Lots of oil in intercooler White smoke and run away TD4

Pulled My 2004 TD4 into driveway and turned off ignition. Car started revving and would not turn off. Lots of white smoke from exhaust... Ran for about a minute and then died. Started it a bit later, and still lots of white smoke. Read the forums, and everything pointed to the Turbo. Have removed the turbo and taken it to a Turbo shop. The shop says they can not find anything wrong with the Turbo. I removed the Crank case filter, and it is soaked in oil. The one intercooler Hose is filled with oil??? Where to start???

Thanks

change that filter also is the valve on that unit clogged up some people just change the filter and never think of the valve . and usually white smoke indicates turbo ,the running on would be caused by oil getting into the cylinders ,

Hi Teddy
Thanks for the reply!
Am going to replace the unit tomorrow. Will buy the new BMW version.
Should I be able to blow/suck through the small pipe on the top of the unit?
Mine does not seem to allow any air through in either direction.

TonyGra said:

Should I be able to blow/suck through the small pipe on the top of the unit?
Mine does not seem to allow any air through in either direction.

Click to expand...

The small pipe on the top only lets atmospheric pressure to the top of the diaphragm, so the valve can operate.

Thanks Longdog.

Could the oily filter be the cause of all the oil in the inter cooler pipe?
Seems like a lot of oil, as I only replaced the pipes about 2 months back, and I did not see so much oil in them then.

The "filter" gets blocked and leads to excess oil pressure, this usually blows through the seals in the turbo.
Loads on here about modified BMW valve.

Could the oily filter be the cause of all the oil in the inter cooler pipe?

Click to expand...

yeah ..
if the crankcase vent filter is clogged .. then pressure builds up in the crankcase ..
that pressure doesn't let the oil circulating in the turbo shaft return to the engine sump
.. and the turbo oil gets sucked into the air intake via the intercooler ..

if all is working as it should .. there still will be a small amount of oil in the intercooler ..
be in the form of a mist .. and pools normaly at the hose junctions ..

http://www.approvedturbo.com/articles/ATC-Oil-Leak-Troubleshooting.pdf

Turbocharger FAQ, VNT turbo FAQ, and turbo pictures

Ok!! Changed filter with new BMW filter. New Oil Filter, 6.8l of oil, new air filter. Refitted the turbo, as the Turbo specialist could not find any fault.
Started the car and everything went well..
No smoke while driving or on idle, and the car pulled very well....
2 Days later the same problem again. I checked the dipstick, and noticed that the oil level has increased dramatically. The oil is full of diesel. I checked the old oil that I removed , and it is also smells of diesel, in fact I removed about 10l of old oil.. Thought that maybe the garage had overfilled it on the last service. Not sure where the diesel is getting into the sump, as I have read on these forums that the HP pump does not have the seal which used to allow the diesel to enter the sump???

It is an 04 TD4 HSE with 142000Km

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Tony

Not sure where the diesel is getting into the sump

Click to expand...

most likely from a faulty injector ..

