TD5 Burning Oil??

This has got me scratching my head a bit, so would welcome any comments or observations regarding my 1999 TD5 Disco 2 with 203k miles

I noticed about a week ago that it was smoking rather a bit. This is not in the manner of a real smokescreen but when stationary you can see and smell smoke wafting arround. I would best describe it as "blue smoke" most noticable when engine is idling. Have checked the oil level which was changed about 4k ago and it was just below the mid way mark on the dipstick. Previously it has never required topping up.

Connected or not??
After reading on this website others experiences, I have disposed of about 15 litres of old (but unused) engine oil by tipping it straight in the fuel tank. I have never put in more than 5 litres at a time together with at least 3/4 tank of diesel. Since the last addition of engine oil I have refilled twice with diesel only.

a) Are the two events connected??
b) Could I have damaged my engine by adding the oil to the fuel or am I just being paranoid?
c) Is it possible that by just tipping the oil into the tank with no pre-mixing it has settled to the bottom of the tank or somewhere (not mixing with the diesel) and has only just worked it's way through to the engine??
d) If the two events are not connected, what is the likely cause of the smokeyness bearing in mind the fact that it developed over a fairly short period (less than 1k miles)??

Apologies for all the vagueness and multiple questions, but I am a bit confused, so any comments welcome. My intention is to run this tankfull of fuel through to near empty. Fill with some fresh and keep an eye on the oil level. I might even try a some additive such as Forte just in case

Cheers

if your burning oil and its smokey, could be turbo oil seals.

Just to add a bit of additional info to previous post.
The engine seems to start/stop/run all as normal with no noticable power loss or change in noise
The oil looks normal. Not water or fuel contaminated....just the level has dropped.
Coolant level does drop very slightly over a few months, but some of the hoses look a bit weepy

Thanks for the reply Brainboy.....that sounds like a reasonable shout which I hadn't thought of and don't really know much about. I had noticed a new very faint "screechy" sound which would have coincided with start of problem.

If it is the turbo seal, am I in danger of the dreaded "engine runaway" if I keep driving it??

Cheers

jenks1950 said:

Just to add a bit of additional info to previous post.
The engine seems to start/stop/run all as normal with no noticable power loss or change in noise
The oil looks normal. Not water or fuel contaminated....just the level has dropped.
Coolant level does drop very slightly over a few months, but some of the hoses look a bit weepy

Thanks for the reply Brainboy.....that sounds like a reasonable shout which I hadn't thought of and don't really know much about. I had noticed a new very faint "screechy" sound which would have coincided with start of problem.

If it is the turbo seal, am I in danger of the dreaded "engine runaway" if I keep driving it??

Cheers

Click to expand...

If its a turbo oil seal you want to repair it before the bearing run dry and you kill the turbo which is a lot move expensive than repairing it now.

It can be done at home if your a good home mechanic otherwise look for an exchange or recon turbo.

Is the smoke blue or grey?

Hmmmm......well I think I would say grey........it's definitely not black or white anyway!! It smells quite strong

check intercooler hoses, as i had same symptoms of grey smoke, it turned out to be a kink in the intercooler pipe fom the turbo

i have same symptoms on my 300 fender burning oil, blue/gray smoke an smells like its running rich

Contrary to what others might say, I dont think its a good idea to put old engine oil in your tank. Given that the disco can suffer from excessive oil build-up in the inlet/exhaust system in standard form, the addition of old engine oil is only going to make the problem worse. I wouldnt mind guessing your breather system is blocked causing crankcase pressure which is allowing oil to get past the piston rings.

Well the "old lady" is in with the LR specialist at the moment as it is a bit beyond my capabilities and their diagnosis of problems has always been 100%
At present they don't seem to feel it is turbo seals (though that is not ruled out) and are checking other cheaper avenues first starting with changing fuel filters and running through some fuel treatment. There is an oil leak from the plastic bung at the front of the engine which "could" account for the oil loss.
Received some very funny looks and a polite lecture when I said I had been tipping engine oil in the tank. "Felt a bit of a dick" just like the time I when I managed to fill my motorbike up with diesel some years ago!!!
Anyway, waiting to hear from them so will give update as soon as I know

Surely your thread title is wrong? If you were tipping engine oil into yer fuel tank then you would be pretty certain that you are burning it!!:doh:

Doh!! Good point well made!!

Anyway.......here is an update, which I guess all goes to show that it is possible add 2 + 2 and make 3!!

Landy specialist didn't really believe that it was a turbo problem. Has fixed the oil leak coming from the camshaft seal, changed fuel filter, added some fuel treatment and thrashed it around a bit. Result is I have my disco back again with no smoke and running much smoother than before.

I shallcontinue to run it, keeping an eye on oil level and whether it starts to smoke again, but it all rather looks like the oil loss was a red herring and the smoke was caused by sooted up injectors either part or fully caused by my pouring engine oil into the fuel tank!! That is something I WONT be doing again.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions

Steve

Hi, i know this post has been dead for some time but my disco 2 has the same problem and the smoke stinks of oil-only smokes if you have left it ticking over for a bit and then rev it.