Hi,
So i finally had the time to check if the drain hole by the oil cooler is plugged or not. Seems to be fine. Must be an oil cooler leak.

Wanted to do the oil cooler and oil change together and checked on the last dealer oil change.

NOTICED THAT DEALER SWITCHED TO 0W30 on my last oil change and oil leak happened shortly after that!!

Possible that I could switch back to 5W40 and not have the oil leak any more.
What are your thoughts on that.

Regards
Heiko

 

So the oil is or is not coming from the weep hole?

 

Yes. Oil is coming out of the drain hole. But wife was saying that it seems it's less than 2 weeks ago. Maybe 1-2 drops after each trip.

I'll keep an eye on it and fix it once it gets worse or in Summer as a preventative when I have more time. Working 14/7 doesn't allow for lots of time in the garage.

 

One or two drops a drive, it gets a piece of cardboard under the car.

 

Oil viscosity has little to do with a leak from the oil cooler seal. Once at operating temp, there would be little difference between the two. One thing to check is the orange seal between the air intake "batwing" to the turbo inlet. This was mentioned earlier in this thread and I wish I had paid attention to it. It is easy to tear when reinstalling after a air filter change, and if torn will allow oil to leak slowly down into the V to the point where it will accumulate and exit via the weep hole - making all appearances like there is a seal leak.

Remove the cover and look at the top of the butterfly valve actuator. It is above the oil cooler, and if covered in oil, you might have a cheap fix on your hands.

 

Since changing the oil cooler seals is a massive job, has anyone attempted a more simple work around for the oil spill?

I was thinking of plugging in a plastic tube into the engine sweep hole and then to collect the oil spill in a container to be emptied every 3 months or so...Anyone tried this??

 

I'm thinking I'm doing this job soon. Pelican has a gasket kit:

Notes: Contains: (1) 642-142-18-80 EGR Gasket (1) 642-142-06-81 Exhaust Flange Gasket (1) 219-492-00-80 Exhaust Gasket (1) 642-142-31-80 Turbo Gasket (1) 642-142-32-80 Turbo Gasket (1) 014-997-49-45 Exhaust Seal Ring (2) 642-188-04-80 Oil Cooler Seals (1) 014-997-64-45 Exhaust Seal Ring (1) 013-997-00-45 Intake Manifold Seal (6) 000-078-05-80 Injector Seals (2) 642-141-05-80 Intake Manifold Gaskets (1) 642-141-00-80 Gasket,

Is all this necessary? It's $115.

 

Yes, those are necessary. I probably purchased more than I should but I'm also replacing the oil filter, fuel filter, air filters. I purchased some different seals, gaskets, bolts and other items that people recommend on posts that I came across. So far my husband and I have removed the turbo, or should I say he removed the turbo! And it was a pain! Next is the intake manifold. Once we get that out I can post a list of items that we replaced.

I also saved instructions from WIS (PDF's), $160 for a one week subscription was the best money I ever spent! If anyone would like a copy I would be more than happy to email them to you, just PM me.

Any advice on removing the carbon build up? EGR valve, intake nanifold.... what else will have carbon build up that you can remove yourself? And I apologize, this is the first time I have ever worked on any vehicle besides an oil change and replacing break pads. When the dealer quoted me $3,100 to replace the oil cooler, oil cooler seals and turbo inlet seal I laughed after I found out how much parts were. Honestly, the dealer will never touch my vehicle again. If I can understand directions from WIS, anyone can! This job is extremely time consuming and meticulous, but it's totally do-able.

 

Hi Andy I have the same cable and look everywhere and has not been able to find the plug, look by the alternator and couldn't find it either, can you please post a picture with the location, thank you for your help in advance

 

Anyone known if you can replace the swirl motor without taking the intake manifold apart? Would turbo and fuel filter removal give you enough access?

I have read DIYs in the sprinter forum where swirl motor is reattached after intake manifold is reassembled..

 

After you remove the turbo, fuel filter and fuel cross feed line, you should be able to access it by loosening the bolts holding the wire harness and swinging it aside. When disconnecting the valve actuators, be careful not to lose the small spring which pre-loads the valves. Be gentle with them as they are plastic and may be brittle. These are NOT replaceable. Break them and MB's solution will be to sell you an new intake manifold! You will have to replace the (2?) clips (#09398) that connect the acutator arm to the intake port shut off linkages. Be sure to replace (not re-use) any of the crush gaskets on your turbo, and exhaust manifolds.

