I posed this question on another board, but thought I would see if anyone here could help. My '83 280SL is going through a lot of oil each week. There doesn't appear to be a leak, and no "sign of burning" that I (or the mechanic) can tell. The mechanic thinks that the valve stem seals are the problem and need to be replaced. He has quoted me at close to $1100 (parts/labor) for the job. That is a lot of money to spend when we are not even sure that is the problem. Any thoughts/advice on this?
1) the exhaust is always dark/smoking - but this is a "euro" (so the emissions may be different). Also, this car sat for a couple of years before I got it to fix up and has quite a few replaced fuel parts - so I don't know if that makes a difference or not.
2) I have not checked that yet, but will try to do so (as you can tell from my posts in the past, I am a novice at mechanics - but always willing to learn).
The idle appears fine. Is there something I should be looking for? (knocking, a certain RPM for this model, etc.)?
No, but sometimes the engine will skip due to oil-covered spark plugs not producing enough spark. I'm concerned about your exhaust having "always been smoking". That needs to be investigated.
I thought it was black, but I just started it to look. Its a light grey, not too dark right now (although its in a parking garage). I don't know if I'd describe it as blue necessarily.
Linear Mode
