CHADBANFORD

I have a 1992 MB 300e. :p
The car has about 160000 km on it.
my car burns around 1 Liter every 800 k
is it normal for these things to leak / burn a lot of oil?

Jackd

Your engine (103) has a well documented history of defective valve seals and/or valve guides at your mileage.
If you do not seee any major outside leak (front of engine, right/rear of engine) do not look any further.
It,s valve seals/guide time
JackD

bamberger_1

But there is on thing to consider, MB says 1-1.5 liters per 1000 km is within the "NORMAL" for higher milage cars. My experience is that the models '90 and younger have less problems with the valve stem seals. You can check this is you look at your spark plugs. If the stem seal are gone the plugs are greasy with alot of grime on them, and the idle speed tends to become unstable, as well as the pick up.
Normally the oil comsumption is a combination of burning oil due to valve stem/guide problems, worn piston rings and leaking on the front end. If only the stem seals are the problem the repair is quite reasonably priced. If the front end needs to be overhauled bigger $$$, if the piston rings need overhaul there is a lot more to do since the top of the engine is open => $$$$$.
If you loose 1,5 liters per 1000 km you dont need an oilchange anymore :-) which saves you some money, only a new filter once in a while, may be not even this, since the oil disappears before it's getting dirty.

Jackd

Piston rings problems at 160000Km would be an extremely rare occurence.
I had my valve seals replaced first at 120,000Km and the valve guides/seals replaces at 230,000km. Engine compression was still at original specification value at 230,000km with absolutely no sign of wear.
I would recommend to start with new valve stem seals (relatively cheap) and see the results.
JackD