 

Thanks! That is what I thought. ID parts have the best prices and decent selection of parts for diesel motors. What are the the (2?) clips (#09398) that connect the acutator arm to the intake port shut off linkages? This?

I am also replacing turbo bolts and also other bolts for down pipe and egr elbow..

 

The clips above connects to the manifold ball socket with the swirl motor arms right?

 

ID parts has an excellent kit for the OM642 oil seal repair. The kit is here, but the clips need to be ordered separately. They only cost a few bucks and can be found at the bottom of the page. I used this kit and everything was OEM quality and worked perfectly!

https://www.idparts.com/oil-cooler-s...42-p-5146.html

 

Thanks. Got these turbo exhaust bolts as well. It should not be too bad.

My flex head bent handle ratchet is going to be very handy for this..

 

I was looking for an excuse to buy one of those.

 

Here is a pretty good look at it. Starts at 10:30...

 

AllDataDIY? I used that service for a month. Their manuals are wrong for my 2009 ML550. I said I wanted a refund and they refused, saying all they do is publish mfg data. I told them I could care less about their issues with their suppliers and disputed the charge with AMEX. End of story, got the charge reversed.

 

When mine started leaking, it leaked out 4 quarts between the time a neighbor pointed out the leak, and the time I got home - about 5 miles. A bucket and hose would have worked, if (1) I could have figured out how to attach a big-enough hose to the little tiny weep hole, which comes straight out of the block, and (2) I was able to stop every 4 miles and dump the accumulation back into the motor. If yours is a very slow leak, a few drops per day, use cardboard on the garage floor, but be ready for it to turn into a gusher. I wouldn't take that risk - a gusher can ruin your engine in a very few (10?) miles.

 

Was yours just the seal, or a failed cooler?

 

N Jay -

Don't know, yet. I'm still in the process of taking it apart. The gaskets from ID Parts cost about $120 with shipping (I already ordered them), and the oil cooler is only another $157, so I'll find out as I go along. The difference in price is very small, when considering the 10+ hours I expect to spend on the total repair.

 

Interested in what you find. Hard to believe that a failed seal could leak that much.

 

Replace the swirl motor and the 4 clips also. Otherwise you will have to go back in it again for that. My oil cooler was replaced under warranty last year and suspect the passenger side clip of the swirl motor arm now have broken off. Possibly weakened during reassembly by the dealership tech. Tech also caused a leak in one of my injectors laying on top of the motor while taking it apart. Fuel was leaking pretty good and only noticed it when raining. It could have easily turned into a case of black death.

I got a good look at it this last weekend to go back in. Use a deep female torx to get at the turbo bolts is what I gathered due to space limitations. You will need it to remove the turbo air to IC metal pipe long bolt which holds the plastic engine cover as well. I ended up using a 10mm closed wrench but a deep socket torx is the right tool.

VIM Tools VDE418 11-Piece Deep Torx Socket Set
Some details on turbo removal tricks and tips would be greatly appreciated on the GL and ML specifics.

Have to go back in myself and fix it at some point now out of warranty. Did emissions a few months back so I have 18 months to get back in there and sort it out.

 

FWIW I used these and had no problems with stripped bolts etc. Just make sure the tool is squarely seated before applying torque.
BTW, I think 10 hours is being pretty optimistic. Plan on nearly double that after cleaning the manifold, EGR, intake, etc.

IRT turbo R&R, if your gasket between the pedestal and turbo has two holes, you can clip it onto either the pedestal or the base of the turbo prior to installing. Clipping it onto the turbo will make it a LOT easier. I put the gasket onto the pedestal and it caused a lot of grief when it kept being knocked off. One other thing - be careful not to damage the fuel rail pressure sender on the back of the RH fuel rail. They cost a fortune, but FYI the sensor from a 3500 Sprinter is exactly the same - just different numbers - so MB can gouge of course...

 

^I went around it with sockets and extensions this past weekend. The passenger side top turbo exhaust bolt using with your sockets pictured and small extension was a problem with my flex head bent handle ratchet. The ratchet head would hit against the elbow and not give me a firm seat on the bolt. A longer extension would hit the firewall.

I did not remove the center piece cowl though. Maybe removing the center piece is required. And I need to come up with a new combo length that fits in between which is why I am thinking a deep well torx socket..