Losing/Burning Oil?

[Colt]

About 300 miles away from 40,000 miles on the car, and since about 37k or so I seem to be going through a quart of oil every thousand miles or something. I just put another quart in it yesterday at 39,700 miles, so I'm going to keep an eye on the mileage so when it happens again I'll know an exact number. Some people say it's normal to go through about a quart every 1,500 miles, some say it's not normal. I'm about to install the upgraded PCV valve that Rob@RB sells, but I don't think it would make that much of a change...what should my steps be in diagnosing this?

[b1aze]

Do you get any blue smoke? Take a look around your valve cover for cracks/leaking. The dealership spotted a crack in my valve cover at like 34k miles and replaced it under warranty.

Any significant oil in the intake tract or intercooler? That would indicate a PCV problem. Any extra oil in the OCC?

[Colt]

Originally Posted by b1aze

Do you get any blue smoke? Take a look around your valve cover for cracks/leaking. The dealership spotted a crack in my valve cover at like 34k miles and replaced it under warranty.

Any significant oil in the intake tract or intercooler? That would indicate a PCV problem. Any extra oil in the OCC?

I don't think any blue smoke. I did have some white smoking coming out of the exhaust when traveling in stop and go traffic when driving about ~5mph and come to a stop, it will disperse some smoke out of the back of the car (could see it through the back window) and then stop. I checked around the valve cover without taking it off, don't notice anything weird...the intercooler is coming off next month so I'll check that then. When I installed the AA intercooler months ago there was some oil in the stock cold side piping area...OCC had about an ounce of oil in it from last time I cleaned it (was probably about February). But had OCC installed for over 6 months and then cleaned it

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by Angerman

I don't think any blue smoke. I did have some white smoking coming out of the exhaust when traveling in stop and go traffic when driving about ~5mph and come to a stop, it will disperse some smoke out of the back of the car (could see it through the back window) and then stop. I checked around the valve cover without taking it off, don't notice anything weird...the intercooler is coming off next month so I'll check that then. When I installed the AA intercooler months ago there was some oil in the stock cold side piping area...OCC had about an ounce of oil in it from last time I cleaned it (was probably about February). But had OCC installed for over 6 months and then cleaned it

It’s totally “normal” to have some coating on the charge piping and intercooler tract, if it’s excessive I’d look into it further. You already have an OCC, and the PCV valve is about to be swapped out with Rob’s version…if the car is still leaking or burning oil at that point, I’d look to the oil filter housing gasket, or the valve cover. Do you notice any residue or signs of leakage around your oil filter housing?

For comparison since our cars are at a similar mileage (mine is at 44xxx), mine burns a dull white smoke when coming to a full stop due to being completely de-catted, the smoke is clearly from oil blow by but my car has never needed to be topped off. After 5-7K (when I do OCIs) the oil reading is usually one or two bars lower than completely full, so the amount being burned off is relatively minimal. At 42xxx I had the downpipes off the car, neither the turbos nor any part of the motor showed signs of significant oil leakage. At 60K I’ll probably do OFHG, assuming it doesn’t degrade before then. I consider myself lucky to have an N54 that isn’t an oil hog, but TBH that could change any day.

[Colt]

About to get my mechanic to put that PCV valve on. I'll see if there's any sign of oil leakage when the VC is off and will take pictures if I see anything strange

[Colt]

Originally Posted by 135Pats

It’s totally “normal” to have some coating on the charge piping and intercooler tract, if it’s excessive I’d look into it further. You already have an OCC, and the PCV valve is about to be swapped out with Rob’s version…if the car is still leaking or burning oil at that point, I’d look to the oil filter housing gasket, or the valve cover. Do you notice any residue or signs of leakage around your oil filter housing?

Got a chance to put on Robs PCV. Was a little more tedious of an install than people made it out to seem. Had to take the fuel line off, etc. But it's in so I guess see what happens. Had a chance to look around the valve cover area, don't see any signs of oil leakage, engine looks pretty clean actually . Going to keep an eye on it and see what happens....maybe my shit is just an oil hog. I was thinking maybe it has something to do with the JB4 tune? Running Map 2 currently, plan on changing that out for a COBB Pro-Tune from ProTuningFreaks in Rockville after this intercooler job is finished...

So I don't know what I should do next to figure this out, too many factors

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by Angerman

Got a chance to put on Robs PCV. Was a little more tedious of an install than people made it out to seem. Had to take the fuel line off, etc. But it's in so I guess see what happens. Had a chance to look around the valve cover area, don't see any signs of oil leakage, engine looks pretty clean actually . Going to keep an eye on it and see what happens....maybe my shit is just an oil hog. I was thinking maybe it has something to do with the JB4 tune? Running Map 2 currently, plan on changing that out for a COBB Pro-Tune from ProTuningFreaks in Rockville after this intercooler job is finished...

So I don't know what I should do next to figure this out, too many factors

Check out your turbo seals/lines when you have the downpipes off, outside of that OFHG is the only thing I can really think of. You could just have an oil eater

[Colt]

Originally Posted by 135Pats

Check out your turbo seals/lines when you have the downpipes off, outside of that OFHG is the only thing I can really think of. You could just have an oil eater

When I installed the VRSFs my mechanic said he didn't see any signs of oil in the stock downpipes or anything strange when they were off. I'm at a loss of words truly...

