Oh dear!

[JF1980]

Ok, I think something is seriously wrong. My oil consumption seems mighty high, I have put about 1 1/2 litres in over the last 10-12 days. The oil light came on a little again today so I checked it and it's almost down to the minimum indicator again.

For those of you who didn't see my previous thread I have just changed the radiator as the old one burst. That seems fine now, the coolant level is not going down and there is no sign of overheating. I don't know about the pressure, but teh cap should blow if there is a problem I guess.

So anyway, the oil is going somewhere and while I was changing the radiator I checked the sump area and there is no sign of oil leaking. There is also no sign of oil in the coolant or vice versa (no sign of mayo in tle coolant or oil caps).

What can I do? Where can it be going?

I have one of the gauge style compression testers which screws in to the spark plug hole. I was thinking of giving it a go, although the engine is hot now so I will have to wait and get up early to do it before work. I just remove a plug, screw it in, remove the fuel pump fuse and let the engine turn a few times right? Then repeat for each cylinder. I guess if one shows a lower figure then I am looking at a cracked gasket and the oil must be burning away? Sounds very expensive!

Bit of a tough one, I have never had to diagnose a problem like this. Any thoughts?

[Chaos]

You're pretty much on the money dude, if it's not going into the coolant and it's not leaking out of the engine, you're probably looking at a ring and the only real way to tell is to use the compression tester (yes, you use it like that :)). You may be able to tell if you rev the engine from cold and you get a blueish tint to your exhaust smoke too, but the comp tester is the best way to prove it. Fingers crossed that it isn't, that's probably the most expensive of the oil-loss scenarios. :(

Strange how it just started doing it after you changed the rad though, seems a bit too much of a coincidence but if you can't see any oil anywhere then maybe it's just that - a coincidence.. :confused:

[JF1980]

:eek:

Thing is I don't get blue smoke, and I would think that if it's burning 1L of oil per tank of fuel or a little less that I would notice some smoke! When the weather has been colder, and the air damp (e.g. while raining or while everything is wet after rain) I notice quite a bit of 'steam' but it doesn't seem sooty or dirty which I would imagine burning oil is.

The inside of the tail pipes and the lip of the pipes are sooty.

Oil is 5w30 Magnatec.

I have had the car for about a month so would not know if this has started since the radiator change, infact I first topped up before the radiator change. However, I know when I brought it that the oil was not quite up to the max level, and in the first 2-3 weeks I did not get any oil warning lights.

One suggestion was that the radiator blew because the cooling system was being pressurised by a broken head gasket. This could also I guess then mean high oil consumption? Thing is I have no idea how to check whether my coolant pressure is particularly high, nobody would check theirs for me (e.g. give the radiator pipe a squeeze when the engine is running at normal temps and tell me how firm it is).

So I guess there are a few scenarios:

1. The oil is too thin for a car with 100+k miles, hence it is vanishing fast (I don't think I'm this lucky).

2. Cracked head or head gasket.

3. Screwed rings.

What kind of money am I looking at paying for 2-3? :(

Any idea how long it will take me to do the comp test? Think I can squeeze it in an hour in the morning? Any tips e.g. what size socket to have ready etc which will speed things up in the morning.

Can't believe I'm having this problem, the car seems fine, I wouldn't say it's down on power or anything [hmm

[Afif]

ok just read it and though id be helpful (any excuse really to zoom around). Anyways gave the pipe a squeeze and it was quite hard. That thing you said about a bicycle tyre slightly low on air sounds about right.

Good luck getting the oil thing sorted. My car drinks quite a bit of oil aswell. I use 10w40 though [hmm. It been on minimum once and almost minumum another time (but the light still came on so i topped it up). This is all since the last oil change which was like april/mayish.

[JF1980]

THanks for that, so my coolant pressure seems ok (assuming yours is ok). Well I will give this compression test a try tomorrow morning, better hit the sack or I won't get up early.
I am also assuming I can even find the spark plugs underneath all of that plastic engine covering.

Interesting that haynes says to crank once, if the compression is low, but then goes up with subsiquent cranks you are looking at worn rings. If the compression stays low then you are looking at a broken gasket or head. It also says to do this with the engine at normal running temp, so I should have done it this evening! Seems a bit silly though, going to be a pain getting those plugs out when it's all hot. Seems a bit dodgy putting the plugs back when it's all hot too as they could come loose once it's all cooled down!?!

[JF1980]

lol, yep didn't get time this morning, just topped up the oil and will investigate tonight. Hope I can book it in somewhere for Friday, that would be sweet. Really worried that this is going to break the bank.

[Chaos]

Haynes is right (like, of course), those are the 3 stages of diagnosis for comp testing. From the other things you've said, I would lean towards a head gasket, especially as this would be more common than an issue with the rings, but I'd expect to see some residue in the coolant if you were losing oil. Do the compression test when you get home tonight. Use a rag if you have to handle the plugs, although you can leave them in the socket while you test each piston and then put them back in without handling if you're careful. Later on tonight when the car has cooled a little just pop back out and make sure they're all nipped up tight. Hope that helps.

