"Runs Perfectly"

[tallgrass]

Hi:

I bought a 1981 300D (non-turbo) off of eBay, and picked her up last Thursday. I won’t go into details, but “runs perfectly” has a wide range of interpretations…

So, I’m kind of stuck at a friend’s apartment in PA, a four day’s drive from home, with no garage and minimal tools. I’m hoping you might be able to give me some help in seeing if I should put more money into her or cut my losses.

Body seems to be in good condition, windows/radio/sunroof all work, the interior is ok for an old gal whose beauty is clear but a bit faded.

Downside:

5 rotten tires

Oil leaking out of the cap (it stopped when I replaced the cap)

Fuel lines leak (clipped two of them back to solid hose, and they seem ok now)

Air filter full of oil. I’m having a hard time telling if the housing is original for a 1981 300d non-turbo. It has the flat breather hose. Inside there are two vertical tubes: the one connected to the breather and an elbow of the same diameter. The second one swivels and goes into a hole in the side of the gold-metal hub that covers the airway to the engine. The tubes go down through the housing, and don’t sit on the spray-paint-shaped-cup-thing I see in the 1984 300d turbo set-up. There’s also a flexible hose (15-20”) that comes off of the bottom of the housing, but it’s just hanging loose, dripping oil and smoke.

The oil/diesel combination has made a sludge that covers everything.

The brakes are really heavy.

My current plan is to clip back the rest of the diesel lines to solid hose, lift the air filter off with the engine running to try to see where the oil is coming from, give the whole thing a good cleaning, look for the oil leak again, then test the vacuum system for leaks. I’m thinking I should put off the new tires and alignment until I see how much this helps.

Does this sound like a good plan?

That box of coils/springs near the front passenger side has me curious and a bit baffled…

(o;

Thanks!