As I've mentioned, I'm looking at an '85 300D. I'm currently in Dallas, and have had a chance to look the car over.

Everything seems okay, except for one major thing. With the engine running, if I pull the oil filler cap off, I'm seeing quite a bit of blow-by, and it seems to be puffing out (at a fairly quick pace) as opposed to calmly steaming away as other "okay" diesels I've seen do. I'm not sure exactly how much is too much, and, being the day after the 4th of July, I have yet to find a shop that knows anything about the W123 diesels that's open. I honestly don't think I'm going to find a shop at this point, and it's about 6pm Central Time, I believe.

Again, other than that, the car seems okay...the tranny shifts a bit weird unless I put a lot of pedal into it, but the engine thing is the big issue. I basically have two choices...either drive it home to CA or hop on a plane and forget it.

Thoughts pretty quickly would be appreciated...thanks in advance! Please respond to this post, as I don't have access to my E-mail at this point.

Again, thanks!

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2001 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed, daily driver
1991 Ford F-350, work in progress
1984 Ford F-250 4x4, 6.9l turbo diesel, 5 speed manual
Previous oilburners: 1980 IH Scout, 1984 E-350, 1985 M-B 300D, 1979 M-B 300SD, 1983 M-B 300D
Spark-free since 1999