Major Oil Loss and Possible Engine Failure
 

Hello Gents,

I've been silently reading the posts for quite some time, and now I need your help.

After six months of blissful driving of my '75 240D, I convinced my girlfriend to purchase her own diesel Benz, an '82 300SD. She had only been driving it for two months prior to the fateful day.This was her initial description of the problem:

Car stalled at 70 mph. No odd noises. Coasted to shoulder and tried to restart car. No result, although car cranked. Temp gauge normal (she thinks). Didn't look at oil pressure gauge.

When I got there, the entire driver's side of the car was coated in oil, as were the wheels, undercarriage, driver's side of engine compartment, you get the idea. The return line from the oil cooler was leaking at the junction of the nut and metal neck.

Towed the car back. Engine turns over easily by hand with a breaker bar and socket over the balancer nut. Pulled cam cover. No visible damage, valvetrain not dry. I put a new load of oil in (with a pan to catch the frest spillage from the line) and tried cranking, and it will crank, no unusual sounds, a lot of grey/black smoke out the tailpipe (similar to the cold starting problem I was having prior to adjusting the valve lash), but no starting.

What's the next step? Compression test? I'm guessing I could easily have cracked rings or scored walls from the oil starvation. Is it even worth pursuing it any farther? Does the car have a low oil pressure shutoff switch, and is it possible there was no serious damage?

Any advice would be appreciated, and would be beneficial for my relationship, too. :o

Thanks.

I know youre not going to like this, but the last two times I've encountered this, both engines blew a hole in the block. One was a 78 300D N/A and the other, the 83 300CD I now have. Unless I'm waaaaay off, that much oil couldnt have come from a seeping oil cooler line. Look down under the injection pump for a hole. On the 83 turbo motor, it blew holes on both sides of the block...

Another diesel dies because of oil cooler lines. :(

I would start by replacing the lines with OE ones.

Then fill her back up with oil and see what you have.

Sad to agree...
 

Unless the oil line broke, he is correct.

Do you get oil pressure??
Is the oil cooler line broken = spewing mass oil???
How much oil did you add to the engine???

Ouch
 

Sorry I'm late replying, but I don't have web access at home (way out in the boonies). I would say that it is a pretty good leak in the line. A steady drizzle more than a drip. I will check for any other ruptures or visible damage to the block. If I crank her for 10 seconds or more, I do see the oil pressure gauge rise to 5-7 psi. I put about 5 quarts of used oil in. It was all the used stuff I had and I didn't see the sense in loading new oil just to watch it drain out into the pan. Thanks for the responses.

Ok.
 

Change the oil, replace the hoses and PRAY.
Unless you want to replace the engine or sell the car.

I sure hope that oil line blew.
When she fires, you will find out real quick where that oil is coming from.
That smoke and no start sounds like when I had all bad glow plugs, car sat for a while...I pushed the car, hood open, in direct sunlight for a couple hours, and she popped.
Are you dealing with serious cold? Where is the car?
How recently were you working on the valves?
Maybe its a couple of small things at once...
I have heard more that one story about these beasts running dry of oil w/no long term damage.
May you have that fortune too, my freind.