So. I have a 2008 gl320 cdi which has been leaving larger puddles. There is a lot of oil that I can see on the front of the engine. The source of the leak is where the charge pipe meets the resonator delete pipe. I can wipe dry and after a short drive it is noticeably wet behind. I brought to a shop to replace the o-ring. They called and said the valley is full and the leak is the oil cooler. And were not interested in replacing the seal but doing the oil cooler replacement. I don’t doubt there may be a leak but I wanted to see how much this front leak is contributing.

also concerned with how much oil being pushed through the seal. Possibly failing ccv. I replaced 50k who or an issue with turbo seals.

anyone replace this seal?

 

You should have to install oil catch can. You don't want to have oil in your intake, if the oil will mix with the soot from EGR it's become very nasty sludge and can clog intake manifold.

 

yup. True. My egr is off with a gde tune. I plan to eventually go with a complete egr delete. At that time I will likely plumb in a catch can with a lot of plumbing removed.

mostly curious if anyone else had a major leak at the intake gasket. I honestly don’t recall wheather there was a seal with the resonator delete. I will change myself when I set back up a spot to work . Just moved and all in storage.

 

When orange turbo seal from plastic MAF intake allows oil vapor returning from CCV to condensate & drip onto swirl-flap motor, turbo pedestal & then into valley around oil cooler, it will resemble an oil cooler leak but must imho use brake cleaner & compressed air to clean out these areas of residual oil then monitor closely after drive cycles. Most likely that is where origins of leak actually will be as CCV design is fail from factory apparently so oil vapors get injected directly into air intake circuit via turbo. Turbo seal is $15 for new OEM & should be replaced anytime that plastic intake is removed or disturbed as seal will be lost, regardless of apparent condition of original it WILL leak no matter how much tightening is done to plastic collar around seal, it too is brittle & pieces of it can break off & fall into valley where they become malleable tar babies from repeated heat cycles & can plug up valley weep hole worst case scenario. & worse still orange seal may become brittle from heat cycles & start to crumble & get ingested by turbo impeller or worse even bend impeller blades. Oil from CCV cascade will eventually appear in weep hole from valley like oil cooler does so most mechanics don't investigate further, hoping to score the big job. This is not to say that oil cooler seals that aren't new purple vitons can & do fail so should be replaced at some point. The whole engine must be monitored constantly & meticulously for leaks, it's slightly worse than Congress. Leaks in the front usually sling into serpentine belt so oil flings everywhere but filter housing where it bolts onto front cover is where mine was leaking, seal is part# 642 184 0080 . There is a 2nd seal on this housing that dealerships don't stock but is part# 6421801410 & it leaks too however on mine I decided to lay a nice bead of JB weld around entire seam there while it was out on my table & happy to report 10k service miles later still holding up nicely. Change oil @5k intervals & filters @2.5k for best results imho as interrupted DPF regen cycles will dilute oil & cause sludge to build up inside engine from EGR soot. 10k intervals too long for this engine.

 

I much appreciate your response. It is entirely true and will help someone without a doubt in the future. I did notice the
seal from the CCV to the intake was out of place recently and probably did leak into the valley. I am going to replace the CCV again to rule out cause of excessive oil in the intercooler pipe. Other then that it must be the turbo or engine. I replace 50k ago due to smell as oil was seeping and burning off from it. Possibly just the diaphragm is defective pulling oil in. Also I will change the oring/seal at the charge pipe/resonator. That is definitely the the source of the oil leak. As it is wet on the the back side. This is the highest point of oil. I had the oil housing replaced and it is dirty but not wet. The oil is being slung some from the belt and resembles the oil housing leak.

It would be nice if I could just change the diaphragm rather then the whole CCV as I did on daughters Jetta since it was more of a procedure and expense.

any know the the part number for the oring in question? Also more then one?

Thank you
Steve

 

I'm fairly certain that the clip above the red cicle is supposed to be in the groove that the red circle outlines. Resonator delete may not be inserted all the way in the upper charge air tube.

 

I don’t think so unless it moved. Plus there is a secured hex bolt. This has been installed for probably 50k or more also.

Be honest which I did not mention is that I drive this SUV more like a car. I often accelerate rapidly so possibly that has heated things up a bit wearing out gaskets or diaphrams. 😬

 

If the CCV is bad causing a good bit of oil to be pulled into the intake. Is it possible to be leaking anywhere other the the orange seal if loose or the charge pipe where I am getting the leak? Curious if pushed into the intake it could find its way out dripping down appearing as an oil cooler leak?

My current plan is to have the CCV and seal on intake replaced and see if the leak slows. If not not the proceed to replace cooler and modify/Clean the components.

EDIT. I raised and inspected I am assuming rear weep hole and there is definitely a leak from there as well as what appears inside the bell housing. Reading through another similar thread. A poster had a similar leak. He tore down assuming oil cooler. He changed the pcv also at the time. But noted a definite leak at the turbo/pedestal oring. Which I would assume drip into the valley. Curious if a bad CCV would push oil out here as well.

 

I replaced the CCV today. It had 50k miles and was definitely failed. The diaphragm was definitively stuck to the cap. So the valve was stuck open. It was not the OEM brand. I saw it on a YouTube video. Started with a V, although not sure if it mattered. I will probably start changing on a more regular basis. If it was the culprit the oil leak should gradually shrink.

i would bet there are many coolers changed when the real issue is the CCV. I will report back after few weeks and report

is there a easy way to flush out the oil cooler valley?

steve.