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E320 CDI (2005)
A little back story: When I first purchased the car the local dealer was doing free inspections so I figured what the heck. They came back with finding an oil leak among other things and stated it was the oil separator.
I ordered all 3 "gaskets" for this piece and replaced them but noticed the originals seemed fine..
I was replacing the motor/trans mounts the other day and only then noticed how bad this leak was and I am not sure if it is in fact the oil separator...
There is oil all over the alternator, coolant hose and charge piping/intake piping. I can't really see anything without taking filter housing and other odds and ends out and the car is now at a body shop (backed into 1 month after purchase) and I can't get access.
I wanted to see if there were some common leaks that would coat the alternator and generally everything on the front passenger side of the engine bay area... It almost seems like the timing chain tensioner but again I can't get to it now.
Any ideas? I have heard there is a gasket at the intake pipe that fails a lot? Or perhaps the hose that runs from the intake to the separator?
Common leaks IME are the intake pipes, oil separator, and the high pressure pump. Replace gaskets in each seem to resolve. My suggestion is before replacing anything, clean the motor well and run it...see if the issue was already resolved. If not, you should be able to see where the leak is coming from to help pinpoint.
This is just like the white smoke guys post----do you want us to guess with bad advice or why not wait till you can put the running car on a lift and make a proper investigation as to where the oil is comming from---save time money and you will be able to sleep at night
but if you want a guess, I agree with you it could be any thing on that side of the engine---now wada you do!!
???
I did have it on a lift replacing all mounts when I noticed the leak. After half an hour of staring up at it and then down I could not determine the source without much more time removing parts and degreasing everything. I was in a time crunch because I had to take the car to a BODY shop for BODY work.
So while it is out of my hands for a week or two I figured I would post here to see what some common leaks were on the exhaust side of the motor so I would have a few ideas when I get it back.
I am sorry if this upset you.
Common leaks IME are the intake pipes, oil separator, and the high pressure pump. Replace gaskets in each seem to resolve. My suggestion is before replacing anything, clean the motor well and run it...see if the issue was already resolved. If not, you should be able to see where the leak is coming from to help pinpoint.
Thank you. With the oil separator, all 3 seals seemed fine but I replaced anyway. Have these failed internally? Also: high pressure pump leaks oil?? I know the old inline bosche pumps could at the bottom gasket but had no idea these new cdi pumps could?
Thank you. With the oil separator, all 3 seals seemed fine but I replaced anyway. Have these failed internally? Also: high pressure pump leaks oil?? I know the old inline bosche pumps could at the bottom gasket but had no idea these new cdi pumps could?
They leak fuel, it makes any other oil leaks worse as it makes a slurry that coats everything. I went to 10 indys and dealers and NONE of them would rebuild the unit with the $20 kit from Ebay (Bosch gasket kit) so I rebuilt it myself. Wasn't difficult.
The point of my post was simply to say try cleaning the engine and see if other leaks pop up...that will help you figure out where to look next.
They leak fuel, it makes any other oil leaks worse as it makes a slurry that coats everything. I went to 10 indys and dealers and NONE of them would rebuild the unit with the $20 kit from Ebay (Bosch gasket kit) so I rebuilt it myself. Wasn't difficult.
The point of my post was simply to say try cleaning the engine and see if other leaks pop up...that will help you figure out where to look next.
Aha, I'm picking up what your putting down. Unfortunately my rebuilt kit from Latvia has been stuck in customs for a month... I was going to rebuild it due to a minuscule fuel leak. But we all know what minuscule amounts of diesel does.
Can't wait to power wash everything when it gets back.
Thanks.
Here are 2 diagrams, can someone point out what the offenders mentioned above are? I think they are orange judging by some pics I found but am having trouble narrowing down what seals I need to be looking at.
Number 80 is a seal ring and IIRC it is green. Number 230 is an orange silicone sleeve.
It took me circling the part on a diagram to get it from the dealer.
Not surprising. Parts guy told me "I don't know man we have seals everywhere not sure what to tell you".
ANYWAYS I was able to power wash about 90% of the oil out of the engine bay so I could take it home to study the remaining 10%.
I studied the intake tubing and everything seems fine so far (about 40 miles driven between washing and uninstalling). The only remaining oil was on the front of the block itself. Funny enough there was a small puddle of what looked like oil and diesel directly under the fuel pump. And by looking at the pictures it almost seems like the trail is coming from there and working it's way around the block then down. I wonder where the OIL is coming from though... The separator looks fine. I have heard that even if everything is sealed up well, if there is enough oil making it past the drain hole in the separator the oil will end up in the intercooler piping and somehow gets sprayed out into the area near alternator. (wouldn't that mean you have a boost leak?)
Here's some pics. I cleaned everything up after this and am taking a 400 mile round trip so I should have more data soon.
Hi all
Last week I changed the turbocharger for my ml320 CDI and put a new one . the boost was increased , would say , 20% and was fantastic but after flooring a couple times , I saw DZL was pouring form back of engine . No idea what is going on and if any easy fix or I have to see a shop and who know how much will coast me!!!!! . Any idea or similar problem . where should I start . any input would be great. Thanks
Reviving old thread..I had similar issue, 05 E320CDI, but after cleaning area and running car in idle I saw it was turbo oil hose leaking oil like crazy-where it goes into block.
Changed the oring(old one was hard as rock, no joke) and fixed easy after removing air filter assembly.
This leak got very bad over a week or so, just in idle it was leaking a constant stream, at highway speed would have lost quarts I am shure. The pic is after 20 seconds of just idle, after I cleaned previous oil. I would recommend anybody with a CDI order one of these orings, pn A023 997 8548, as this could leave you stranded waiting for a special order, it is a very fat oring for it's diameter, made out of a high temp silver compound. Every time I think of upgrading to a V6 Bluetec, something like this reminds me of how easy the I6 is to work on.
Last edited by diesel315; Nov 18, 2017 at 11:56 AM.
Reason: edits
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