I just installed a thermostat in my 1985 300D the other day because i moved from phoenix arizona to the much colder southern illinois climate. anyway.. long story short.. I started the car and let run for almost an hour and checked the temp. gauge. It was perfect. I drove the car around all day and the temp remained perfect. On the next day.. paying no attention to the temp gauge i drove the car around 35-45minutes. i smell the antifreeze and look at my gauge and it couldnt read any higher of a temp (+120) i drove the car another mile before i found a place to pull over. the car stalls as i make my stop and i quickly get out to open the hood. WHAT?! theres a fire on the enging by the firewall !! ( no visible damage was done by this tiny fire. ) ALSO... there was a pretty big oil trail from where it had stalled to where the car sat.. leading to a puddle of oil under the car.

..i had it towed home.

now, i thought i blew the head gasket for sure but the water is still clear and the oils not muddy after replacing what was lost. (2 quarts of oil and a gallon of water) there is no sign of any leaks and the car will not start now. Not even with Either. i got the car to start one time right after the tow home but no luck since... it cranks and puffs white smoke from the exhaust. i dont even know where to begin. Can anybody help out ? I appreciate the help if any. Thank You.

Overheating can do lots of bad things. Piston and cylinder bore damage come to mind. If you aren't getting any funny noises during cranking, start with a compression test and go from there.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.