[buckethead]

does anyone know of a simple test to see if diesel is mixing with oil

as i took my car to the dealers today and told was the garage which had done my oil service had over filled the engine oil its just above the max so i can't claim on my warranty.

For a partical filter fault.

Now this is bull as some guy with bmwfsh was told he was putting the extra oil in himself.

So my oil level is rising theres no water mixed with the oil, so diesel must be mixing with the oil somewhere,

there seems to be a big problem with 2008 2.0d units

thanks

also not happy as i've paid for an hours diagnosis to be told that there's to much oil in the car and been given the car back is i feel negligence on their part.

[willhollin]

Drain some oil then take it to another dealer.

[buckethead]

thinking about that but just wanted to do a little test myself somehow.

just found a oil analysis lab who will do a sample for 150 quid so that will stop their bull, but i wont drive my car cos of the damaged it could do to the engine.

So no car for over a week and why should i have to do their work

[m1bjr]

If there is enough derv in there to raise the level, you will smell it...

Two things here, but as you had a DFP fault I will put good money on that being the cause.

If your car has a fault where the DFP cycle is not completing properly then the unburned fuel will find its way into the sump.

Or the HP side of the pump is leaking into the crank case.

Given the original fault my money is on the first.

Tell them to get the finger from arse and sort it, or go to a 'proper' technician.

And check the thermostats...

[buckethead]

thanks will try that to start with

[m1bjr]

Was it a sudden increase?

Do you do lots of short , fast trips?

[buckethead]

do mix of both 15 min 50 m.p.h drive into london a hours crawl round london the 15 mins 50 m.p.h drive back out so about 400 miles per week

[buckethead]

oil level was fine its only today when bmw told me it's over filled that i had a look and its just over the max mark.

you have to laugh really phoned up the service dept and told them what the idrive was saying and told your have wait to 12th july for a coutesy car don't think the engine would have lasted that long

[buckethead]

here we go again

bmw dealers who are doing the work on my car have now agreed that my car has been serviced correctly and if its got any faults can be claimed under the warranty.

Now the master-tech said there is no way fuel from the dpf cycle is raising the oil level

so ive got to pay for them to drain off the excess oil and start investigation work again
and clear the fault codes on the ecu then force a regen because the extra oil is causing
dpf to fail

so if the dpf starts working i will be out of pocket

just feel like i am being ripped off

[F104]

I agree with your mechanic, incomplete DPF regens do NOT result diesel going into the sump. You're more likely to loose any credibility by saying that unless you have one good reasoning. If you think they do, let me know and we can exchange views.

If you do believe oil level goes up, No1 issues is coolant which will sit under the oil (and likely in a yellowish foam under the filler cap). Drain some yourselves first, and see if water comes out

Are you sure you are comparing apples with apples? Car parked level, and cold when checking oil, and on the dipstick? Dealers will happily fill the car with liquid gold to 3/4th on the dipstick since you pay..

[buckethead]

well if thats the case i be fine with that i would lose what little if any creadibilty i've got.

not a car mechanic myself , but commets on other forums have said oil levels rising because of dpf failure.

thanks for tips but can check myself coolant contamination and dip the oil

a dpf failure warning does not mean the dpf its self has failed could be somethink else on the fuel system of even glow plugs again no hard facts myself only what i've read.

if you do know of any more about DPF failure please share thanks

[buckethead]

it took 15mins this morning by the indy i use drain off the excess oil 125mm

download the error codes from the ecu which where 2 both for particle filter faults set the ecu for a forced regen and then a 40 min, drive costs nothing.

waiting for the stealers to phone me on monday with his quote should be fun
for as he say's an over night job with a tech taking my car home

[Dr Dave]

There is some credibility to the oil level rising and DPF problems, documented info can be found here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ult!-Say-Mazda concerning rising oil levels on Mazda vehicles.

[buckethead]

cheers dr dave

some over at bmwland about 2008 520d with rising oil levels as well

[F104]

I read those Mazda pages, not much really being said there.

In my view about the only way diesel can find it's way into the sump is past the piston rings. That is typically a result of long idle periods, short trips where engine does not warm up etc. Some of the injected diesel will condensate on the cold cylinder wall, wash away the lubricating oil, and it goes downhill from there. Do that for a couple of months and yes there will be diesel in the oil, and increased engine wear.

That has no relation with incomplete regens. True, during incomplete regens it will keep going for late injections to get that temperature up. That diesel will burn when going thru the oxidation catalyst. But if conditions are not right it will only achieve 350-500 C, which is too low and just wasting diesel. The amount of additional diesel it injects is less than 10% of 'normal' I think, as i can barely see the economy gauge moving up

I agree it's impossible to know what's going on under the hood with coolant temp and regens, that's why I have an OBD reader.

[Jasman]

F104, you talk with such authority people are led to believe you know what you are talking about.
You certainly know very little about DPF Regens.
If you have a faulty thermostat (EGR or main) as the engine will regen at anything above 74c, which is not hot enough, result - unburnt fuel running down liners to sump.
Over a period this builds up.
As for your nonsense about dealers over filling with oil a digital readout on the oil bulk filler ensures they never over fill as they pay not you.

[F104]

Originally Posted by Jasman

F104, you talk with such authority people are led to believe you know what you are talking about.

Originally Posted by Jasman

If you have a faulty thermostat (EGR or main) as the engine will regen at anything above 74c, which is not hot enough, result - unburnt fuel running down liners to sump.

Now that 74C wasn't taken from one of my i-don't-know etc posts? But three answers:
1) EGR thermostat (my 07 320d doesn't have one, it has an ECU controlled cooler bypass valve) has no influence. The ECU closes EGR flow during a regen. You don't want unburned fuel going thru the EGR system. I believe any thermostat based control is only there to avoid cooling exhaust gasses too much; which could result in condensation of acids
2) Diesels will run far too cold when used incorrectly. You have an (basically) unthrottled, turbocharged engine. Use it at low loads, and the little burned fuel can not and keep the engine warm, and keep your heater going at full blast. Or it takes forever to warm up
3) I don't think we have a surge of BMW diesel thermostat failures, i think there's a surge of incorrect use of very efficient diesel engines.

Sure, continuous interrupted regen trials make it worse. But in my view thats is no the prime reason

I'm just sharing what i know,and what i'm interested in, etc on this forum. For what's it worth, my Evolve tuned 320D goes like a bat out of hell at 70k mls. I know my intake is clean, i know my DPF is clean. It returns insane fuel economy for the speeds I do, and gets to 150+ on the speedo fairly fast, 155 takes a bit of time

My bottom line: A diesel is great, out of the box, and more so when tuned. But if you can't run it consistently at the load a diesel wants to see, then get a petrol.