I purchased a '80 300SD Turbo Diesel last January and have researched this phenominon to no avail...

Within a day or two of driving the car to work (100 miles a day) it puked enough oil to make a mark on the pavement 16 inches across. The puddle was located just to the drivers side of center beneath the engine. Unfortunely, the underside of the engine compartment is too grimey to tell where it came from. It did this three days in a row to total approximately a half a quart of oil and has not done it since. I never caught it in the act to verify its origin, but have wondered since if there is anything I should do to prevent it from happening again, possibly at the wrong time. (eg friends driveway - the soot stain would be permanent)

Any thoughts?

Did you do an oil change? If I fill my wagon to spec after a change it is guaranteed to leak it out. I fill to where it indicated about 1/4" above the bottom mark on the dipstick.

This may also be a loose or mislocated oil separator drain underneath the aircleaner. Because it is out of sight, it's easy to forget to make sure that drain tube is positioned properly.

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On the drivers side the usual suspects are the oil filter cap o-ring not installed correctly (maybe pinched), the oil filter to block gasket leaking (try tightening the bolts), The valve cover gasket pinched or overtightened, or the oil cooler lines weeping, especially at the fittings. Sometimes it's pretty hard to stop all the oil leaks on an old diesel, but 16 inches is a pretty serious puddle. One that big ought to leave a visible trail from the leak point.

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Palangi

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"the underside of the engine compartment is too grimey to tell where it came from."


You will never be able to tell where it is coming from unless you clean your engine compartment. This is the first rule of finding leaks.
Read up on what you need to cover...and keep water away from the IP ... or use regular water on it with the ENGINE STONE COLD..... the tolerances in it at too tight to take thermal shock...

Clean engine, inspect for oil leak. Gunk works well for the heavy stuff, Simple Green for the light stuff.

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Thanks for the thoughts,

I think R Leo may have hit it on the head. I had not changed the oil prior to the three day spill, but it is highly likely that I had topped it off and may have slightly over filled it. The engine shows no signs of the leak now. As if it fixed itself. Until it pukes again.

Thanks again,

VegErl

I saw my SD puke oil the night I bought it(just over a year ago). It made an awful noice and a puddle appeared. I think there was an obstruction in the oil cooler line? I haven't had any problems since. I watch the lines real close and they are on my list of projects to replace. Seeing this posted it would not surprise me if this was an overfill issue considering who had been taking care of the car. This is good to know.

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My Daily : 96 E-300 Diesel with 195,000 miles
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Had an eruption of oil on my 81SD last December. After recovering from the panic attack I undertook a very carefull exam of where the oil came from and why so suddenly.
Turns out I had checked the oil and had left the dipstick out a 1/2 inch. There was enough blowby to pump oil out the dipstick holder there. Lost a qt in 40 miles. A real mess all over the left side of the engine.
Lesson learned is to push the dipstick in tight several times. Not worth the mess to let it happen again.