Tuesday, I drive my 99 E300TD on a 3 hour road trip to look at a CL55 AMG that I ended up buying, so my dad drove the car back after we filled up with fuel at the gas station next to the car lot. It ran perfect all the way down, all the way back. We even stopped at a rest stop and it fired right back up after that.

The next day, I started it up to back it up in the driveway so I could pull out the new car and clean it. Several hours later, I go to move it back where it was and no start. After several attempts, I figure that since the fuel tank is sitting on a very steep part of the driveway and the rear-end isn't level, perhaps fuel is running away from the pickup or something. So I roll it out into the street to get the rear level. No changes. It allllllmost wanted to start a few times, but it sounds like it has air in the line and needs to purge. I went to double check to make sure my dad had put the fuel cap back in place and it's there....but the inside of the filler neck where the plate and flap (where the fuel nozzle goes in) are that close off the metal line is empty. The plate and flap are just gone. So I'm guessing when he refilled it, he just left the heavy diesel pump on it and the weight maybe just finally wore out whatever holds those pieces in place and they must have slid down the pipe.

I got it back in the driveway and have been charging the battery since trying to start it so much drained it. When I get home today, I notice there is a small puddle of diesel underneath my front bumper by the driver side wheel and still slowly dripping. It appears to be dripping from the underside of the fuel pump that's bolted to the block. I haven't done anything to it today, so I have no idea why it wants to start leaking now and it's never happened before.

I have a friend who is a diesel mechanic that's going to come look at it in a few days, but I mentioned it to him and he said perhaps it's sucking some air in from there and losing its prime so it won't start. I'm probably going to order a new tank strainer filter anyways, as I don't have a clue as to when it was done last, and then let him inspect the car and see what he finds.

Do you guys have any insight or want to throw in your .02 with some ideas or theories?