[MrSweet1991]

Originally Posted by ChawenHalo

I still think a head gasket of some kind (valve cover etc). Its not as a straight forward job on these diesel engines M57 as on the equivalent petrol, but deffo worth checking out.

Hi mate,

When i had the turbo done they said i need to replace the rocker cover gasket as its saturated in oil.. i didnt think it would have any impact on anything though other than eventually leaking onto the exhaust? Would this rocker cover gasket have anything to do with the exhaust smoke or dip stick? On visual inspection they said i didnt appear to have any leaks on the head gasket.. also temps are solid 88-91 and its nice and hot with the heaters on so head gasket by the sounds of it is fine.

[ChawenHalo]

Originally Posted by MrSweet1991

Hi mate,

When i had the turbo done they said i need to replace the rocker cover gasket as its saturated in oil.. i didnt think it would have any impact on anything though other than eventually leaking onto the exhaust? Would this rocker cover gasket have anything to do with the exhaust smoke or dip stick? On visual inspection they said i didnt appear to have any leaks on the head gasket.. also temps are solid 88-91 and its nice and hot with the heaters on so head gasket by the sounds of it is fine.

Well there are indeed various gaskets and that would be one way for the oil to make its way into the cyl chambers. Stick to a good garage and they should have no difficulty identifying the problem, if it is that or something else. You'll end up spending more money trying to diagnose and fix the problem IMO.

[MrSweet1991]

Originally Posted by ChawenHalo

Well there are indeed various gaskets and that would be one way for the oil to make its way into the cyl chambers. Stick to a good garage and they should have no difficulty identifying the problem, if it is that or something else. You'll end up spending more money trying to diagnose and fix the problem IMO.

From my research it appears there is no way for a failing rocker cover gasket to cause oil to be burned within the engine itself, the rocker cover gasket failing could only potentially lead to the oil seeping externally and burning off on the exhaust. I'm burning oil which appears to go back to the usual culprits (Rings, Valve Stem Seals, Valve Stem Guides) I really have a feeling it's the Valve Stem Seals only because the blue smoke is visible if the engine is left idling meaning it seeps out, if it was the rings then the blue smoke would occur all the time.

Don't get me wrong, I know paying a garage would eventually find the culprit but it's hard at this moment in time to justify spending £50 - £60 per hour on diagnoses when I know for £40 I could buy a rocker cover gasket from BMW directly and the Valve Stem Seals wouldn't be far off I can't imagine. Assuming I can find a guide I'm more than willing to have a go myself and it's nice to do it myself as I'll learn more about my car.

[ChawenHalo]

Originally Posted by MrSweet1991

From my research it appears there is no way for a failing rocker cover gasket to cause oil to be burned within the engine itself, the rocker cover gasket failing could only potentially lead to the oil seeping externally and burning off on the exhaust. I'm burning oil which appears to go back to the usual culprits (Rings, Valve Stem Seals, Valve Stem Guides) I really have a feeling it's the Valve Stem Seals only because the blue smoke is visible if the engine is left idling meaning it seeps out, if it was the rings then the blue smoke would occur all the time.

Don't get me wrong, I know paying a garage would eventually find the culprit but it's hard at this moment in time to justify spending £50 - £60 per hour on diagnoses when I know for £40 I could buy a rocker cover gasket from BMW directly and the Valve Stem Seals wouldn't be far off I can't imagine. Assuming I can find a guide I'm more than willing to have a go myself and it's nice to do it myself as I'll learn more about my car.

Yes of course you're right and you're a far braver person than I am on this front. Its just that from experience trying to self diagnose when its not your expertise can just lead you down the wrong route and to unnecessary expense. However this does depend on the nature of the problem (read my rough idle issues on cold start) a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

I spend a lot of time in garages and whilst I know little bits and even have had a few tricks to mates who business it is, the one thing I've learned is that as good as I am at MY Job, mechanics are as good at theirs. There no level of research I can do to get anywhere their level of professional knowledge and understanding. However some engines issues are well documented and straight forward to solve and worth DIY and I do wish you the best of luck - its great satisfaction to tinker successfully!

[MrSweet1991]

Originally Posted by ChawenHalo

Yes of course you're right and you're a far braver person than I am on this front. Its just that from experience trying to self diagnose when its not your expertise can just lead you down the wrong route and to unnecessary expense. However this does depend on the nature of the problem (read my rough idle issues on cold start) a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

I spend a lot of time in garages and whilst I know little bits and even have had a few tricks to mates who business it is, the one thing I've learned is that as good as I am at MY Job, mechanics are as good at theirs. There no level of research I can do to get anywhere their level of professional knowledge and understanding. However some engines issues are well documented and straight forward to solve and worth DIY and I do wish you the best of luck - its great satisfaction to tinker successfully!

Well, I've been doing some more enquiries over these past few days and unfortunately it appears that the valve stem seals cannot be replaced without removing the head off the car. To be honest, I only lose 1 litre of oil every 1000 or so miles, which costs me £10 per fill which really isn't bad at all. So given the labour that's needed for this job I'm quite happy to leave it be. If however I did need the job doing then I think I'd opt for an engine rebuild as it's the labour costs that's the issue.

[aszakacs77]

Originally Posted by MrSweet1991

Hi All,

Turbo has been replaced as I have mentioned on another thread, however I have since been monitoring for any smoke. Over the past couple of days if I leave the car idling for say 5+ minutes and then pull away there is a lot of what I would say is blue smoke. I have took another video this morning to check for any smoke on startup and I do. I've watched a video on YouTube for blue smoke on startup on another 330D and it's exactly the same, but I've already replaced the crankcase breather and I purchased it from BWM cotswold so I'm not sure what to think?

When the turbo seals collapsed there was a lot of oil down the cat so is it possible that the smoke issue after idle and startup could happen if there's oil still lingering in the cat/exhaust after the turbo had failed?

Cheers.

Hi mate
Have you manage to come to a solution at all?
Mine is doing the exact same no oil in the turbo at all so thinking that it is likely to be piston rings just wanted to ask what you found

Cheers

[MrSweet1991]

Originally Posted by aszakacs77

Hi mate
Have you manage to come to a solution at all?
Mine is doing the exact same no oil in the turbo at all so thinking that it is likely to be piston rings just wanted to ask what you found

Cheers

You know mate ill have to let it idle again for about 10 mins, if I'm not mistaken I did get rid of the startup smoke by adding a felt filter to the crankcase breather, sadly I had to remove that after just 1000 miles or so because it got clogged and increased crankcase pressure which was evident by removing the oil fill cap and seeing the pressure.

I finally got around to replacing that with a Vortex type filter, it's not as good as the felt filter but it's impossible for a Vortex to clog so it may just be enough. I'll try see later mate, I'll do a startup video to see exhaust smoke and then leave it to idle, if I remember correctly it would stream out blue smoke after about 10-15 mins