Car Burning Oil

jamieh

Hi all,

The engine warning light is on in my car.

It seems to be burning oil, I put a litre in and it's only 1/4 full.

Can be a bit of blue smoke out the exhaust when I acclerate.

What could be wrong?

Midnight_EG

Piston rings/valve seals?

Nissan doctor

What car is it first?


Without any further details, It may be that your valve stem seals are gone and the burning oil has caused a lambda sensor fault.

If it was piston rings the car would be hard to start when cold and you woulc likley also have high crankcase pressure causing the dip stick to be blown up from the tube.

jamieh

Hi lads,

It's a 2005 BMW 320Cd.

I replaced the maf as the old one was faulty - probably not connected tho.

There's no problem starting it, although it does rev a little bit from a cold start.

Are piston rings/valve seals a big/expensive job?

Nissan doctor

My above suggestion was based on it being an older petrol car.

A newer diesel car like that is more likely to be a sensor problem causing running issues, if the light is on a diagnostic test is the quickest way to find the problem..

jamieh

I've ran a diagnostic on it but there's three unknown faults.

Will prob have to take it to a main dealer to get a BMW specific diagnostic.

What type of sensor could it be?

peasant

Top of the list of usual suspects in a diesel that burns lots of oil is the turbo.
Bearings going/gone letting oil into the exhaust and/or intake tract.
Get it checked fairly smartly. A new turbo aint cheap, but a turbo desintegrating at full spin and getting ingested into the engine in parts gets veeeery expensive.

Nissan doctor

You need an OBD code reader that has vehicle specific codes and not just the generic eobd codes.

Turbo could be an issue alright but a breather pipes and the likes of air recirc valves etc are always giving trouble on BMW's and can lead to excess oil being dubmped in to the intake tract as well as filling the intercooler with oil residue.

Dunne.Drift

peasant wrote: »

Top of the list of usual suspects in a diesel that burns lots of oil is the turbo.
Bearings going/gone letting oil into the exhaust and/or intake tract.

Not sure about the 320d bmw but i know the 530d, there turbos give trouble and its a replace job when they give trouble unfortunally.

jamieh

Thanks for the advice...hopefully it's no the turbo!

Do ye know if main dealers charge much just to run a diagnostic?

Nissan doctor

jamieh wrote: »

Thanks for the advice...hopefully it's no the turbo!

Do ye know if main dealers charge much just to run a diagnostic?

Usually a main dealer are going to charge €40-€60 just to check it. There are many independant garages that will have the correct diagnostic equipment though..

jamieh

Oh right cool!

I thought I'd have to go to a main dealer to get BMW codes.

Thanks a mill!

Captain Slow IRL

The blue smoke could be a sign that your oil seperator is blocked - when is the last time it was changed? (it should be changed, ideally, with every air filter change)

Mr Benevolent

Those BMW 2L diesels really are getting a bad rep.

first thing to do is to get more oil in her, better still dont drive it until you sort the issue

jamieh

Hi lads,

Just have a look at the 3 unknown codes online.

Two of them are Air Flow meter related - which was replaced on Friday so maybe they just need to be cleared??

And the third fault is the intake air temperature sensor.

BMW forums are saying that it could be the oil breather??

It's due a service in 1000 miles so maybe it could be just something simple