Nic.

Thank you for your help. I thought about it last night and have decided that I am going to just go for the new pump. From all indications I can tell that the pump is going to bad since the oil is leaking from the front cover, not actually the gasket on the block.
I was told by a friend of mine who is a MB Tech to replace the pump asap. The pumps has many internal parts that if left to go south, can break off and circulate in the engine. YIKES!!!!!!