Cabadiesel

Looking for help on an oil leak that I haven’t been able to track down
Car runs normal as it always has. Has 197,000 miles with all services up to date. Oil is leaking from passenger side of the motor some oil on turbo Inter cooler charge pipe
never had an issue like this out of 5 diésel Mercedes

thanks for your help

Plutoe

you have two posts on the subject with little or no help and as you have experienced there are many places that a leak could/can occur. My suggestion is put the car on a lift and carefully search for the leak other that that go to a professional diesel wrench

John CC

Clean it off (Simple Green and a garden hose works well) and then keep a close eye on it. Repeat as necessary until you figure out where it's coming from.

Cabadiesel

Agree that there could be endless possibilities for an oil leak. I found a puddle under the vehicle a week ago and found the oil line feeding the turbo leaking heavily. Replaced the gasket on that and cleaned everything I could. The block is shinny black so even ran bare hands to verify. I did see a little exhaust leak which I should address as well. Could see tiny air bubbles while at idle as I laid under the car while it was running but nothing running down the block that would reach the ground.
I believe it could be coming from the turbo but only signs are a wet cooler pipe. Should there be oil in this pipe? What other indicators should I use to rule out the turbo?
i appreciate your feedback. We are all busy in this world and taking the time to help these days is nothing short of a miracle
thank you

kajtek1

Couple of home remedies to pinpoint oil leak after cleaning the engine
1, wrap the area with paper towels
2. spray baby powder around.

Cabadiesel

Appreciate the tip
It’s driving me crazy
the felt that covers my oil pan is saturated but can’t see where it’s coming from.
I hope to report back that it has been discovered

sand8

Is your alternator also covered in oil? If so, it may be the turbo oil feed line O-ring getting hard and not sealing properly. This is located under the intact to engine block and secured with one torx bolt. Since this is a hardline from the engine block to turbo, you need to remove the complete hardline in order to replace the O-ring on the engine block side. The turbo side is using copper washer, so be careful not to drop it!

Cabadiesel

Thanks for mentioning, when I first went looking I did have a leak there and purchased the o ring and two copper washers. Cleaned everything up and a week later had a puddle underneath the car again. Checked the hard line and it was dry and clean. I then left the covers/skid plates off and found it leaking at the back of the oil pan.
i also talked to an indy yesterday and he says he has seen this before. Oil cooler seals. He said it leaks down the back of the oil pan sometimes even giving the impression of a rear main seal. Going to attempt to replace the seal and report back.

kajtek1

Oil cooler seals are common on OM642 engine, but I guess they can fail everywhere.

Quint22

Almost 20 yr old o-rings can leak and usually end up doing so. No fault of the engine just what happens with age.

Cabadiesel

Going to try oil cooler seals today. I will try to document as much as possible just in case this solves the problem.
I really appreciate everyone’s input.

Cabadiesel

Wanted to respond and thank everyone who responded.
last weekend I dove into the oil cooler seal. This wasn’t a very hard but by no means easy. Just takes attention to detail. I apologize for not taking photos to document but I think I will do a write up and post.
After replacing the seals, I degreased and degreased and after that wiped everything down.
my wife drove the car daily while I was out of town. I did not put the covers on to see if would leak and it hasn’t leaked all week but I am getting a little tiny drip off the turbo so I will figure that out next. But looks like the major leak has stopped.
Thanks a lot for following

Cabadiesel

Looks like the oil leak is still there. It “seems” to be coming off the the front of the motor either around the fuel pump of water pump?
From there it is running down the oil pan and getting some around the alternator
I am going to start a another post to see what response I can get
Thank

DennisG01

Don't start a new post - that's inefficient for you and , especially, anyone that is helping. Keep this thread going - otherwise we have to start all over with recommendations. People have put their own free time into offering suggestions - you don't want ask them to have to go and do it again.

As noted above, get everything cleaned up and degreased really well - REALLY well. Then monitor closely. If you do that, you should be able to find the source. Simple Green or any other degreaser will do the job - but you might have to scrub with a brush or rag a bit to get it good.

Cabadiesel

Sorry for starting another post. I see where this could be inefficient for those trying to help
I had done extensive degreasing and come back after a week and seen where it was leaking from the front of the motor. My estimation is around the bottom of the fuel pump or is there a front main seal? That is why I guess I started another thread.
Sorry for wasting anyone’s time on this

DennisG01

You're good

It's just nice to have all the info (including what's been tried/done already) in one spot.

Without having my engine in front of me to look, I would say it sounds like you've got it narrowed down - which is good. Maybe degrease again and then monitor even more closely.

John CC

Clean it off and run it for a few minutes, then check. If nothing, take a short trip, then check again. Keep it up until you spot some oil.

If you blow some talc on the area it will stick to the smallest oil leak.

Quint22

You can also get dye and a UV light for like $20 or so, dealers use this method alot.

sand8

When I was repairing the turbo oil line as mentioned earlier, the new O-ring I put on get cut which I didn't see (since the exhaust manifold in blocking the view). So, the oil leak still present. 2 x O-ring later, I found out the engine block where the O-ring slide in was very sharp around the edges that cut the O-ring. After spending time filing it and smooth out the edges, only then the O-ring stayed on without any issue. Hence the oil leak stop.

ot1

I had an oil leak, and a tough time finding it months went by, then I realized after cleaning all the oil up as it was always everywhere, only after a 30 minute drive get back under and look. And so the dip tube on the left side at the oil pan was leaking, the O-ring had a nick in it. OM648

Cabadiesel

Thank you!
I have not checked there yet nor have I thought of it.
I will check tomorrow