oil in intercooler

[meganecb]

Hello, i have a 2007 megane gt 150, covered approx 42000miles. The last four months have been a nightmare, new radiator, new suspension spring, 2 new headlight bulbs, belts needed changing during service, and 2 new alloy wheels due to a pothole.
Anyway today i noticed oil on the intercooler, took the bumper off (not too bad to do i must admit). I then removed the intercooler and found oil in the piping (more in the inlet than the outlet) and some in the intercooler itself.
I have spoken to a mechanic who saw me with the car in bits, he suggested the oil seals either into the turbo are leaking or the seals in the turbo could be going.
Have checked the oil level in the car which seems to be a bit high, so could this be the prob?

Any suggestions would be great, car is booked into a renault garage on thurs, but another opinion would be nice.

Cheers chris

[AlexB]

Yes, oil too high is bad. Apart from the excess going into the intercooler it can damage the turbo, as the crankshaft hits it and sends bubbles of air into the lubrication system - air is not a good lubricant.

Make sure you are using the best oil, OEM filter and change these at 9k or 1y intervals, whatever comes first.

[meganecb]

Thanks for the reply and advice, the car was only serviced by the renault garage a month ago with an oil change being part of that. Car is booked in tomorrow, so will post again with the outcome.

[taffyhl]

I have similar problems with oil in my intercooler and car is going to a diesel specialist tomorrow so I'll let you know how I get on. The breather system has been checked and it's all clear now (after finding the oil return blocked) and I've cleaned the clogged EGR valve and surrounding pipework so I'm getting a compression check to see what condition the engine is in, as one mechanic has suggested the engine could be worn and "breathing heavy".

My feeling is the turbo seals are gone or the return pipe is blocked. Most likely the turbo which is a recon about months old. Looking back to when it started it wasn't long after an oil change at a local garage although not straight after so no way I would be able to link it to them.

[meganecb]

okay thankyou, hope all goes well for you. The car is back with us, the garage couldnt find anything wrong with the turbo, but have changed the air filter as they said this was clogged. They suggested this was causing the turbo to look for air and take it in from the oil breather system. we have done over 100 miles since and no sign of oil at the inlet so far.
Putting it simply and the garage were honest about this, they said there wasnt enough symptoms (excessive play in the turbo, excessive smoke, poor performane) to warrant charging me £300 - £400 to remove and send the turbo to be checked by their specialist amd to be re fitted without any repairs being done.
Just hope it is okay after only covering 42,000 miles.

[taffyhl]

great to hear you have sorted this relatively cheaply. I had a similar response from the diesel specialist I took my car too for a compression test last Friday (all ok). He thought the turbo was working fine and the oil in the pipes is now acceptable.

Without wishing to jinx it by speaking too soon.... my "turbo" problem may have been down to 4 issues Alex B suggested

1) Blocked breather/oil return pipes which I have now fully cleared and tested with an empty engine (after draining oil to change it - see 3!!). The oil return pipe and seperator were defintely blocked although others ok.

2) Having too much oil in the system after an oil change at the garage. Speaking to BNT Turbo there is a specific note for 1.9 dci Lagunas Renaults to add oil VERY slowly to prevent oil entering the intake system. They apply the same warning to Megane 1.9's.

3) My previous oil change was with non Renault filter and 5/40 synthetic from a well known European parts supplier. No reason to suspect this was low quality but changed for Renault filter and Mobil diesel 0/40.

4) EGR Valve clogged AND the hole between it and intake pipes clogged. Seperated vavle and solenoid so could clean thouroughly and then testing solenoid using a spare car battery.

Driven 200 miles since sorting 1 and 3 and no further oil loss, car running much better than when I bought it. Eevn treated it to a dose of Comma Diesel De-Tox, hopefully without any nasty side effects!!

So a BIG thank you to AlexB - if you are ever in Cardiff I owe you a pint!

[AlexB]

Thank you for your kind words Taffyhl!
Cardiff is on my visit list now
Good luck!