I finally dropped the oilpan on my '95 E300D today. On Christmas day it broke down--I thought the engine spun a rod. See photos of debris I fished fron the pan with a magnet. There were some ball bearings and a race from the vacuum pump I replaced in November. I fished the oil pump chain out to inspect--it was dangling--but not broken (I think). Then there is what looks like the oil pump sprocket, and a broken bolt head. I took some pictures of the inside of the pan thru the side cover hole just to see what else might be in there.

Next I will remove the pan for more inspection. Who knows, maybe I can replace the oil pump & chain and drive it again.

Stay tuned....

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I think you need to pull the motor out. Chances are it has run for a short period with no oil pressure & so all sorts of damage will have been done. The simplest & cheapest option may be a second hand motor.

__________________
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

Yeah--I've considered this. I think the oil pump failed an then the rod bearings started rattling and finally seized. But the guage never indicated a loss of oil pressure--I watched it for the 20 seconds it took to pull off the highway. Too bad!

electric pressure gauges can be slow to react.

__________________
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

Not 20seconds of slow. Likely the sender failed, the gauge will read just above 3bar at all times with a failed sender.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I have seen motors live a long time after running "oil starved".

My .02$ is to try to fix what you have and see how the motor performs. Once it is running again, if it seems ok, then it should be fine. Why go for the big job right off the bat with out trying an inexpensive solution first?

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83 300TD (need rear wiper assembly dead or alive)
84 300SD Daily driver
85 300TD almost 400k miles and driven daily.
98 E300D *sold
86 300SDL *sold and made flawless 10 hour journey to new home.