Well, after after having an "incident" in mid-December, the car is back on the road as of today after a long winter's rest.
Thanks to Hanno for the replacement part. Not an exact match, but I knew that before I got it from him and it works just fine. Apparently my 92 300D has an extra capacity chamber off the side of the oil pan while his 88 190D did not. However, the gasket application is identical, thus so are the mating surfaces - so I'll just be a quart or so shy of the amount of oil I previously had.
The incident I referred to involved bottoming out driving off a curb (oops
) and the resulting hole in the front of the oil pan. However, at the time I hadn't yet realized that the hole was there. I only drove the car about another 1/4 mile before parking it at my office and everything seemed normal - it just didn't start at the end of the day.
Needless to say, I was considerably worried about some serious engine damage from lack of oil, but none seem evident. It took two full days getting the old one out and the new one in. I went to start it up afterwards and it coughed, and chugged and sputtered for about five minutes and then smoothed right and purred like it always has. 403,000 miles and hopefully still counting.
The only apparent lasting effect of the long rest is the uneven brake rotors from the rust. I'll get those off and cut this weekend and I get to go from driving a 15 mpg Expedition (if I'm careful) back to a steady 32 mpg.
What a car
.