Turbo drain tube again

[mikeyfev1]

Hello all,

So I have read all of the turbo drain tube oil leak postings I can find, but I still have a slightly different problem that I would like to ask.

My 85 300D has always had a small leak at the turbo drain tube junction (where the upper and lower tubes meet). When I rebuilt the turbo last spring, I thought I had the leak solved but it has come back in a BIG way. Like 4 quarts lost in 100 miles!

So I have the upper tube off and I am noticing that the lower tube slides up and down in its hole about 1/2 inch. I have not removed this tube, so this leads me to believe that something the previous owner did created this situation. I did notice a clean flexible grommet and upper O-ring.

From watching the videos I could find about installing the lower tube, it appears that when the lower tube is installed correctly it is able to move side-to-side. But it shouldn't be able to move up and down, right? I figure what has happened is the tube does not leak until vibration causes the lower tube to slide downward creating an opening for leaking oil.

If the tube is not supposed to be moving up and down, I figure what happened is the PO worked on the tube and actually got it pushed too far into the hole. It moves so freely that there is no way the bottom O-ring is doing any sealing.

Please fill-in any detail you may have about all of this. My current plan is to attempt to get the lower tube out and reseat it. I really don't want to have to remove the oil pan; I know one person said they removed the lower tube by attaching a hose clamp and prying upward. Has anyone tried putting a hose over the top of the lower tube, attached a couple of hose clamps and pulled the hose upwards?

If I should just bite the big one and drop the oil pan I will; looking for alternatives.