83 300d turbo. when parked transmission fluid seeps out somewhere. while running, no leaks. had the thing idling for better than half an hour yesterday. no leaks. shut if off. returned an hour later and i had a nice pubble. any suggestions? thank you.

Sounds like a trans front seal or a pan gasket. If you let the car set for weeks at a time without being started, the front seal can distort. Driving the car can restore the seals shape. When the engine is stopped all the fluid runs back to the pan and over fills it. If your pan gasket isn't sealing well, it will leak then. If these two answers aren't correct, you could have a badly worn front seal which translates to removing the trans to install a $5.50 seal.

Peter

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Auto Zentral Ltd.

The other possibility is a torque converter that leaks down. There isn't enough room in the case for all the oil in the converter, so it spills out the top vent. Big mess, eventually happens to any MB that sits for a long time, but usually takes months, not hours.

Does it pull immediately when you start it and put it in gear, or does it take a while to start going? If so, torque converter is draining down. Bad news, this is both a pain and expensive.

Otherwise, can you see where it comes from? Could be a leak on the side somewhere that only lets fluid out when the guts drain down.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!