Help with Oil Leak from boost pipe ?

[mikem]

I spotted some oil around the filter housing last week and at first thought it was the cap that wasn`t sealing, so replaced the rubber O ring and torqued it down properly - de greased everything and 40 miles later it was back again.

Have stripped everything today and I can clearly see oil running down the boost pipe that joins the EGR valve, anybody else had this issue and what was the solution ? Car has a couple of months AUC warranty left but if its a simple fix i`d rather do it myself, what worries me really is that there shouldn`t be that much oil in the intake tract ?

Car has only done just under 60K so doughtful the valve seals are dodgy and I`m thinking maybe the turbo oil seals are going ? It doesn`t smoke heavily (just the usual X5 smoke on hard acceleration) but the turbo does have a slight whistle.

I replaced the PCV valve (it already had the newer vortex type anyway) and air filter today and it seems noticeably quieter now and pulls much harder at hbigh speed. The air filter was in a disgusting state, it should`ve been changed by the supplying dealer a few K miles ago but clearly has been in there from day one, piss take for a main dealer.

[mikem]

The air filter that was supposedly replaced !!



Oil leaking down here

[X5Sport]

Nice looking air filter.....not.  I'd be having a 'deep & meaningful' with the Service Manager if that had been done to me!

Certainly worth having a look at the turbo as oil in the intake side will/may be getting into the intercooler too and as an absolute worst case you could get a 'runaway' engine.  Even if you just remove the pipe work so you can get at the front of the turbo to see how much play there is in the impeller shaft (as well as a visual check of the oil state on the parts themselves) as it should rotate but not move laterally.

Lack of smoke is at least telling you there's nothIng in the exhaust side of the turbo - if that happens then care is needed to avoid a runaway.  When it was serviced, they didn't 'overfill' the oil did they?  That can cause leaks as the pressure gets too high... >:(

Richard

[mikem]

The oil level has been fine from me getting it, I doubt wether the dealer even did a service, probably just stamped the book !

Looking down at the turbo today everything looks clean and quite new in that area, is it just a case of removing the boost pipe to access the impeller ? (I had a supercharged M3 that I had to get intimate with a few times but no experience of turbos at all). Turbo had to be replaced on our X3 but let the dealer do everything under warranty.

[X5Sport]

Have a look at the copy of the BMW TIS on this site in case it could be something like the EGR Cooler rather than the blower, or a loose hose clip etc?  Lots of instructions on how to remove various items/pipes etc as well as changing the whole turbo if you really feel like it...... :blink:

this section is the turbo one to get the hoses off though.

I think yours is a facelift so you want the E53/M57TU guides although some of them are also under the M57 version if common.  Turbo comes under 'supercharger' in the Engine Section.  Other areas might be under cooling or air supply, or whatever other German logic decided to call the bit you wanted! 

[mikem]

Thanks for the Links Richard, looks like I`ll be cleaning out the pipes and I/C tomorrow !

[mikem]

OK, so I couldn`t get under the car long enough between showers to remove the I/C today but it didn`t seem too bad inside it. Had more oil inside than my Exige I/C had when I changed that last year but this car`s done 4 times the mileage so I guess its to be expected ??

Inside the EGR is very, very clean (I`m thinking it may have been changed at some point or certainly cleaned out) save for a tiny bit of oil pooling (I`m hoping the realy dirty air filter has increased this).

The boost pipe wasn`t that oily inside either save for a bit of pooling at the bottom nearest the I/C. What I did find is a nick in the rubber seal where the boost pipe joins the EGR, this exactly where my oil vapour`s leaking from then condensing on the bottom of the EGR and oil filter housing. So I`m off to scour realOEM for a part No and hopefully that`ll be an easy fix (I have no fault codes stored for boost leaks `tho ?)

Would anyone call me cynical if I said "I suspect the dealers changed the EGR at some point and damaged the seal when putting it back together" ? 

Nick in the seal ( i have the little piece of missing rubber, so it hasn`t been ingested)



OIL in EGR




One other thing, "GUNK" is fcuking awesome !

[X5Sport]

No not cynical at all.......and it might have been an Indy just as easily as a main dealer (unless it's only had MD servicing of course).  Glad it looks to be a simpler job though..

[mikem]

All sorted, replaced the seal and also the 2 seals at the intercooler ends (just over a fiver each with VAT). Have driven it quite hard since and no sign of anymore crud building up. Turbo seems slightly quieter (tho this may be in my mind) but fuel economy has bumped up slightly, now averaging 31 with the wife's usual driving (was 28 before doing the air filter and 30 after changing it).

Fortunately my boost pipe directly at the turbo was spotlessly clean so I didn't do that seal, tho I think once to have the air filter out its jet a case of removing the filter lower casing and you have access straight to it.

Have found lots of threads on these seals since, seems to be a common problem on 335d's.