Diesel in oil C220 CDI

[oxygenplasma]

Bought the car in February, a '99 C220 CDI with 98k Miles. Had it serviced by an independant including oil change straight away. Soon after I noticed a large cloud of black smoke when I put the foot down overtaking so I checked the oil and found it just above the high mark. Figured it had been overfilled so drained a little oil to just below the hi mark. 3 k miles later it's above the high mark again. Changed the oil and replaced thermostat as she was running cold, 60 degrees. Engine now runs at 80 but the smoke on kickdown is still there, monitoring the oil level. Spoke to a Bosh injector specialist who doubts the diesel in oil or smoke is injector related. He suggested the EGR for smoke and pump seals for diesel.

 

[Sprint'n'Go]

Just a thought, Has your can been performance chipped prior to your ownership? I am highly dubious of such procedures as the increase in fueling can often lead to smoking and perhaps in some cases the unburnt fuel could also find its way past the rings and into the oil? This is just a theory of my own and not necessarily fact. You can usualy guess which cars have been chipped as when they they accelarate away from you on the motorway they leave in a cloud of smoke, this is often very new cars that should be running perfectly cleanly.

I doubt if the oil being marginaly over the max mark(maybe 3-4mm) would cause smoking. There are companies out there that will carry out an oil analysis for between £20-30 and this will show up diesel in the oil amongst other things but if the level is rising I don't know what else it could be.

I suppose you would struggle to know if your car has been upgraded by one of the re-map type companies, but the other method of plug in boxes may be more obvious.

Does anyone have an opinion on the performance chip upgrade argument? I know some of the companies have been around a long time and seem quite respectable (I remember the Sierra Cosworth's from my teen years and Superchips appeared to be the buzz word at the time and has now almost become the generic term for the upgrade market). With the explosion of the upgrade market in recent years there must be some cowboys out there peddaling some dodgy software and products or are they all selling a fast route to engine failure?

 

[mioba]

diesle in oil, w.r.t to the chip mods, could it not just be a tuning problem

 

[psmart]

Just a thought, Has your can been performance chipped prior to your ownership? I am highly dubious of such procedures as the increase in fueling can often lead to smoking and perhaps in some cases the unburnt fuel could also find its way past the rings and into the oil? This is just a theory of my own and not necessarily fact. You can usualy guess which cars have been chipped as when they they accelarate away from you on the motorway they leave in a cloud of smoke, this is often very new cars that should be running perfectly cleanly.

I suppose you would struggle to know if your car has been upgraded by one of the re-map type companies, but the other method of plug in boxes may be more obvious.

Does anyone have an opinion on the performance chip upgrade argument? I know some of the companies have been around a long time and seem quite respectable (I remember the Sierra Cosworth's from my teen years and Superchips appeared to be the buzz word at the time and has now almost become the generic term for the upgrade market). With the explosion of the upgrade market in recent years there must be some cowboys out there peddaling some dodgy software and products or are they all selling a fast route to engine failure?

I've had all my cars chipped, MG Montego Turbo, RS Turbo, Sierra Cosworth and I've performanced tuned my SDI VDP and Skoda (big bore, skimmed head, polished valves, K&N etc) and to be frank, all were unreliable and cost me a fortune, albeit for sheer power, they were potentially worth it.

I just had my ML re-mapped professionally and it DOES push out a cloud of black smoke the moment you boot it, but soon dissappears. Given that the car running gear (box, transfer case etc) are rated to much higher power levels (ML400,500) I cant see potential for any damage here. Will give a full feedback thread once my car exhaust seal has been repaired and I've fully investigated the remod (I have the gear to switch back and forth: http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=18261)

oxygenplasma - get your car checked over, if there is any possibility that a seal on the turbo/inlet area is at fault, you could be in for the ride of your lifetime, literally. Diesel runaway! Before having the car re-mapped, I experienced 2 very unnerving episodes when the car when into hyperdrive and I couldnt stop it, other than slamming on the brakes and praying!

 

[oxygenplasma]

Just failed the NCT today for emissions (smoke). Came in at 6.65 and needs to be under 3. Have booked it into a specialist tomorrow. Read some other posts after the test failure and it looks like the "grand theft auto" drive just before the test is highly recommended. I had driven it for 45 minutes but never floored it.
I have been looking at a couple of items under the bonnet, both vacuum driven, one at the bottom of the turbo, which I assume is the wastegate valve, it seems to operate o.k. The other unit is on the air inlet side but while I can move it by hand, pulling vacuum on the tube doesn't seem to move it. Is this the EGR, if so where does the exhaust go in.
+

 

[Sprint'n'Go]

Just failed the NCT today for emissions (smoke). Came in at 6.65 and needs to be under 3. Have booked it into a specialist tomorrow. Read some other posts after the test failure and it looks like the "grand theft auto" drive just before the test is highly recommended. I had driven it for 45 minutes but never floored it.

Hi Oxygen

I don't think the old 'Italian Tune-up, would be enough to get the emmissions down by the amount required here. I know you have had a recent service but was the air filter changed? some workshops do not change these as a matter of course as they are not included in schedule for every service with many engines. Pop it out and have a look, hoover out the housing and if you have any doubt, change it anyway. This is why some Shysters take out the air filter when selling older cars as it helps clean up the exhaust emmissions for the MOT and prospective purchasers!