i.e. white smoke is unburnt diesel ..
( unless it's vaporized water .. unburnt diesel has a particular odour 'n irritates one's eyes )
if an injector was not closing when it should .. then the diesel would wash down into the sump .. plus there'd be unburnt fuel in the cylinder(s)

~~~~~~~~~

not quite sure how fuel would get to the sump via the h.p. pump ..
( have not looked into that possibility ) ..
someone else might know the answer to .. 'whether fuel could enter the sump from a leaking h.p. pump ? '
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

some info regarding injectors ..

http://store.dieselinjectorsuk.co.uk/how-clean-is-the-diesel-fuel-in-your-tank-en.html

http://store.dieselinjectorsuk.co.u...-heart-of-your-diesel-keep-them-clean-en.html

http://www.dieselinjectorsuk.co.uk/...ilter-could-be-a-hidden-enemy-in-your-engine/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

injector internals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-ZC1FaNDh0&list=PLDBD6F6115A398C07

How Bosch Piezoelectric Diesel Injector Works
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftchx1TDNJo&list=SPB3A65A2FFF22770A

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

one additive that combats water-in-diesel be 'diesel rhino' :

http://www.uniteddiesel.co.uk/diesel-fuel-treatment.php

http://www.dieselrhino.co.uk/

http://www.dieselrhino.co.uk/DR_Prod_Desc.pdf

http://www.dieselrhino.co.uk/Diesel_Rhino_CHIP.pdf

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

about 'diesel bug' ( bacteria )

info ..
http://www.penninepump.co.uk/the-diesel-bug.html

re. diesel bug .. be the slime/jelly-like substance in this sedimenter ..
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/1881953-post2.html

diesel bug and injectors ..
http://www.uniteddiesel.co.uk/tips_docs/Problems with fuel.pdf

Thanks for all the info hd3!
I will check the injectors. Just concerned at the rate at which the sump is filling with diesel. Would have expected the car to smoke at least when it runs if it is the injectors. The smoke only appears when the car starts to run on.

Would have expected the car to smoke at least when it runs if it is the injectors.

Click to expand...

true
would have thought it'd have other 'injector' symptoms as well ..
lumpy idle .. missing .. maybe unable to start ..

i guess some research about the h.p. pump is in order ..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

btw: some h.p.pump info on this page ..
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/andymacs/index.html

well .. looking at the oil circulation and h.p.pump diagrams ..

on the h.p.pump .. if fuel were to leak past the drive shaft ..
then in theory .. said fuel would end up in the engine oil sump

i.e. the h.p. pump is chain driven .. the chain is oiled by some jets ..
i guess that oil just drops back into the sump to recirculate ..

the h.p.pump internals depend on fuel for lubrication ..
must be a seal on the pump driveshaft .. if that were to leak ..
then leaked fuel would end up in the oil sump ..

btw: i was looking at diagrams on this .pdf
http://www.rover-club.net/graphics/manuals/16/m47r_diesel.pdf
~~~~~~~~~

i stand to be corrected on that ..
but to me .. the h.p.pump now looks like a possible culprit ..

btw : be a LZ thread or two on replacing / rebuilding that h.p.pump

Well rebuilding the pump wont be a average DIY job, your local diesel fuel injection shop need to do that, I think you are on the right track that the pump is the concern, you do need some special tools to remove it and some tools to keep the pump sprocket and chain in place while the pump is removed.

Thanks for all the assistance!
I am getting a Diesel mechanic who specializes in BMW diesels to take a look at it today. He says he knows this problem, as it is fairly common on the BMW's. Hope it is the pump, as this seems to be the cheaper option. The pump was only recently re-conditioned by Bosch Diesel, so maybe something small like a seal.

Will keep you informed.

Mechanic looked at the car tonight, no fault codes but seems 1 or 2 of the injectors are stuck open.. he is going to remove all 4 in the morning and take them to be refurbished/Exchanged. Car is hard to turn over now, but he suspects that is from the cylinders being full of diesel.. Will know more in the morning.

TonyGra said:

Ok!! Changed filter with new BMW filter. New Oil Filter, 6.8l of oil, new air filter. Refitted the turbo, as the Turbo specialist could not find any fault.
Started the car and everything went well..
No smoke while driving or on idle, and the car pulled very well....
2 Days later the same problem again. I checked the dipstick, and noticed that the oil level has increased dramatically. The oil is full of diesel. I checked the old oil that I removed , and it is also smells of diesel, in fact I removed about 10l of old oil.. Thought that maybe the garage had overfilled it on the last service. Not sure where the diesel is getting into the sump, as I have read on these forums that the HP pump does not have the seal which used to allow the diesel to enter the sump???

It is an 04 TD4 HSE with 142000Km

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Tony

Click to expand...

as i said before back in 2010 on a simaler problem, i think all chain driven hp pumps must have a seal to prevent diesel leak into the sump via the drive shaft so this could be your problem.i think injectors sticking open would cause alot of starting and running problems with low pressure fault codes.im only going on past experience but i may be wrong