My '86 560SL runs great - have driven it from OKC to Austin, KC, and Dallas in the past few weeks (avg 19-20 mpg). But...

I have both oil and tranny fluid leaking. Transmission fluid leaks when car sits for a couple of weeks, but if I drive it every day I don't notice any leaking at all. Oil is leaking onto my exhaust cross member and the catalytic converter and can produce some pretty good smoke from under the car. I am using about 1 qt. per 1000 miles... Any one with some experience with these cars give me some ideas??? My mechanic thinks it's probably a head gasket leak...

Any thoughts on the tranny leak? I am guessing that the front seal (?) is shrinking, maybe the crankshaft is settling and pulling the lip of the seal ...

A few more symptoms: On my way home from Dallas today I noticed that after sitting at a drive-thru for a few minutes, when I pulled away I noticed smoke from the rear. Didn't know for sure if it might be coming from under the car or the exhaust, so when I got home I had my wife punch the accelerator after letting the car idle for a few minutes and clearly a pretty good cloud of smoke from the tailpipe! After the first punch, not much smoke evident. Looked white to me, but I have not noticed any drop in coolant since I have had the car (8 months).

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RG Newell

1984 300D
1972 250
1986 560SL
1991 300CE