Get you a couple of nights where you don't have anything going on, click on the search bar above, put in a word you want to search, click on diesel discussion as the search forum, and get ready to read. All your questions have been asked before and answered, for the most part.
Don't get me wrong, keep asking questions, but you will be enthralled by hours of searching and reading. It is quite interesting if you are on the road to diesel dorkdom......

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Leaks could be from anywhere. Do you mean a fuel leak? A Oil Leak? A Water leak?

I've had them all

Yes, the search works great on this forum. You will find almsot all you would ever want to know.

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76 300D 130K "Stella" (Sold )
74 240D 299K (Donated to Highschool For Senior Project WVO)
83 300TDT 290K (My one and only)
Sanford, NC

I will soon be buying the same car, but turbo. Yay. Same problems- so far I've been led to beleive that it's probably the valve adjustment or the alda.

Hello to the forum,
I have not posted for a while, though I have lurked now and again.

I second looking at the air cleaner bracket. You probably have broken rubber mounts, like everybody else. Also the air cleaner brackets break on the back end.

Also, look at the amount of slop in the throttle linkges on the driver's side of the engine. A thin washer, inserted under a circlip(s) at the bracket on the valve cover will quiet a lot of rattling noise.

Oil drips:
1. Check that the oil return tube is attached to the bottom of the air cleaner and that the return tube is in its proper place at the bottom.
2. Check valve cover gasket. You will replace it during valve adjustment anyway.

Fuel leaks:
1. Check the small braided hoses that jump between the injectors. They typically weep fuel when they age.
2. Check the small priming hand pump just forward of the injection pump on the drivers side of the engine. There are two styles. The older style has a knurled plastic knob that is unscrewed before pumping. The new style is just a black cap that is pumped without unscrewing. A couple of pumps will tell you if it's leaking.
3. Check the braided rubber lines that go between the fuel tank inlet/outlet and the steel tube fuel lines running forward. Both are just above the rear axle.

General stuff to do right away:
Check the air filter and change it if it is dirty.

Change the oil and oil filter right away. Use CI-4 rated oil.

Run a can of LubroMoly Diesel Purge through the fuel system, following the directions you will find by using the forum search feature.

After the Diesel Purge treatment, change both fuel filters.

Adjust those valves. It's pretty easy.

Other good things to do:
Buy a big box of disposable rubber gloves.
Clean the engine.

This is a very helpful link:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=127342
Especially helpful is the great DIY page.

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1985 300SD, 203,000 miles, dark blue

Lil Sarah says: "Poor old Grandma Blue Car...She's sad."