1982 US OM617

The leak appears to be at the place where the lower tube feeds into the block just over the oil pan. Is there way to stop this leak without removing this tube? I know that this tube is incredibly difficult to remove to replace the lower grommet and o rings. SO, I'm looking to try something easier before doing the whole repair.

The Oil level is either right near the top where the grommet is or is actually above the grommet.

When I got mine if it leaked it did not leak much but when it did finally leak bad I found that the previous owner had smeared silicon around the out side on top of it.
If you wanted to attempt that I think you need to drain out the Oil and use engine degreaser and hose that of per the instructions and decrease with brake cleaner.

The fly in the ointment is if your Air Filter housing has the oil seperator in it you have a tube that goes down behind the turbo drain tube and there is a nipple with an O-ring on to seal that tube. I say fly in the ointment because it makes it harder to keep the area decreased and dry and less room to apply the silicon sealant.

Use the regular silicon sealant not the Ultra one. You want the area decreased and dry so that the silicon glues itself to the to everything it touches and are going to need the silicon to cure for like 24 hours because of the thickness you are going to need to apply it.

I have no idea how successful the above is going to be. Don't forget to put the Oil back into the Engine.

Or you might want to read up on what others have did and just change the grommet and the 2 O-rings.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Thanks for the reminder!!

If the oil level is a bit below the full mark, does that mean that the oil level could be just below the drain tube grommet?

I might try your suggestion depending on if there are any other suggestions.

I did the silicone trick every two years for a few years. Lasted about two years if you get things really clean. There are some o rings in the tube as well that harden up. Eventually I got sick of slathering silicone and I did the proper reseal.

The tube was really stuck on my car. I had to tie a heavy nylon cord around it and pull it up using a big lever braced on the valve cover. I basically put the cord around the middle of a Jack handle, braced one end on the valve cover and the other on my shoulder and did a squat lift. Came out with a loud pop. Must have been all the silicone! I hear some guys can just pull it by hand.

I recall changing the lower tube because the rope I tied around it actually deformed it. It needed that much force to pull it up.

The good news is I did it without pulling the turbo. I just undid the two little nuts at the top of the tube and wiggled the top section out. The multiple seals in there were toasted. Changing them solved a big leak problem.

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79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles

ykobayashi, When I did this procedure on my other car, I put the aforementioned nylon cord around it and lifted with an ENGINE LIFT. (I happened to be in the middle of changing the engine mounts at the same time.) I literally lifted the engine by that lower drain tube. It still didn't come out! I went underneath with the oil pan off and pounded it with a 9/16 socket. Still no movement. Finally, I had to get inside there with a small pick and hammer and chip away at the hardened grommet before it came out.

I first tried to remove the tube from the top by putting a hose clamp around the tube but only succeed in denting the tube.

I removed the steel Oil pan and used a deep socket and a bottle type hydraulic back to push it up and out from below. Results in the attached picture.

I can't remember the details but I had to put something under the hydraulic jack to bring it up close.

I have some cut ends of 4x4s. 2x4s and paving stones and a cinder block I filled the hollow part in with concrete for that sort of thing.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

You will be messing with it until you decide to actually fix it. I used long 3/8 extensions to tap the tube down into the hole. Put a worm gear clamp around the tube for the extensions to tap on. There are pics somewhere. Perhaps a search will turn them up.

I basically followed directions in a thread titled "Leak free 617". All diesels leak - only when they haven't had the proper care taken to maintain them.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

You're correct. I'm going to try to properly fix each leak source until it actually doesn't leak.

I took mine down to the long block and sealed everything. Did all at once. Now no leaks.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Can you elaborate?

Best to remove the oil pan to do this. I fussed with the old hardened rubber grommet from above on my 1985 300D for over an hour. I removed the pan on my 1984 300D to do it, which allowed easily tapping the old rubber up and out from below, using a socket. It is tricky working the 2 drain tubes off and back on. You must orient them just right and against the block to get just enough room. There is an O-ring between the 2 tubes which needs changing. I used green HBNR as I recall. If cracked, you will loose a lot of oil since the "funnel" is upside-down. Also use a new gasket at the turbo drain flange, and clean the old one off well. It probably helped that I re-routed the high-pressure AC hose directly to the condenser, rather than the crazy "up right side of block" the factory did. That gets that bracket out of the way to easier get at the top of the drain stub, and also makes it much easier to get at the alternator bolts in the future.

Good that I removed the lower oil pan since I found a bolt sitting in the bottom, which mounts the oil pump, and found the plastic spring-loaded tensioner cocked and jammed as its pivot hole cracked. People say that you must remove the upper oil pan to remove the oil pump and change that tensioner, but not true. If clever, you can get the pulley off with the upper oil pan in place (I did).

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

I did this once. After removing the lower oil pan, I also used a socket. When it didn't easily tap out, I got a jack and pushed up on the socket. I happened to have the engine mounts off since I was replacing them. I literally lifted up the engine by just the socket pushing on the hardened rubber grommet. (At last, I found a substance harder than diamond) I ended up picking out the rubber grommet with a sharp awl and hammer.

There it is. Without the Bolts going through the Engine mount you lift the Engine. With the Bolts installed you have the weight of the whole front of the car to push up against.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

The proper way to fix this is to replace the o rings on the tube where it drains back into the sump. It will take an hour or two to do a good job because you remove the oil filter assembly and its connection to the turbo. Some of the nuts and machine screws may be a problem and the rubber bushings are likely old and hard and should be replaced. The turbo seals(two) will likely be hard as well. Replace them while you are at it. This is a good time to check the turbo for leaks and laxity. The little o rings are obvious. Everything should be clean and dry to fix it. I have done this 3 times and the leaks are still gone lo these many years.. The MB repair manual is a good resource and I imagine videos and especially this forum are great as well and of course Kent up there in the forest fires of WA. There are some really experienced heads here.