What would cause an 85 300D to drip a small amount of fuel near the rear axle from what appears to be some kind of "overflow" line?....The tank is about 3/4 full......I noticed this after returning home from a short drive of about ten miles......It kinda dripped, dripped, dripped for a couple of minutes and then seemed to stop.....??....Is that "normal"??

I've been told that a MB diesel is like a Harley --- they always wanna mark their spot....

The fuel supply and return lines are also right near the rear axles. Those could be leaking. The other line that comes out down there is the tank vent. That one shouldn't be leaking though.

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The vent and return lines are on the driver side of the tank and if either of those leak they drip on the Axel boot, not a good thing. The supply line is on the passenger side of the tank.

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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"

These cars do leave their "mark" and like a Harley it's usually oil.
The fuel over flow is where you describe, my GUESS is you have a failing fuel cap seal, and is being sloshed past it, resulting in a mark.
But check the supply lines as others have mentioned.

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83 SD

84 CD

Yes.... just been dealing with it myself. The drip (and line its coming from is about 10 inches rear of the Boot on the axles so it doesn't drip at a typical place that would be the cause. And you can clearly see it is coming OUT of that tube.

So I changed the fuel cap and it was mucho better but not completely gone. Now it was down to about 12 drips after stop and so it still is coming from around that cap. I then cleaned the lip real good and inspected it and reseated the cap but... I am now below 1/2 tank. I don't think it would slosh enough at that level. So I will have to wait for fill up to see if I got it. But the fact it got a good bit (very noticable) better means I am on the right track.

The after market cap is an generic Oil cap from Advance Auto Parts. I have a real cap on the way. But I know its in that area. And I now know it will do it most at about 3/4 tank as it appears the slosh can build up momentum enough to force out the cap at that level.

The tube looks good and I went into the trunk to verify the overflow tube was well attached to the nipple and the trunk drain was clear.

If it is wet in the fuel cap area and a drip showing in that line then thats got to be it. The way to keep up with it is wipe all that dry and then look again. It will be wet again. If you lucky a new fuel cap will fix it first time. In my case, it is still not quite tight enough. It is tighter than the cap I got off of it by far. And the leak is far less than it was.

THANX all.........The two rubber lines near the rear axle (on driver's side) were replaced a few weeks ago because they were "wet"....This dripping was on the passenger's side and must be related to the fuel cap or vent....?......thanx for the info

Sure, could be the fuel over flow there at the fill, I had to replace the rubber grommet on the fuel neck, wife complained about diesel small in the trunk

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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"

This is so... I am waiting on a Grommet as we speak. because some of it will follow that line down if it gets around that grommet and drip off into the trunk. And mine is old and cracked. Doesn't fix the leaky cap but it keeps the wife off your ass eh?

You got that right. My wife loves our 240s but that wouldn't last long if it was breaking down all the time or the trunk stunk

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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"