Having some unpleasant symptoms on my 300SD. Increased noise under the hood, sounds pretty much like normal exhaust note, amplified. Li'l bit of smoke at idle as well. At higher engine speed, the fan just blows the smoke out, can't see it.

Somehow, the oil on the dipsitck is looking a bit funny. Can't tell if the level has gone up or not, but it might be thinner viscosity. I just replaced the oil pan gasket, so that might explain why the oil level hasn't gone down. Maybe I'm hallucinating.

I'm wondering if I should just replace both gaskets to be on the safe side?

I've never had the heads off of one of these.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

If it is exhaust type noise you can usually feel the point of exit. There is a flow of exhaust naturally out of that point. Usually with some pressure behind it. I usually cannot see the place of exit but sure can feel it myself. Suspects are the header pipe and exhaust manifold plus vicinity of the turbo of course being the most likely area. But look and feel a little further down the pipe.Do this before the engine warms up as you also do not want to burn yourself. Chances are a muffler place would spot it almost instantly as they have many such problems each week. May not even charge to locate it and then you decide if you want to repar it yourself. The chances of it being a head gasket are almost nil in my opinion. Let us know what you found it to be.

What he said.

I doubt it's the head gasket, it's probably the downpipe or something else in the exhaust system. If you have to replace the downpipe, be wary of the one sold by a certain company in Ca, they look like Forrest Gump made them. I had the same thing happen on my former 300SD, it's had a cracked downpipe, I was too cheap to buy a new one so I used a couple of beer cans and a clamp to "fix" it.

I would reccomend; verify correct oil change procedure followed. Correct oil level if to high(drain excess). Perform italian tune up. Reevaluate before plunging in to head gasket. Read and study all forum posts pertaining to your engine.

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1982 MBZ 300SD Turbo Diesel- just turned 200,000- just breaking her in

If it is an exhaust manifold gasket, you can look around and see black marks where the exhaust is leaking out. The same goes for the downpipe. The head gasket can be a little more difficult because there is no adjacent surface to leave black marks on.You can also use a length of tubing as a hearing aid and maybe pinpoint where the noise is coming from. You don't want to leave it for too long because it can erode the metal at the gasket mating surface.

Good luck,

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Doug

1987 300TD x 3
2005 E320CDI

Also forgot to mention. The resulting diesel exhaust gasses getting back into the cab are not enjoyable. In fact people react differently to them. Some get quite ill. If you ever suspect a trace of them getting back into the cab a temporary help is to run the blower motor at top speed and close the windows. The positive cabin pressure keeps the fumes at bay usually. Even oil leaking onto the exhaust manifold can produce unpleasant and harmful fumes. Ocassionally you will run across a diesel with a really worn blower motor. Sometimes that is the result of a guy like me leaving it on when the windows are closed by force of habit. Getting a used blower motor because yours is worn out is still a lot better than you being sick. Principally I was always concerned about the cumulative exposure factor. I really do not know how I picked up that habit years ago. But it does work.

Great advice. I thought head gasket would be a long shot. I'm sure that's a big job and I wouldn't undertake it unless I had a set of symptoms lined up in a row.

Doesn't seem to be any fumes in the cab. Still, wouldn't hurt to nip it in the bud just in case.

Thanks. I'll post again when I've solved it.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I've heard of that before but not sure what it is. I thought I read something about a device by that name that would squirt oil onto the exhaust and put out a huge cloud of smoke. Good for backing off tailgaters.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I haven't been driving it much lately until I can get a handle on this. Best I can tell, there is no air pressure emitting from the manifold and the exhaust smoke seems to be coming from the junction of the downpipe and the manifold. I had it off once when I put in a new driveline. I can't remember, is there some kind of gasket or bushing there?

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I believe it's metal to metal. Not positive though. Might just have loose bolts on the flange. Again you should feel air blasting out of the source with your hand.

At the muffler shop I use, they take a piece of flexible rubber hose and put it close to the places it might be leaking and put the other end near their ear. Should be able to hear it.

The other device you describe was a ' Proximity Regulator'. I've posted about it in the past.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Excellent advice. I can't figure why I can see smoke coming out but can't feel any rushing air. Might be too small a leak. Sure seem to be letting sound out though.

The hose would probalbly pick up the moving air sound.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Jeez, wouldn't I feel just a bit sheepish if it had only been loose bolts all this time?

Note to self: check the simple stuff first.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K