84' 300sd Oil Leaks

[1984300SD]

I have tried to run some searches on this subject and have not found much on this subject. The search engine on this site never pulls up what I am looking for or mabye I am not using it right.

Anyways just curious to know from other diesel owners where to look for oil leaks on the 300SD or 300D besides the valve cover? My underside is so caked with oil I don't even want to think about the job it is going to take to clean this off. I lose about a quart of oil every oil change, so I have never worried about it.

Your comments are appreciated.

Thanks

[engatwork]

Look closely at the oil drain line from the turbo to the oil pan. It is coming off of the bottom of the turbo.

Hi 1984300SD

What you could do is to have your engine steamed
cleaned,I don't know if there is a facility that does
this near you,I have one near my house and it is
a regular repairshop but they also do that.

It is done with steam instead of high pressure
and is ideal for dirty cruddy cars and engines.
Once the engine is clean you can start looking
for the origins of the leaks and repair accordingly.

My car is a 83 300TDT

My engine looks as if someone took a spray
bottle and sprayed the entire engine and bay
with oil.
By what I saw so far is that the breather
tube(plastic elbow)was cracked and leaking,
the oil filler cap was leaking also.
The valve cover gasket looks OK but I'm
replacing it anyway.
I'm pretty sure the crankshaft seal is leaking,
front and rear.
Most likely the upper and lower oilpan are leak also.
The vacuum pump bolts where pretty loose
when I removed it to rebuilt it.
And when I removed that central vacuum hub
on the valve cover it seemed as if there was
oil comming out of one bolt holes.

From the valve cover down the front of my
engine has at least an half inch thick crust
of oil and dirt and it looks like the engine
hasn't seen soap and water in 10 years.
So you know where I'm going after I change
the timing chain.

I bought it about 7 months ago,with lots of
work needed but alot is done already.

Louis.

[CSchmidt]

84300sd,

Castrol Super Clean (in a purple jug at WalMart) is a pretty good and simple cleaner to use. It really cuts the grease and oil. It would be an inexpensive first try at cleaning. Make sure to rinse off well.

Chuck

[Zoonhollis]

The oil filter housing is a common leak point too...

[PeterG]

I just de-gunked my engine yesterday to make working on it a little cleaner. I sprayed the engine down with gunk degreaser, drive to the local car wash and spray it down again, and then use the pressure washer at the car wash to hose it down. I would save some of the spray time to clean up the bay afterwards so the next person is not walking through your muck. But I am curious what coachgeo said:

after you clean the engine. Go to a good auto parts place or order an ultraviolet additive that you put in the crank. With an unltraviolet light it shows you exactly where the leaks are. .

I would like to know where the leak is coming from. Somebody told me it comes from between the head, and I just accepted that as fact. What store carries the additive and who has successfully done this?

PeterG

[coachgeo]

after you clean the engine. Go to a good auto parts place or order an ultraviolet additive that you put in the crank. With an unltraviolet light it shows you exactly where the leaks are.

That oil drain recovery line engatwork mentioned is #1 oil leak suspect with most turbos. Remove the air cannister and the tube is easier seen. Then you can spray your choice of cleaners to begin decrusting the mess.
While the air cannister is off the car, look at the underside and you should find a short metal protusion. That plugs into the recovery tube. On that there should be an O-ring. The O-ring will need replacement if it has been there for long. This is where many of the leaks are coming from.
The air canister should be thoroughly cleaned before reistallation. Use some degreasor to disolve the build up inside the trap itself. Should just rinse out with a hose then.
Be carefull to fit the new o-ring and the air canister back on. I have seen where that protrusion gets hung up on the drain tube and then a lot of oil will drain all over the place. Doing that will usually cause the t- shaped bracket holding the air canister to break.
There are lots of places these old diesels leak, but cleaning this one is a good place to start.

[Brian Carlton]

My current favorite leaks are as follows:

1) IP mounting flange gasket
2) Oil filter housing mounting gasket
3) Oil cooler lines at the crimped connection

Maybe there are more but these three are the largest.
One day I'll try and fix two of them. #2 will have to wait a loooong time.

Brian Carlton
1984 300SD

[kerry]

I fixed the #2 leak on my 409d by simply tightening the bolts. Very easy fix.

[Stevo]

I learned when rebuilt my 616 engine there are many places on the front of the engine that can leak oil including the timing chain rail pins, no need to go into how I learned this. Check over the front of the engine when you get it cleaned.