I have my turbo disconnected from the intake as of the moment... testing the engine at high idle... I can see oil crawling up the tube, breather tube also disconnected, no apparent bearing play. Is this normal? Engine not up to temp yet if that matters.

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85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project

Sounds like you need to rebuild the turbo.

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1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

If it's a sure sign of a need to rebuild I will. What amount of oil is acceptable? Or should there be ZERO oil present at the outlet?

__________________

85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project

And yeah... checked the axial play... there is a wee bit of up/down/left/right play...

__________________

85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project

Just wondering... since my turbo is not connected to the intake... it is vented into atmosphere... there really isn't any pressure AT ALL inside the turbo, so could this be why oil is snaking up out the turbo? Maybe the oil will lessen once there is pressure inside the turbo. Opinions? I'm just pondering posibilities coz I 'd like to avoid a rebuild if it isn't really necessary at this point.

__________________

85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project

I've never seen any reference to this particular issue on the forum in the 11 years I've been on here. You may be the first person to look down that tube with the engine running. There have been a number of cases in which the dipstick has blown out and oil has been expelled all over the engine compartment so I'm thinking that it's not unusual for oil to creep up all three tubes---dip, turbo and separator. How much oil is in the crankcase and does it make a difference if you remove the oil fill cap? Have you looked to see if it is climbing up the dipstick tube also?

Does the turbo tube have a check valve on it? If it does, maybe it's not working.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

up/down/left/right play is normal, the turbo has sleeve bearings. in/out play is not normal, and should be rebuilt if it's present!
if the oil is minimal, and creeping around inside the housing, it could just be from blowby left over in there. if it's a stream of oil, then yeah that's a problem.
you could spray brake cleaner in there and clean it all out.( BE CAREFUL NOT TO GET IT IN THE INTAKE OF THE ENGINE!!!!! this can lead to a massive runaway/explosion of the engine situation!!!

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Take the housing off(only 6 bolts), clean it up, put it back on and see if you still have oil running around. If so, it's a leaking turbo seal and you will want to keep an eye on it. Like vstech said, it can cause a runaway if it leaks too much.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
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No merc at the moment

There is absolutely no fore/aft play. ANd no oil snaking up the dipstick. In fact I think the engine is in good condition. There is not much coming out of the breather hose(also vented to atmosphere), unlike my previous very reliable 603. And it starts right up even without glow plug assist. (warm engine)
The oil isn't puking out the turbo even when revving hard, you'll just know it's there because oil pools at the mouth flange and eventually get blown off, scattering small oil droplets within the area.

The turbo outlet is pretty clean, it's not gunked up in any way, and doesn't look oil soaked.

What's a more reliable way to tell if the turbo needs a rebuild? Connect it and just watch my oil consumption and tailpipe activity?

__________________

85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project

Oil at the turbo outlet (or intake inlet) is just a sign that either the bearing/bushing and/or seals are worn in the turbo. Oil is pumped (under pressure) into the center section of the turbo housing and if one of those is worn, then oil gets by the seals. I usually have a little bit of oil on the outlet when I remove the intake "u-tube". My engine/turbo has 200k+ miles on it (also ~1/16" of play left/right/up/down) so I'm not concerned... it generally doesn't burn that much oil.

I would just hook up a boost gauge to the intake, verify full boost (in 3rd gear, 3k RPM, full load, full throttle) to be around 8-12 psi. If the car doesn't burn too much oil, then don't worry about it. If your anal then rebuild the turbo.

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Thanks, I'll be hooking it up, will just see gauge how the oil consumption fares.

__________________

85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project