Can't sleep. Just got back from the mechanic. Out of curiosity I took my car to a different mechanic to have some minor work done. He seems honest and fair and had at least twenty 240D, 300D and 300SD and other 123 and 126 cars on his repair lot. I asked him to make me a list of what needed attention since I have only had the car 6months. Here goes. What do I fix first?? I am mechanical enough to do most, but still need to buy a vacuum gauge and a floor jack.

He says the oil cooler hoses look like theve been replaced but they are definitely leaking where the rubber hose meets the metal crimp down at the bottom of the radiator. Oil puddle on my driveway and on hoses. To replace I was told would have to jack up engine and take loose from left motor mount at about 5 hours labor. Don't want a broken hose! Blown engine! YIKES.

The oil filter housing gasket to engine is leaking a little. Front seal in power steering pump is leaking. He suggested a used pump. My fluid was low by 1 1/2 inches. The vacuum pump housing gasket between pump and engine is leaking. He said to fix this and front crankshaft seal at the same time which is leaking oil. I consume one to one and a half quarts per 3000miles.

Turbo tube drain gasket is leaking a little. The crankcase breather drain pipe is leaking oil and may have a broken bracket which could vibrate this pipe and damage air filter bracket.

Rear end is sitting low - he says becasue rear shocks are leaking fluid. He said to replace them, the rear seat has to come out or the fuel tank has to be dropped. He reccomended the Heavy Duty Bilsteins to go back. My car was hit in the left rear quarter panel before I got it. The rear sway bar is close to the spring stop becasue of this, but not hitting or causing any problem, but the HD shocks my raise the height back enough to improve this. His estimate to fix it all parts and labor was parts$486.26 and labor $900. I want to go ahead and fix the oil cooler lines. Can anyone give some directions for DIY?
He replaced the vacuum switchover valves on top of my valve cover and did a vacuum check on the regulating valve on the tranny and adjusted the modulator two turns. My rough downshift is gone, my upshift is the smoothest it has ever been. But he did say the vacuum test on the regulating valve on the injection pump showed this valve is probably going bad, but is ok for now. He said whoever had been trying to adjust the tranny before was doing so without changing the bad switchover valves and thus causing more problems.

What kind of car are we talking about here?

**edit**1982 300SD via profile

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

You DO NOT have to take out the left engine mount to take out the oil cooler lines, after a bit of fiddling, they will snake out.

Also, before you replace the oil filter housing gasket, just try tightening the screws a bit, it should be a 5.5mm allen wrench. Two of which are best to be accessed beneath the vehicle.

What kind of car? Well, I'm happy with it. It was a one owner - owned by a lawyer and well maintained by the first owner's same mechanic for 15 of its 22 years and was garage kept. It is not as bad as it sounds. I literally asked the mechanic today to give me everything nitpicky that he could find.

My wife is the one fussing about the oil leaks on her driveway. It really does not leak or burn that much oil. It runs down the highway like a scalded dog. I just want to do prevention. Love my car.

Wow, Big list, lot of leaks. Well sounds like you probably should start out reparing the biggest leaks down to the smallest. The crankshaft seal and the vacuum pump seal, oil cooler hose first. Man you must have one oily engine. You might think of letting your indy repair the major leaks and you concentrate on the minor things.

Ya, it is so much easier to visualize the problems if we know the year and model....

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Think Alternative Energy!
300CD '80 (now gone but not forgotten...)

It is a 1982 300sd. Overall it is in very good condition.
Working out last owner's bugs.

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1982 300SD Light Blue
2002 Honda Accord SE
1974 Toro Wheel Horse Tractor
2000 Toyota Tundra Pickup

Took mine about a year to get over this.

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Jim

Hey, with those new glow plugs, she fired right up this morn in minus 20degree weather. Good compression, even with the oil drips.

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1982 300SD Light Blue
2002 Honda Accord SE
1974 Toro Wheel Horse Tractor
2000 Toyota Tundra Pickup

Personally, if I were paying a mechanic to do this, I would just get the oil cooler hoses changed and shocks and leave it at that. Oil is cheaper than labor. Your oil consumption rate is not all that bad. Once you get the engine cleaned off its not all that hard to keep it clean .You don't say how many miles are on it but if you are over 200K you may be needing an engine eventually anyway. You may get tired of the car or some idiot may hit you and total it

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

It's always a good sign when it starts easily in the cold. But -20? I think you need a new thermometer! Last night was the coldest since last February in CT. About 14F, or -10C. Actually, the price your mechanic quoted you isn't too bad, I'm assuming that's doing the job all at once. The front seal is a bit of work if done right. Why don't you clean the engine off real good - it makes it so much easier to work on and you can get a better idea of what's bad and what's pretty minor. BTW, most shocks resist motion only (absorb shock) and have nothing to do with ride height. If they are gas filled shocks, that's different - sometimes they are installed to remedy sagging springs.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

[QUOTE=Pete Burton]It's always a good sign when it starts easily in the cold. But -20? I think you need a new thermometer! Last night was the coldest since last February in CT. About 14F, or -10C.

It was 20 degrees here not minus 20. I just cleaned off the oil cooler lines. The bottom line going into the bottom of the cooler looks like it is leaking a little but not much around the crimp where the hose goes into it. I have cleaned them both well and will observe.

What is the best product for engine cleaning as far as degreasing? I have a cold water pressure washer but worry about knocking fittings loose or getting water somewhere it does not belong. I thought about buying one of those little steam cleaners with a wand at Target. I would like to steam clean the whole thing so I can tell where the little leaks are.

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1982 300SD Light Blue
2002 Honda Accord SE
1974 Toro Wheel Horse Tractor
2000 Toyota Tundra Pickup

My car has 254,000 miles and has very strong compression. It runs like a scalded dog as we say in the south. The lawyer who was the first owner took very good care of the car and I am only the second owner. Dont' want to argue, but I don't think I am anywhere close to needing a new engine.

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1982 300SD Light Blue
2002 Honda Accord SE
1974 Toro Wheel Horse Tractor
2000 Toyota Tundra Pickup

You can use a variety of engine cleaners in a can. they are cheap enough, and basically scented kerosene anyway. I use kerosene in a pump spray bottle. What about the steam cleaning wand at Target? I've always wanted to find a small steam cleaner. I think that would be perfect to spray down after loosening things up with the kerosene. Will, how much do those things cost and how much pressure can they develop? I've thought about attaching a hose to an old pressure cooker and putting it on a campstove, but some sort of portable, electric steam cleaner would be cool!

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

I would get the oilcooler lines done first thing if they are leaking at a crimp. I told a local friend this with 300SD that had the lines leaking and he just kept driving the car as he didn't want to spend the $$$ to fix. Couple of months later his car is sitting in front of garage with blown engine. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.