OK,
I have been struggling to stop a hydraulic leak on my 1982 300td with 240kmiles. At first I thought it was the low pressure suction hose between the resevoir and the pump-which was leaking and replaced. The leak began after an over heating incedent that was precipitated by belt breakage on the freeway. After replacing the suction hose I cleaned the front of the engine and for several days of driving around town everything seemed fine-no new fluid, but after driving on the freeway again the front of the engine is covered in hydraulic fluid. The pressure hose coming out of the pump looks pretty good and has very little fluid on it but the center of the fan consistantly is wet with fluid. It seems to me that the pump itself might be leaking where it meets the block but I cant figure out how the fan is getting so wet when it should be blasting fluid away from it. My question is what is the chance of the overheating (coolant steaming+spraying everywhere) causing this leak and where should I look next? (I am about to try and regasket the pump if I can't find a better clue). I should note that when I rev the engine I can't see any obvious spraying fluid but after a long drive drive the front of the block is wet with fluid.

Ok,,, just to make sure we are talking about the same thing...
You have a wagon...
and this is the SLS pump attached to the head of the engine ?
Or the power steering pump ?

It is a wagon and it is the suspension pump-the fluid is clear so I'm sure the powerstearing is not involved. All I can think of is that there was some kind if warpage or something. when it overheated I caught the temp needle as it started climbing past 100 degrees and pulled over right away. bythe time I shut it down the needle was close to maxing out but not quite. The car ran fine after replacing all of the belts and adding abunch of coolant so I was hoping nothing was hurt until this hydraulic fluid started showing up on the front of the block and cylinder head.