Hello all, I need a little help here. I have a 1979 300SD. There was oil all over the hex head screws on the bottom of the pan, so I decided to do an oil change and replace the gasket. No gasket... ok that explains the oil leak, no problem. Replaced the pan, gasket, and drain plug, tightened to specifications. I was putting the cover back on the oil filter canister and one of the nuts did not want to tighten down to the 25 NM specified, it was tight but it kept turning. Started the car, and the it took about 5 sec for the oil pressure to peg. no leaks. drove it around 1/2 a block before i heard it "blow". Oil pressure went to zero. Limped the other half a block home, popped the hood, and had oil everywhere, none leaking around the pan, but clearly the cover on the filter canister is what blew. The bolt that wouldnt tighten down had metal down inside its threads, as if it had stripped out all threads down inside the hole. There were little metal shaving from the hole threads everywhere and all the oil had drained out. it seems like the bolt it will thread back inside the hole, if i can get the the nut off. what should I do to fix this and do you think there was any serious damage? It smelled a little funny when i got her home...

you shouldnt have driven it any farther when you lost oil pressure. hope you didnt spin any bearings. Replace the stud and put the cover back on you should be fine.

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Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

As long as they would add one additional commandment for you to keep thy religion to thyself.
George Carlin (Wonder where he is now..)

1981 240d (engine donor 1983 240d) recently rebuilt engine hurray! - No more.. fought a tree and the tree won.

pearl black 1983 240d 4speed (Converted!@$$%) atleast the tranny was rebuilt.

The stripped bolt hole thread on the oil cannister housing can be fixed with a helicoil.

You may regret limping home with zero oil pressure though.

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Neil.


1991 190E 2.6 170k
1995 E320CA 57k
1999 Chevy Tahoe 98k
2000 R1150GS 45k
1983 300CD 178k - sold, but not forgotten

So i drill out the hole, insert the helicoil, and stud and i am back on the road? I can do that. How would I know if one of the bearings seized? There was about 1/8 inch of oil in the dip stick, since it was coming out the top...

Doesn't matter how much oil was in the sump...pressure is far more important. If you operate the engine with no oil pressure, even for a second, you could serious damage the engine's internals. Hopefully you did no damage.

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Current cars:
2000 ML55 AMG, 174k miles
2003 C240 T-Modell, 202k miles
1995 S320, 207k Miles

Not for that short a time, but much longer and it will.

My 300D shut down when the oil preasure dropped. I thought it was designed that way. Did I think wrong?

Yes. The engine shutting down from low oil pressure is a very BAD thing, that means it seized from lack of lubrication.

Forced has this covered, basically it depends how lucky you are. Spinning a bearing is the worst you can do. Wich could mean either, only new bearings because you increased the clearances alot, or getting the crankshaft ground down, all mains and rods line bored and oversized bearings installed.

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Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

As long as they would add one additional commandment for you to keep thy religion to thyself.
George Carlin (Wonder where he is now..)

1981 240d (engine donor 1983 240d) recently rebuilt engine hurray! - No more.. fought a tree and the tree won.

pearl black 1983 240d 4speed (Converted!@$$%) atleast the tranny was rebuilt.

No it did not seize. It started up but I shut it back off when there was no oil pressure. It spins OK by hand. I thought it might shut down when the pressure drops as a safety measure. I have other cars that are supposed to do that.

In the light of day, I have a better idea of what i am lookng at. The pressure pulled one of the studs that stick out of the filter canister completely out. Threads and all. Looking down into the hole, I can slide the bolt through to the bottom without it threading at all. I will try the helicore thing to do it right, but I wounder if I could just put a nut on the other end of the bolt, and stick it back through the hole from the bottom. Nnd no, when I lost oil pressure, I shut it down there was no safety measure. I am thinking warning alarm/light thread is a good idea after all.

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1979 300SD

Putting a bolt up thru the hole sounds like a better fix than a helicoil to me.

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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

Will there be enough meat around the hole left after the hole is drilled and taped for the Helicoil?

I went and took a look and feel on my filter housing. On mine it dose not feel like there is room for a nut to go on the bottom. But, I think it is possible to grind one side of the bolt head flat (so the flat part will clear the housing and also keep the bolt from turning) and with the head down shove the bolt up from the bottom of the housing allowing you to use a nut on the top.

If this is a good fit; pull the bolt out and degrease the hole and Bolt with Brake Cleaner. Coat the part of the bolt that will be covered by the hole with JB Weld Epoxy; insert the bolt wiping off any excess Epoxy the comes out of the top of the hole. Assemble the filter as you normally would and let the Epoxy harden for 4 hours or so before using it.

You should end up with another permanent stud.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

That means you call 1-800-Metric Motors and bend over.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

That happened to me, but I did not start it up after the threads stripped out.

I DEVCON'd a stud in until I could find and install a filter housing in good shape. Changing the housing was no joy, but I wouldn't trust the DEVCON forever.

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Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport