V9X D40 Losing oil

[V9xnavlife]

Hi all,
I have a issue with a 2012 Spain built 3L V6 TD Navara. The car has all of a sudden begun to either lose or use a heap of oil… the bash plates were filthy and seems as though it was coming from the intercooler? It was full of gunk between the cooling elements but couldn’t see an obvious crack. However the car was filthy before the issue of oil consumption began. The oil didnt look fresh and the rest of the motor is free of sludge underneath the front and back of the motor, even the sump was clean.

It doesn’t burn oil through the exhaust, never soots even under hard acceleration it’s only a very mild puff of smoke. Nothing like the usual P plate td42 patrols. The car has thrown a code for the egr valve as of the last couple weeks but this has been months after the oil usage began. In 2 months the car has gone from full to bone dry on the dipstick. (Don’t judge I'm not the owner of the car haha).

Does anybody have any ideas on the situation? No new leaks, no smoke and soon to be no oil again… Can’t find a lot on these spain built navs. Even just getting the radiator out of one was an absolute mission.

Cheers Matt.

 

[Old.Tony]

Welcome to the forum.

Don't sweat too much about the oil inside the intercooler, we always expect some because of oil vapour coming out with the PCV gases and being fed into the air intake between the air filter and the turbocharger. A catch can will reduce the quantity of this oil, and fitting one will also indicate whether or not this is where the engine is losing it.

If engine compression is good, it's possible that the bearing in the turbocharger is seeping oil into the exhaust stream. The low-ash oil we're supposed to use in these cars will produce very little smoke when burnt in small quantities. Checking the turbocharger's shaft is easier said than done on this car. It's easier to examine the inside of the large hose going from the turbocharger to the intercooler looking for fine metal fragments (I just wipe a finger on the inside and check my finger for glitter under a bright light). Metal fragments here would indicate a worn turbo.

Check the coolant overflow bottle to make sure there's no oily film on the top. Unlikely, but may as well rule out a crack between the oil galleys and the coolant jacket.

And just for completeness, make sure the transmission fluid looks ok in case it's a leak from the rear main seal entering the gearbox.

 

[V9xnavlife]

Welcome to the forum.

Don't sweat too much about the oil inside the intercooler, we always expect some because of oil vapour coming out with the PCV gases and being fed into the air intake between the air filter and the turbocharger. A catch can will reduce the quantity of this oil, and fitting one will also indicate whether or not this is where the engine is losing it.

If engine compression is good, it's possible that the bearing in the turbocharger is seeping oil into the exhaust stream. The low-ash oil we're supposed to use in these cars will produce very little smoke when burnt in small quantities. Checking the turbocharger's shaft is easier said than done on this car. It's easier to examine the inside of the large hose going from the turbocharger to the intercooler looking for fine metal fragments (I just wipe a finger on the inside and check my finger for glitter under a bright light). Metal fragments here would indicate a worn turbo.

Check the coolant overflow bottle to make sure there's no oily film on the top. Unlikely, but may as well rule out a crack between the oil galleys and the coolant jacket.

And just for completeness, make sure the transmission fluid looks ok in case it's a leak from the rear main seal entering the gearbox.

Cheers Tony,
Will sus it out a bit more over the next couple of weeks to see what more i can find.

 

[landmannnn]

From my experience the V9x, like most modern engines, can a fair amount of oil.

Nothing like the extreme amounts that some of the German cars do, but having wider clearances does reduce friction and hence improves emissions.

 

[BarneyB]

It's possible one or more cylinders have either a cracked piston ring or a stuck ring due to crap building up between piston & liner...

But I think Tony probably picked it with the turbo oil. Seems more likely.

Maybe the valve guides are tired?

How many kms travelled?
Worked hard & neglected?
Or looked after & driven sympathetically?

Might be worth running a bottle of flush or lifter free through the oil system.
I've had good results with additives over the years on old petrol & diesel engines.

 

[V9xnavlife]

It's possible one or more cylinders have either a cracked piston ring or a stuck ring due to crap building up between piston & liner...

But I think Tony probably picked it with the turbo oil. Seems more likely.

Maybe the valve guides are tired?

How many kms travelled?
Worked hard & neglected?
Or looked after & driven sympathetically?

Might be worth running a bottle of flush or lifter free through the oil system.
I've had good results with additives over the years on old petrol & diesel engines.

Hey Barney,
Yeah i think the cars around 250km. Wouldn’t have been worked hard but definitely neglected haha. All these things seem rather obvious being stem seals or guides but i just would have expected more smoke and soot to be produced but as Tony said, the enviro oil doesn’t produce as much soot apparently.. The car still seems to have good power just keeps dumping oil somewhere as of the last couple months.

 

[BarneyB]

Did you end up tracking down the problem?

 

[V9xnavlife]

Hi Barney, I believe that the intercooler has a small crack as that seems to be where the oil is leaking out of. No oil from above or behind the intercooler apart from what’s being thrown backwards while driving. Haven’t had the chance to have a good look yet, been super busy. Still unsure if that would create oil into the intake because of the crack? Or maybe the turbo is throwing out oil as well. Car doesn’t seem down on power or anything but the further i dive in the more i find wrong with it haha.

 

[stks]

I also have a STX550 2011 model.
it has the 4th intercooler in & also a catch can.
I had an engine oil leak. This was fixed by running a few conditioners in the oil.
Next the gearbox started loosing oil. I can’t find the location that it is coming from, so at this point I have dropped the oil out, changed the filter & I’m hoping that a new 10ltrs of oil with a conditioner will solve the problem.

My STX550 has had a few issues apart from oil leaks, intercooler failure, rear differential replaced, radiator replaced, several pullies
replaced, the condenser replaced, the manual gear selector no longer works, I believe that this is a sensor failure. ($1000-00 fix apparently)
Passenger side window occasionally fails to respond to master control on the drivers door.
The PDF in not connected with Fuel lines.

 

[V9xnavlife]

I also have a STX550 2011 model.
it has the 4th intercooler in & also a catch can.
I had an engine oil leak. This was fixed by running a few conditioners in the oil.
Next the gearbox started loosing oil. I can’t find the location that it is coming from, so at this point I have dropped the oil out, changed the filter & I’m hoping that a new 10ltrs of oil with a conditioner will solve the problem.

My STX550 has had a few issues apart from oil leaks, intercooler failure, rear differential replaced, radiator replaced, several pullies
replaced, the condenser replaced, the manual gear selector no longer works, I believe that this is a sensor failure. ($1000-00 fix apparently)
Passenger side window occasionally fails to respond to master control on the drivers door.
The PDF in not connected with Fuel lines.

4 intercoolers damn… seems like a common fault then haha. Yeah cars are a pain and none are ever the same as the next one. On my old car i went through 3 brand new radiator caps before i got one to seal so that it would suck the coolant back from the overflow. Nothing is easy with them.