The "Leak and Squeak Eradication Campaign" continues on my '82 240D 4-speed.

Next on the list is the Oil Pan Gasket, which I have identified as a source of oil leaking after having degreased and power-washed the area.

I crawled under the car several times, in an effort to pinpoint the source of the leak, and tried tightening the 5mm allen bolts (not too hard - I don't want to strip them). It looks like there's a small hole in the gasket that's spurting oil onto the nearby A/C hose, where it drips down and is blown back across the oil pan by the wind as the car goes down the road.

So while I have the Oil Pan off, is there anything else maintenance-wise that I can/should do while I'm in there?

Thanks,

- Patrick

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1982 240D. 198k, Marine Blue/Blue, 4 Speed, Crank Windows, No Sunroof, No Rust, No Oil Leaks
2001 TDI. 197k, Lagoon Blue/Black, 5 speed, Chip, G60/VR6

thats pretty much it, change gasket and put it back together.

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'85 300 Turbo Diesel- 308K

at the risk of being called mr obvious, i suggest cleaning the pan out really well.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I might be tempted to check the oil pump chain for allowable stretch as there have been a few failures in last month or so reported on this site. Perhaps making sure oil pickup screen is clean and not gunked up as well when your in there does no harm either.

Patrick

When I changed mine I used a little "blue silicone" and like you said didn't "tighten it down to heard" but I did have to come back and "snug" it up after a few days of driving.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

If you can see the spring that pushes lever that tensions the oil pump chain, look for wear where the spring touches the lever. Mine was almost worn through also, check the screen on the oil pump pickup for any stringy debris that might me ready to sneak through the screen. That screen is hardy, but pretty coarse.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

OK - Good advice all - Thanks.

1) Check oil pump chain for stretch.
2) Check oil pump chain tensioner spring for wear, where it touches the lever.
3) Clean oil pickup screen.
4) Use "blue silicone", check for snug in a couple days.
5) Clean the pan out. Maybe use the wife's dishwasher for this?

I'll take the opportunity to do another oil analysis at this time as well.

- Patrick

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1982 240D. 198k, Marine Blue/Blue, 4 Speed, Crank Windows, No Sunroof, No Rust, No Oil Leaks
2001 TDI. 197k, Lagoon Blue/Black, 5 speed, Chip, G60/VR6

I used Aircraft Form-A-Gasket (brown goo) to seal either side of the oil pan gasket and it worked quite well.
This stuff is amazing...just take a wiff
The rubber pickup screen tends to get deteriorated so make sure you check for cracks/breakage...

Today I changed the Oil Pan Gasket, in the course of my scheduled oil/filter change.

I bought a can of Engine Degreaser, and cleaned off the bottom of the oil pan area with a power sprayer at a public car wash.

The drive home allowed the engine to reach operating temperature, after which I drained the oil, changed the filter, and removed the oil pan.

The old gasket was hard and brittle. It came off the oil pan mostly in one piece with the aid of a flathead screwdriver. I wiped off the inside of the oil pan, and used it as a parts cleaning basin, where I cleaned off the numerous allen bolts that hold the pan on.

I checked around and took some pictures "up" into the engine, and didn't find anything amiss. Everything looked to be in remarkably good condition.

After everything was scraped, cleaned, and wiped dry, I reassembled and added a fill of new oil. I used a strip of black tape on my torque wrench as a guide as I tried to maintain uniform torque across all bolts, tightening in a criss-cross pattern.

I also took a sample of the old oil to send to Blackstone Labs for analysis.

Tested. No leak. Woo Hoo

- Patrick

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1982 240D. 198k, Marine Blue/Blue, 4 Speed, Crank Windows, No Sunroof, No Rust, No Oil Leaks
2001 TDI. 197k, Lagoon Blue/Black, 5 speed, Chip, G60/VR6

good job, patrick

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Good job.
One thing I would have added would have been to inspect the sliding face of the oil pump tensioner rail. I have not been into a 617 engine yet where these did not need to be changed because of the wear where the chain slides accross it.

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Jim

If it's any consolation engatwork, my oil pump chain tensioning rail hardly has a groove in it at 257k miles. This is of course on a 603 but I don't know if the 617's are different there or not. I would think mine would wear faster since MB takes short cuts with every model change.

Thanks
David

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2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

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