So my 82 300CD uses no oil. I drove it cross country and it didn't drop a bit on the dipstick.

The car has been sitting for about a year because I've been working on the rear regulators but have not had enough time working on them.

I looked underneath tonight and saw a "fresh" (no idea how long it has been dropping) oil stain under there which wasn't there when I parked it.

My take is that it is dripping off the two bolts that stick down where the downpipe off the turbo comes to the bottom of the car to mate to the exhaust.

But where is it coming from and why? The car has not run since I parked it. It has a seasonal thermal cycle set of course. The turbo always showed a tiny bit of oil in its intake impeller. The dipstick doesn't show a real drop in oil level.

Any ideas?

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)

Well, you know it's gotta be a seal. Sounds like it's gonna be one that's not too overly hard to replace.

__________________
Codifex
1981 240D ChinaBlue (Got her running with a donor engine.)
1983 300DTurbo w/sunroof.
1984 300TD manual sunroof. (Electrical Gremlins)

As it turns out, it is two spots. One is ATF. Ugh. There was always a bit of oil in the turbo, not a mess, but some damoness, so I guess I can understand that one. But the ATF??!?

Just don't want to blow out all my lube oil or ATF under operation. That scares me a bit!

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)

Oh, that's the rubber hoses for the ATF cooler (inside the radiator) that are probably leaking......if you see the ATF up near the engine's oil pan.

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

Nope, further back. Those hoses are dry, I checked them.

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)