I'm going to try that on my wagon first- I'm doing that today. The boat looks like it's staying south this year.

Any fear in sticking some left over gasoline oil in first- run it for a day's duty to see if it leaks then if it does suck all that oil out and do the job over, and if it does not, suck it out and put in Rotella T5?

So I filled with 1/2 pennzoil (as I had it sitting around) and 1/2 rotella (did not have enough to fill the engine) and a new filter. Idle at the driveway and no leaks. I'll drive it tomorrow which will see some short I-95 time and then if when I return home and there are no leaks then I pull that oil and fill it with rotella t5.

I tried the jack up the drivers side till the wheel is well off the ground, jacked up the passengers side as well after that, put the mityvac line into the bottom line from the oil cooler; + into the oil pan drain plug. It made no difference the oil was black immediately.

MTU - my 85 leaks at this gasket.

Can you provide a quick summary of what you did?

Do you need to remove the oil cooler lines and lift the housing clear away?

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

My mechanic did not have the short tools, so we removed the gearbox.

There are two gaskets, one from the engine block to the housing and another from the housing to a cover on the housing. Might as well replace them both if you'll be down there taking it apart.

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

As MBeige said it is a good idea to also change the Gasket that goes under the Plate where the Oil Pressure Fitting or Sending/Turbo Oil Supply Tubing goes.

To answer another post I would say you need to remove the Oil Cooler Lines only from the Oil Filter Housing and unclamp the Oil Cooler Hose Tubings up front; if for no other reason that you need the room to get in there and Clean the Block surface and also to Clean the surface of the Oil Filter Housing. It is just too little room to make sure they are clean.

Also if you are doing any scraping if the Oil Filter Housing was still there I do not see how you would be able to tell if some particles got inside of the Block or Oil Filter housing.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Removing the Steering Box is an interesting thought.

I actually used a Beam type Torque Wrench to torque the Oil Filter Housing down; but, to do that I had to replace some of the Allen Head Bolts with regular Hex Head Bolts because there was not enough room to use an Allen Socket even if it was shortened.
But, I was able to use a 3/8" drive socket on the Hex Head Bolts due to the shorter length of the Socket.

With the Steering Box gone torquing would be easy.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

In answer to the OP's original question in the barrowed pic the Mechanic is clearly using a Gasket Sealant.
It looks like the Old School type Brown Permatex hardening or non-hardening stuff.
That would not have been my first choice for this particular job but that stuff is extremely reliable as far as sealing Gasket goes.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I have always liked ' Aviation Gasket Cement'....

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1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/10414-help-i-need-check-stretch.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

Here's the list of things I did for the job.

Empty the engine of oil.
Put a oil "blanket" under the car near the filter housing.
Jack up car and put some stands on the front and block the rear wheels for room to work under the car.
Remove the oil cooler lines at the housing with a 27mm open end wrench. If you want less clean up then blow into the top line before removing (or suck out the bottom if you have a mityvac- or both).
Remove the oil line in the back.
Remove the allen headed hardware holding it onto the block.
Remove the oil line in the side.
Wiggly the housing out the top.
Clean up the housing very very good.
Clean up the mating site very very good.
Re-install with new gasket.


I used no gasket sealant with the aftermarket gasket and after 50 miles including interstate driving have NO leaks from the site. I had no leaks from the housing's other gasket so I left it alone.

The real question is what it does after four or five years. I'm quite sure a brand new aftermarket gasket won't leak in the first 10K or 20K.

Most folks that have leaks in this area own vehicles that are over 20 years old.

If you are not concerned with the very long term..........the discussion of gasket sealant, or OE, or aftermarket is a bit moot.

MTUpower, did tightening the cap screws stop the leak in your wagon?

To change the oil filter housing gasket, do you really need to drain the oil pan? Isn't sucking out what's in the filter housing sufficient?

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

No. The filter housing is above the oil level.


The oil in the housing will drain into the sump as soon as the filter element is removed.

It was time for an oil change anyways, so I did that. Plus I lifted the car on both the driver and passenger side as someone else suggested to help drain ALL the oil in an attempt to keep the oil from getting black immediately. Did not work, but after removing the temp oil and putting in the T5 doing the lift again it did work. I also put a air line and the mighty vac into the oil cooler lines. My oil after the 50 miles is not black. Starts much easier on the T5.
I also put a tiny amount of copper gasket sealant into the valve cover gasket seam and where it sits to stop oil leaks from that area and now the car no longer marks it spot!


I tightened the stuff a bit on the other wagon and it still leaks. Time for it's gasket change. I also have a nearly complete euro black cloth interior to install to replace the current pinkamino.

Taking off the steering box is easier than going to a hardware or car parts store and buying a $6 allen key set?

You must modify the allen set in order to make use of it. Standard allen wrenches will not work.