I have noticed that my 87 300d is smoking a bit in the morning, blue smoke, and it's pretty noticeable. Once I have driven the car for a bit there is no smoke that I can see. I started noticing the car smoking at warm up pretty soon after I noticed that there is an oil leak at the intake manifold gasket in cylinder #1...could this be a likely cause of my smoking issues? Bahrain, no smoke once the car has warmed up...

Your issue could be a leaking turbo seal. After turning the car off, oil seeps through and soaks the turbine blades and exhaust pipe; then on start-up it burns off. The leaking isn't noticeable during normal operation because there isn't enough leaking through to coat the blades and burn blue.

My wife's POS Saab had that exact issue big-time. I rebuilt it with a kit off EBay and it worked just fine, until the damn alternator burned out - for the FOURTH TIME!

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Peach Parts W124.128 User Group.

80 280SL
85 300SD
87 300TD
92 300D 2.5 Turbo
92 300TE 4Matic

Thanks! How would I be able to diagnose a leaking turbo seal? Where is the seal located?

Your Turbo has a seal on the compressor side and another one on the exhaust side.

For the exhaust side you need to remove the Pipe that clamps onto the turbo and take a look inside. If there is a leak the Carbon will be shiny and wet looking although it may not feel wet. If no leak the Carbon will look be a non-shiny flat black color.

On the compressor side you likely need to remove stuff so you can get a look at the compressor wheel or look in the intake manifold for Oil. However, your crankcase vent system can bring oil into the turbo so it is kind of a subjective judgment.

If you can get a good hold on either the Turbine Wheel of the Turbo on the exhaust side or the Compressor Wheel in the intake side and see how much end and side play there is.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Thanks! On the compressor side, I removed the charge air pipe a few weeks ago, there was black crud from the Egr on up, but below the Egr was very clean (it connects to the turbo there).

Lastly, when you referenced the pipe that clamps on to the turbo, you were talking about the big pipe that, eventually leads to the muffler and not the pipe that replaced the trap oxidizer, correct?

I am also trying to isolate whether or not this leak is from my leaking intake manifold gasket, possible valve stem seals, or the turbo. A little tricky!

Also, my turbo is p/n 5326-101-5294. I am assuming this is a KKK k24 turbo.

I got smoke at start-up when I had a bad glow plug ('98 E300dt). The smoke stops as soon as all cylinders are firing. Also, there is rough idle for a short period.

I had lots more smoke when a second one went bad with very rough running for ten or more seconds.

Hmmm, I don't think it is a glow plug...the idle is fine and smooth right on start up (thank you after glow mod!)...

Here is a link to the video I shot, it right after I started it in the morning. Again, all that smoke goes away when warm, but will return after 20 minutes or so, not as heavy as in the video, but still present slightly.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=em-upload_owner&v=3FoGUlGCvpY

If it is the turbo seals, when should I be worried and get it fixed (turbo rebuild I assume).

If it is the valve stem seals, again, when should I become concerned? Thanks for the help!

After looking at your video, I think you are probably right about the glow plugs. I had more smoke -- smoke that I could see in the rear view mirror even with one bad one.

I own a W123. I am not sure what the setup is on yours. However, you need to remove what it takes to get at the exhaust outlet.

On mine there is a small Plate on the back side of the Compressor Housing that has the model number and maker of the Turbo on it. But, mine is a Garrette (Air Research) Turbo.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

This site claims to have a pic of a KKK turbo.
https://www.benzbonz.biz/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=48_43&products_id=1443

Below is a pic of the Tag/Plate and it has KKK on it. Does your tag have the KKK on it?

Attached Thumbnails

 

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Ill have to take a look! If the smoke is indeed from a leaking turbo seal, at what point should I be concerned? I think that rebuilding the turbo will be quite expensive...

Check the archives for all sorts of info on doing this.... I was surprise at how easy and relatively cheap it was...

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1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/10414-help-i-need-check-stretch.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

The problem of an oil seal (essentially a copper bushing) leak also reflects a widening of the turbo shaft bushing tolerance. That can result in a but of wobble and corresponding blade damage. This happened on the POS Saab.

Click on the picture for a video.

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http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...aman/Fleet.jpg

Peach Parts W124.128 User Group.

80 280SL
85 300SD
87 300TD
92 300D 2.5 Turbo
92 300TE 4Matic

So I investigated the turbo...I removed the big air hose on the front of the turbo and the compressor side was very clean. There was a little bit of oil, not very much, but I attribute that to the little bit of blow by I have.

Next, I checked for axial play and back/forward play on the turbine shaft and there was none, not even slight movement as far as I could tell and I spent a little bit trying to be sure.

Lastly, I tried removing the big pipe on the exhaust side of the compressor, the pipe that leads, eventually, to the muffler. I got the three nuts off of the bracket that connects the exhaust pipe to the big bellows that attaches to the turbo, but I could not remove the pipe for the life of me...is there a trick to it?

Is there a relationship between a leaking seal and play in the shaft? Since I had no play whatsoever, can it be a safe bet that the seals are ok? Or should I still try to get that pipe off and look at the exhaust side of the turbo?

Needless to say I was very happy to find absolutely no play in the turbine shaft . Still need to figure out what is causing it to smoke in the morning...thank you for all the help!

Also, it is definitely a KKK turbo, and it is almost exactly the same number as the pic diesel911 posted . Funny how that works!