Put the JB4 up for sale. If anyone wants it let me know, going in a different direction with the car

[submarshall]

I am having oil consumption problems as well. The dealer is replacing the front turbo (bank #1) due to possible turbo seal going on me. If you drop the exhaust from the DP'S and rub your finger inside the DP's and exhaust (where it connects to the DP's) and check for a rough texture. If one is smooth and the other is rough...you have a turbo seal leaking. Or maybe both are doing on you if they are both rough.

Hope I can help

[Colt]

Originally Posted by submarshall

I am having oil consumption problems as well. The dealer is replacing the front turbo (bank #1) due to possible turbo seal going on me. If you drop the exhaust from the DP'S and rub your finger inside the DP's and exhaust (where it connects to the DP's) and check for a rough texture. If one is smooth and the other is rough...you have a turbo seal leaking. Or maybe both are doing on you if they are both rough.

Damn....

I was thinking of taking it to BMW just for them to check over all the things that could cause oil consumption, but I figured they would probably charge me an arm and a leg to do multiple diagnosis. I kind of have a feeling it might be the turbo seals. How much oil are you going through?

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by Angerman

Damn....

I was thinking of taking it to BMW just for them to check over all the things that could cause oil consumption, but I figured they would probably charge me an arm and a leg to do multiple diagnosis. I kind of have a feeling it might be the turbo seals. How much oil are you going through?

That would be a total nightmare, they’d eat your wallet. At least you can start to narrow things down now, seals/lines and the oil filter housing would be the next logical steps. It sounds like you’re burning oil, not leaking it. Let me know if I’m over-assuming here.

[Colt]

Originally Posted by 135Pats

Let me know if I’m over-assuming here.

I wouldn't say you are, but truly I'm not 100% sure if I am either burning oil or it's going somewhere else. For all I know my intercooler or something could be full of quarts of oil lol

[Stan.mac]

Is there anywhere online I could find more information about this PCV?

[Colt]

Originally Posted by 011100001

Is there anywhere online I could find more information about this PCV?

http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15382

[Stan.mac]

Thanks; I'll be ordering this just as a preventive measure to compliment my OCC.

[submarshall]

Im going through about 1 qt every 150-200 miles and the problem was getting worse before i took it to the dealer. The replaced the valve cover and that did nothing. They have pulled the intercooler twice to check for oil in there as well (only found maybe a shot glass worth). Its been a nightmare!! They finally ordered a new bank 1 turbo abd waiting for it to arrive now. Let me know if u have anymore questions. I will be glad to assist!!

[Colt]

Originally Posted by submarshall

Im going through about 1 qt every 150-200 miles and the problem was getting worse before i took it to the dealer. The replaced the valve cover and that did nothing. They have pulled the intercooler twice to check for oil in there as well (only found maybe a shot glass worth). Its been a nightmare!! They finally ordered a new bank 1 turbo abd waiting for it to arrive now. Let me know if u have anymore questions. I will be glad to assist!!

Let me know if that fixes your problem...if it does, I'll be looking forward to these (Stage 2)

[Stan.mac]

Mine isn't that bad at all... After approximately 20K miles I've had to add, maybe 2 qts of oil. I'm all about preventative measures; if the mod helps I'll add it.

[Colt]

Took the car out earlier and came back to the garage and noticed a small/decent amount of oil on the ground. Where I was parked, it looks like it's in the center or to the back of the engine area. Can't get it on a lift till later in the week. Engine area doesn't show any signs of oil. Don't know wtf is happening

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by Angerman

Took the car out earlier and came back to the garage and noticed a small/decent amount of oil on the ground. Where I was parked, it looks like it's in the center or to the back of the engine area. Can't get it on a lift till later in the week. Engine area doesn't show any signs of oil. Don't know wtf is happening

Get that thing on a lift, if you can see it after parking, there should be a decent oil trail once you get under to take a peek.

[Colt]

Has been 1,075 miles since I put a qt in the car. Oil sign came on yesterday so I put a qt in it, checked the oil and still said +1 qt. Put another half qt in it and now it says OK. So drove it to work and going to check it again after....have a feeling a seal is done or something. Car still sounds like it spools healthy and I don't hear any wastegate rattling or anything, even on deceleration...From what I can tell doesn't seem I have been leaking oil out from underneath the car. Anyone else have similar occurrences, or think this is normal on this car?

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by Angerman

Has been 1,075 miles since I put a qt in the car. Oil sign came on yesterday so I put a qt in it, checked the oil and still said +1 qt. Put another half qt in it and now it says OK. So drove it to work and going to check it again after....have a feeling a seal is done or something. Car still sounds like it spools healthy and I don't hear any wastegate rattling or anything, even on deceleration...From what I can tell doesn't seem I have been leaking oil out from underneath the car. Anyone else have similar occurrences, or think this is normal on this car?

That's pretty heavy oil loss if you need over a qt every 1k miles. Turbos can have bad seals and still build boost fine..TBH it could take some effort to track down this oil leak, though if it's from the Oil filter housing you should be able to see plenty of oil residue in the engine bay or under the car. If you can get it on a lift inspect the turbos and the oil lines. Also, I've heard that some folks actually had LESS smoking and oil loss after removing their OCC, there is an ongoing debate about the restriction OCCs create on the N54 PCV system. My car was smoking an obnoxious amount a few days ago, some days it smokes, some days I can only notice the sleightest amount of smoke when I come to a stop. Not that it's any consolation, but I feel like 50% of us are trying to track down oil leaks and smoking lol.

After looking through this entire thread, I would be leaning towards turbo seals that are pretty much shot. I'm still not sure if that explains the amount of oil you're losing, but it seems more likely that you are burning oil rather than leaking it.