greetings all:

i put my '83 300Dt in storage back in the middle of November and had planned to drive it once a month or so, but never got around to it. today i stopped by to get something out of the car, and there was automatic transmission fluid on the floor of the garage under the car - enough that it even migrated out from under the car. i would estimate half a quart at least. i should have taken a picture, but i didn't think of it. it does appear to have come from the transmission, not the steering system. anyway, this was a very operational car when it went into storage, even though it has about 302k on it, and the transmission has never leaked before, at least not that i've noticed. denver does get cold occasionally, even below zero, if that's a possible factor. the transmission was last serviced at 297k, in January 2014. Any thoughts?

thank you in advance,

__________________
Will



72 280SEL
85 300CD 288k
00 E320 Wagon 4-matic 100k
11 E350 Wagon 4-matic 45k

73 VW Westfalia Camper
67 VW Westfalia Camper

66 Porsche 912

Three words: Front pump seal.

__________________
Current rolling stock:
2001 E55 183,000+ Newest member of the fleet.
2002 E320 83,000 - The "cream-puff"!
1992 500E 217,000+
1995 E300D 412,000+
1998 E300D 155,000+
2001 E320 227,000+
2001 E320 Wagon, 177,000+

Prior MBZ’s:
1952 220 Cab A
1966 300SE
1971 280SE
1973 350SLC (euro)
1980 450SLC
1980 450SLC (#2)
1978 450SLC 5.0
1984 300D ~243,000 & fondly remembered
1993 500E - sorely missed.
1975 VW Scirocco w/ slightly de-tuned Super-Vee engine - Sold after 30+ years.

how did you know? is this common? is it from parking it for so long? can it be prevented?

is this something i can replace myself? i am a so-so DIY mechanic, but i have never serviced the transmission for example.

thank you!

__________________
Will



72 280SEL
85 300CD 288k
00 E320 Wagon 4-matic 100k
11 E350 Wagon 4-matic 45k

73 VW Westfalia Camper
67 VW Westfalia Camper

66 Porsche 912

My '87 wagon did the same thing. I suspect the torque converter drained back into the pan and overflowed it.

I simply added fluid to replace the lost, and drove on. No issues at all. If I have to store the car again, I'll either start the car occasionally or drain off the torque converter and re-fill before driving again.

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Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC

For what its worth, my dads E420 (owned by a friend for the past few years so I knew this was happening) and my 350SL will leak when they are stored through the winter, not running for 2-3 months. Top them off in the spring and drive them. They don't leak a drop though the driving season.

My advice, drive it. If the leak increases or you notice transmission functionality issues, then its time for a conversation.

__________________
68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

From what I understand, that's not uncommon when a car has sat for a long time. Just top it off and drive. If you see fluid loss when driving regularly, that's another matter.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 142k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Mr. Dillon, very nice to hear from you, and especially for the good news. Thank you. And thanks to Diesel Paul and Shertex also, as well as the rest of you. I really appreciate it. Next time I'll put something under the car though! So tomorrow I'll clean the atf off the concrete, add a little more to the car, and drive it.

Thanks to everyone again,

__________________
Will



72 280SEL
85 300CD 288k
00 E320 Wagon 4-matic 100k
11 E350 Wagon 4-matic 45k

73 VW Westfalia Camper
67 VW Westfalia Camper

66 Porsche 912

my 85' 300TD leaked while it sat. Did a tranny filter change and also did the dipstick o-ring. Got to remove the cooler line banjo to get to the dipstx 0-ring,was a real pain, (had to remove exhaust downpipe cuz the dipstk allen bolt was stuck, used vise grips). Turned out someone had put a wrong size washer on the cooler banjo, wtf? Anyway, filter kit was pretty cheap and the o-ring was really cheap. Kit came with 3 alum washers, 1 for the drain plug and the other 2 fit the banjo.

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1985 300TD 1981 Scirocco 1.6D conv 1986 Golf 1.6D 2003 Golf TDI