak is on the timing cover gasket.

 

[L~C~G]

Thanks Leonard.

I just started the motor and opened the oil filler cap. Nearly blew my head off.

There was a huge amount of pressure built up so the valve must be blocked!

I have been trying to find time for five F@cking weeks to replace that thing as preventative maintenance!

:argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh:

Is there any chance this has caused more damage?

 

[schimbetete]

had the same problems changed the oil breather and no smoke ..car sorted

 

[Philip Foglar]

Hope you get this sorted out, isn't this what can cause turbo runaway!? And that is pretty catastrophic!!

LOL, I had to laugh at your "...opened the oil filler cap. Nearly blew my head off..." - sorry, my sense of humour is not always right. :nonono:

 

[L~C~G]

Im just so busy at the moment that I dont have time to sort this out myself so she is going to my mechanic today to get it sorted.

This is a very common cause of turbo failure on these cars and that is why I wanted to replace it. Im just SOOOO lucky it didnt mess up the turbo (I hope)

It appears that BMW re-designed this thing and the new ones dont use a filter anymore, they use a venturi or vortex system (cant think exactly what its called right now) At least with this the filter doesnt ever get blocked. So im replacing the whole unit rather than just the filter.

I honestly did kak myself when I opened that filler cap, you really dont expect that kind of pop when you take the damn thing off :tease:

I have been using my dads auto 5 cylinder E39 523i for the last few days and im taking huge strain. My 320d is hardly a monster but the way it delivers the power is incredible.

 

[P1000]

It appears that BMW re-designed this thing and the new ones dont use a filter anymore, they use a venturi or vortex system (cant think exactly what its called right now) At least with this the filter doesnt ever get blocked. So im replacing the whole unit rather than just the filter.

I have been using my dads auto 5 cylinder E39 523i for the last few days and im taking huge strain. My 320d is hardly a monster but the way it delivers the power is incredible.

I don't know of any 5cyl BMWs ever made, but maybe your dad cut off one of the cylinders?:rollsmile:

The new type has advantages, but also the disadvantage that it will let more oil pass by - which might make the car consume oil. That is not a problem, as long as you keep it topped up. If you can only replace the loo roll filter, then it will be much cheaper, but you are required to do it every 3rd service (which reminds me, mine is due at the next service).

Oh, and BMW changed to the vortex type, and then changed back again after a while - not exactly sure why, possible oil consumption (which is not a good thing for PR)

 

[Doomsdaya]

Dam sorry to hear about your car L~C~G.... my Bud with a 330d also had a problem recently where smoke was all over the engine. Not sure what was the cause but BMW quoted him something like R15,000 to fix :floggin:

 

[L~C~G]

My dad has not had time to try and replace the coil pack again. I posted a while back about the three coils we bought from Goldwagen which all died after about 20kms.

We still need to try a genuine part but for the moment its running on 5 cylinders and spoils a really great motor car.

I just did the breather valve DIY. When I saw the part I decided there is no way im paying a mechanic two hours labour to replace this thing.

It was pretty straight forward to swap out. The foam filter that came out was F*CKED beyond words. It was as hard as a rock. No wonder it was causing shit.

I really have no issue topping up oil if I know a factory fault has been removed from the design of my car :nonono:

Im glad you mentioned it though.......thanks. I would have freaked out if my car now suddenly started using oil after the issue I just had.

 

[P1000]

Well, its not a factory fault, just something that is often neglected at service time, then it clogs up and causes k@K. Of course, it's the same when you don't change the oil - bad things will happen in time.

 

[Brendon.Myburgh]

Okay i just came across this extremely helpful thread.

phaaaaaark - its amazing how much crap collects in there. I think this will be be my DIY for this weekend because i strongly believe mine has never been done @ the stealer. I really do prefer doing everything myself. That way i know my vehicle will serve me well

do yourself a favour & check the link. I find it extremely useful

http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=51711