Maybe I'm just being paranoid, new car and all, but I swear my oil level keeps coming up. I went ahead and changed the oil/filter and sampled the oil. Today I drove the car 50 miles and the level seems to be 1 quart higher. Has anyone been through their liftpump? I'm assuming there's some type of seal on the plunger. I won't drive it until I get my sample results.

Is there a big temp difference between when you checked? That could be it. I haven't ever heard of Diesel getting into the oil on any of these engines so I doubt you have anything to worry about.

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1985 300D Turbo ~225k
2000 F350 (Powerstroke) 4X4, SWB, CC, SRW, 6spd ~148k
1999 International 4900, DT466e (250hp/660 ft/lbs), Allison MD3060 ~73k

I've always tried to check the oil the same way. Five to ten minutes after shutdown with the car level. Other than fuel getting past the liftpump plunger the only other thing I could think of was fuel leaking past the nozzles. I work on truck engines and this is not unheard of on the bigger engines.

If you drive a 300TD wagon it could be that the hydraulic self-leveling pump has a bad gasket/flange and is dumping hydraulic fluid into the oil circuit.

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Regards,
Aaron

Did you smash your oil pan at all? Believe me, it happens...

I am just paranoid. I marked the stick and have been checking daily now. It hasn't budged.

F1 Fan

You didn't switch to synthetic did you? If so the level when hot will be considerably LOWER that it will be in 6-8 hours.

I used to run tugs and have heard of a diesel "making oil" as in fuel leaking into the crank case but have never heard of MBs doing that. Maybe that was in the 71 series jimmy, dont remember.

What about those little O rings on the oil filter housing stem? they keep lub oil from running back out the oil filter. Could they be shot and effecting your dip stick reading ?

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

You will get an incorrect reading if you check your oil level with the "O" ring in place on the dip stick. Check both sides of the dipstick and you will see what I mean - 2 different levels!

The "O" ring makes a piston pushing down the oil level reading but only when you are close to the "max" mark and the dipstick tube end is submerged in oil.

I discovered this on my first 300D many years ago.

The oil level on these engines is best kept +/- mid-way between the two marks.

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Beagle