[JF1980]

Well I went to have a go tonight, even brought a propper flex joint plug socket. They really don't want people taking those plugs out do they! I took out the pollen filter but could not remove the tray as I didn't have the right size torx bit. I will have to buy a complete set as everything on this seems to be torx. So there goes tonight, tomorrow I am in Jersey for work and Friday I have to go out for birthday drinks with a few people after work. So it's looking like saturday. I am tempted to just see if I can book it in at the dealers and tell them to put it right. I think it will cost me a bomb but I will just have to put it on the credit card and at least know that after that I shouldn't need to worry about the car for another 13k miles (inspection time). I am scouring google for a BMW indy in the area with the faint hope that they may be cheaper and might even be able to do the job over the weekend.

Almost starting to wish I had gone for the 406 Coupe instead :(

On another note, I got right under the car today and found that there is some oily residue where the gearbox meets the block and also around the propshaft support area. It doesn't seem like much though. I have pics if that would help?

[JF1980]

Just spoke to Jason at B&W Auto Repairs in Hounslow, he remembers replacing the heater matrix on my car a while back and he said he would be amazed if the head gasket has a problem. He told me to check the intake manifold and see if there is oil present. Apparently it could be sucking up oil?!?! I will try to book it in with him next week!

[JF1980]

Ok, well I did the compression test, finally, and boy it takes ages to get down to actually pulling the plugs out, so the engine was NOT at normal operating temp by the time I tested. Also as the plug holes were sooooooooo deep I could not properly screw the tester in to the plug holes, I could only do it by twisting the rubber hose, so if the thread was dirty some pressure could have been leaking on there.

Anyway I had :

13|12.5|13|13.5|9.8/8.8|13.5

Notice I did the low one twice. Could be that I could not screw the thing in properly for that hole or it could be that the compression is low.

The plugs seemed ok, well very worn and I need to replace them soon (shops were all closed so could not do it now), but they were not oily.

I also had a real listen to the engine while my little brother blipped it up to about 2k, I think I can actually hear something being sucked about inside, maybe the BMW specialist guy was right about this? I recorded a small video, here is the link: (5mb) http://www.okulyillari.com/~justin/shudder.mpg

On another note I think I am getting to the stage now where I have had the car long enough that I get to know all of the little annoyances. The gear change does not seem a smooth as I remember, the gearstick a little more loose and a funny clunk near the accelerator pedal when changing (I think this is me coming off then on to the throttle, but sounds more like a clunk lol).

I keep stalling it, specially when reversing. I can't work out whether this is because the engine is poorly or whether it's just me!

[will_uk]

Hi mate, there's a specialist in chelmsford that I went to to get service done. It's called PMW, and very reasonable they were too..

Not sure if it's any help mate cos I'm not sure what area of london you're in but here's the number anyway.....

PMW : 01245 496739

They get good reviews on the internet too...

Good luck mate..

Will..

[JF1980]

Thanks, but that seems like a bit of a long way to go, the place I am looking at is called B&W Auto Repairs, they specialise in BMW's (obviously) and have taken care of my car with the previous owner. Also they are in Hounslow (near Heathrow) which I think will be a bit easier than Chelmsford as I am guessing I will have to leave the car for a few days, I can't see them diagnosing and then fixing whatever my problem is while I wait.

Have any of you guys got the BMW system which indicates how many chargable labour hours a job takes? I know it comes with the TIS and parts system packages.

Thinking about it I will just pay the £15 for it on ebay, I am kinda against it as I know the guy is just burning a few CDr's and making £15, but nobody has offered a download link so guess I have no choice.

Any feedback on that noise in the video? It's like a whosh/shudder mixed, almost like a mini dump valve/turbodiesel combo, lol.

[Afif]

these might help a little for estimates. Some of the links have time needed ect..

http://www.bimmerdiy.com/e46
http://m3.madrussian.net/diy.shtml

parts:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do

[JF1980]

Wow!!! Bimmerdiy.com, thats like a bible!!!

Thanks chap.

[MistaSmiff]

ok, paranoia setting it after seeing those compression figures :( , I had a compression problem on my last car. Having an oil change done at the end of the month so will get this tested too.

I would definately not go around booting it until you've found the cause.

[JF1980]

I am driving very carefully as you can imagine, normally with the windows down so I can listen out for strange noises, lol.

What was the problem on your last car?

[JF1980]

Right well not had the oil light come on or had to top up for about a week maybe almost two, then went for a bit of a blast this evening, just half an hour down some country lanes and then back on the main roads.

Sure I saw some smoke when i put my foot down a bit (not clouds but some in the headlights of the car behind). Maybe it is being sucked up in to the intake manifold when stressed. Well away in Jersey on business this week and not back until next, and have it booked in to the garage the day after I get back. Will have to see what the verdict is.

Not bad pricing (he says not getting the final price for a head gasket change!), £100 for a full diagnostic and all round check (brakes, suspension, gearbox fluid/diff, propshaft, compression, bushes etc). Then they will look in to why it's burning oil and tell me how much to fix that :eek: