I have a 1983 300d that has a major oil leak coming from the front of the engine. After de-oiling the outside of the engine, I can tell that the oil is coming from near the bottom front of the engine. It is losing approx. 2 quarts a day.


Does anyone have any ideas what may very well be the culprit? Im leaning towards the front main seal, crankshaft seal.... But is there anything else that it could possibly be?

Any advice would be great.


Thank the maker for having a spare car to drive. lol.....

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1983 Mercedes 300D
Atlanta, GA

that is the most likely candidate.

tighten up any bolts you see in the area before you go crazy and look for signs of impact.

Make certain it is engine oil

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I like your choice. Turbo drain on the pass. side near the front - mine leaked alot when it finally gave up.

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83 300d - 390k

Thank you for the input so far.

I have not gotten under the car as of yet to check for loose bolts, or to check the Turbo Drain. I will check that the next time I have a day off.

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1983 Mercedes 300D
Atlanta, GA

My turbo drain is a faithful leaker, but no where near 2 Qts / day. Couple of globs, or 1" spots of dirty diesel oil at best from the drain.

Clean and have a look see. The turbo drain is quite apparent. I need to install an O ring to correct.

Couple questions, Have you owned this car long? Has it become a problem overnite? Did you just purchase ?

Good Luck

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Gary
Experience is something you get, Just after you needed it....
'99 E300 295K, '83 300D 220K, '75 240D 185K sold
'80 MCI Bus Conv DD 6V92TA, w/4 cyl. Kubota diesel GenSet 12.5KW

Oil pan bolts get lose too.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

I have had the car since 2003. It has always leaked a bit of oil. Nothing that would be considered out of the ordinary for this type of car. A couple of weeks ago, it started getting worse.

I plan on getting under the car with a bottle of simple green and cleaning up some of the oil and checking the oil pan bolts and turbo drain.

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1983 Mercedes 300D
Atlanta, GA

My turbo drain was like Cessna's - always a few drops or so. One day though, my daughter noticed a large pool of oil. I had her start it while I looked underneath, oil was just gushing out.

Great thing is, no more oil leak having fixed that seal, a new breather tube and oil cap gasket.

I hope it is your turbo drain vs. crankshaft seal.

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83 300d - 390k

I hope for the same. lol. Im hoping its an easy, inexpensive fix.

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1983 Mercedes 300D
Atlanta, GA