I JUST got a new crankshaft seal and spacer ring put on my 83 300SD, after another attempt that seemed to lead to still major leakage. I am starting to think that this point that it's NOT the crankseal anymore (or maybe never was).

The pattern of where the oil is dropping seems to be directly around the alternator, where the lower half of the engine seals against the main block. I had the car sit for 10 minutes running and the oil was definitely dripping on the left side of the engine, and NEVER from the front. I know from the crankseal leaking, it at least would drip directly DOWN when at idle. I know that any oil leak while driving down the highway will make a mess on the whole underside, so I'm talking about when the car is parked at idle.

I was curious what the heck was there to possibly cause this? It's not near the turbocharger from what I can tell - this is coming in FRONT and underneath of that, right where the alternator mounts.

Is there something obvious?

I will look through the FSM and see if there is any pictures of engine disassembly to help pinpoint the possible location before tomorrow actually doing the disassembly.