I've had this oil leak for as long as I've owned the car, and I was wondering where it is coming from. If I were to guess it might be coming from the headgasket, but there is no coolant in the oil, no oil in the coolant, and no other signs of headgasket failure.

Is there anywhere else this oil could have originated from?

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'84 190d 2.2 - Silver
Converted to 5-Speed
'84 190d 2.2 - Blue
Factory 5-Speed

'76 300D (W115)
Sold, found again in less auspicious circumstances

Given the propensity for 602s and 603s to have a head gasket leak in that area I'm tempted to say head gasket. It's not the kind of head gasket failure that compromises compression or the cooling system. At least not for a while.

Clean the engine particularly under the #1 exhaust manifold runner and see if that's where it starts to get oily again. Pay close attention to whether it's coming from the junction of the head and block or the exhaust runner itself. It could be a bad exhaust valve seal flooding the exhaust manifold. I'd expect a heck of a smoke screen behind your car if it's a bad valve seal.

The chain tensioner looks clean but I can't see the bottom of it.

Sixto
87 300D

I have gone through 2 four cylinders with that same leak.

It is most likely the headgasket, as mentioned.

The hard part about diagnosing this leak is, after you clean it, the wind in the engine bay splatters it all over the place.

Personally, I believe this is one of the ways heads become warped... so take care of it as soon as you can.

I had this same leak and concur. Head gasket around timing chain galley. Mine eventually lost compression in #1 piston, with no loss of coolant. Once you have the head off, its easy to see why it happens. Not expensive to fix.

Well that's unpleasant news. So from those of you who have done headgaskets on these, what do I need to budget time and capitol-wise? Any special tools and caveats?

How long can I drive it safely as I probably won't have time to do this sort of job until winter break....

__________________
'84 190d 2.2 - Silver
Converted to 5-Speed
'84 190d 2.2 - Blue
Factory 5-Speed

'76 300D (W115)
Sold, found again in less auspicious circumstances

I have never done one by also have the same leak, watching this thread.

Mine blew unexpectedly on a downshift.

I followed the manual carefully. It wasnt difficult except for pulling the pins on the chain rail; in my case I borrowed a slide hammer for that. I had to remove the radiator and the condenser to get room to manoever. My condenser was disconnected anyway. you might be able to pull these pins without the slide hammer with a little ingenuity. You also need a special hex head for the head bolts.

Best to do this in a covered place and keep things very clean. Takes an amateur longer than a professional, but actually pretty straightforward.

I'd say 4 hours to pull the head, another 4 hours to install the head and a bunch of time scraping off old gaskets and cleaning and such.

This tool is invaluable for removing timing chain guide pins -

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350384215783

This set of bits will work on the head bolts -

http://www.toolking.com/performance-w1395-4-piece-metric-12-point-bit-triple-square-bit-set

Costs about twice that at Autozone. Not the best quality but they'll replace the set if you break a bit.

The short bit means you have to remove the cam for full access to the head bolts. There's a longer bit special tool but I can't see myself handling a head with valves open. That's an expensive accident waiting to happen for a klutz like me.

I don't know if special tools are needed for the intake manifold. I imagine some 6mm allen keys and bits and some ingenuity will get it done.

Any other tool you need should be available at an auto parts store.

Don't forget a copy of the FSM.

Sixto
87 300D