Looks like I have a leak from the oil pan gasket, but having trouble locating a thread that explains how to do it. Some threads reference that the WIS says you have to raise the engine (remove exhaust manifold, etc),which sounds pretty involved.

-Does anyone out there have a snippet from the WIS that would help explain how to do this?

-Is it necessary to raise the engine?

-Does anyone have experience with any products that can seal a pan leak from the outside. Supposedly there is some type of sealant that can be sprayed on externally to stop a pan leak.

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Treiberg's Collection: 1981 240D, 1985 300SD, 1992 300E, 1997 E300D, 2005 C230K

drive onto some ramps and have a look at it. removing the oil pan only requires that you remove the bolts that go round its perimeter. can you see all of them? reach all of them with a socket? if so, there you go, a quick easy job. if not, then identify what's in the way and do some homework to see how to remove it.

there is no mechanic in a bottle for fixing oil leaks. pull the pan and install a new gasket. make sure you torque all the bolts properly when reinstalling it. consistent and correct torque is the key to being leak free.

Thanks torsionbar. Have you experience on this particular model? The oil pan sits directly over the crossmember and there is really no room to drop the pan, so I can understand the need to raise engine. This is not the typical oil pan I have removed before, so wondering if anyone knows the recommended procedure for this model.

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Treiberg's Collection: 1981 240D, 1985 300SD, 1992 300E, 1997 E300D, 2005 C230K

Clean the bottom of the engine and watch for the leak to form to be sure you need a new oil pan gasket. You might instead need a new front crank seal or vacuum pump gasket or oil filter housing gasket or ...

Sixto
87 300D^2

After cleaning and then re-examination, I do believe the leak is coming from something above the oil pan. The trouble is, I cannot see what it is. It looks to be something behind the starter or near the lower portion of the oil filter housing. It is really hard to see anything back in that far. Anyone know of any particular vulnerabilities for leaks in that area?

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Treiberg's Collection: 1981 240D, 1985 300SD, 1992 300E, 1997 E300D, 2005 C230K

There's a gasket between the oil filter housing and the block, there are oil lines between the oil filter housing and the oil cooler (IIRC the oil cooler is just ahead of the oil filter housing), there's an o-ring between the oil filter housing and the cover (the one you replace with the filter), and if you're really lucky, there's the oil pressure sender.

Is it possibly power steering fluid?

Sixto
87 300D^2

As crazy as it sounds, you might want to take a look at the top of the injection pump and see if there is any dampness around the delivery valves. When mine started leaking, I could not see it with the naked eye, but I would find a little pool in the belly pan at the back of the engine. Some posters advised using brake cleaner in the delivery valve area, clean it off, and allow the area to dry. Then, start your engine, and keep running your finger along the top of the pump and see if you and feel any dampness. What happened in my case was that the diesel fuel was running from the top of the pump, along the engine block to the rear, and then would drip and pool up in the belly pan below. Good luck!!

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96 E300d

It is definitely oil, and I can see it running down the block from behind the starter on left side of engine. Just not easy to see where it is coming from. My guess is something to do with filter assembly.

-The leak really started to happen after an oil change. However, there is no evidence of leakage from around the cap, so no missing O-Ring or something like that.

-The leakage appears to continue even without engine running. If I leave it overnight I see more oil.

I wonder if I were to drain all oil from the filter housing and the leakage stopped if that would tell me it is from filter housing (would make sense). Since it is running down the block from an area that is above the oil level in the pan, it would almost have to be the housing, right? What other thing that high up on the engine would leak oil when engine is not running? And how hard is it to remove the filter housing to check o-rings and such?

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Treiberg's Collection: 1981 240D, 1985 300SD, 1992 300E, 1997 E300D, 2005 C230K

Here are pics of a 606.962 for reference. IIRC your 606.912 has an oil cooler just ahead of the oil filter housing rather than these lines to an external oil cooler.





Maybe the filter cap is cracked or cross-threaded.

Sixto
87 300D^2

Those pictures really help to see what is going on there. It really looks like the leak is coming from the area at the bottom of the oil filter housing. There is probably a gasket there where it connects to the block - how hard is it to get the housing off? I see there are probably four bolts, but access is not easy. Probably need to remove at least the intake manifold (which I have had off before) to get to it. Anyone out there had any luck with this little project?

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Treiberg's Collection: 1981 240D, 1985 300SD, 1992 300E, 1997 E300D, 2005 C230K

Start by removing the intake manifold it takes less than ten minutes.

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600SEL '91
300E 4Matic '88
240D '83
280SE '77
350SE '73
The most complex systems can fail in the simplest way.
Contra verbosus noli contendere verbis, sermo datur cunctis, animi sapientia paucis.

i don't believe in the lord! He's never bought me a Mercedes Benz.

Finally found my problem, and it ended up being so simple.

The leak was coming from my oil filter cap - the last time I changed the oil, the replacement o-ring provided was not the correct size (it was too thin). I compared it to one from a new kit that I had, and it wasn't even close.

The key to an oil leak is to clean eveything up well enough to see the source of the leak. I was fooled into believing it was coming from oil pan, or from the base of the filter housing. These would have been much harder to repair!

I put the correct o-ring in now, and am leak free again!

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Treiberg's Collection: 1981 240D, 1985 300SD, 1992 300E, 1997 E300D, 2005 C230K