I've just acquried my first MB diesel. I've landed an '85 300SD with a boat load of miles 386K. I have been chasing engine oil leaks, transmission fluid leaks, coolant leaks and so on since I bought it. I've identified and stopped all of them except the oil leak. It's driving me banannas. Sometimes is shows up on the ground with large spots and sometimes only a drop or two. The underside is sooo covered in oily residue that it makes finding it a big challenge. I thought I had whipped the oil problem with replacing the oil cooler lines. That did help but not eliminate the problem. If anyone has any suggestions please let me hear them.

Here is a transmission related question. Do these 4 speed automatics have a lockup torque converter? I never feel it lock in if it does. My last tank of fuel gave me about 22mpg. Quite a bit lower than I expected. 80% or more highway driving. My Volvo with a 6 cyl. diesel gives me 30mpg. Does anyone have any numbers to compare? I would appreciate them too.

I love the car. It ride and drives sooooo nice.

Thanks in advance for any hints or helps.

Tim

Congratulations!

There are several typical places for oil to leak. I'm sure you can find out all about them using the search feature here. The ones that come to mind are the turbo oil drain seal(s) and the gasket between the oil filter cannister and the block.

Can you tell us which side of the car the oil leak is showing up under?

I don't think these cars lock up the torque converter, so you should just feel the three shifts. Sometimes 1-2 is pretty close to 2-3 also.

If you don't have any records that give you an indication of this service, you probably need to adjust the valves. Yes, the valve clearances have to be adjusted manually. Some people never have any clue that it needs to happen, and their cars don't start well and get poor mileage.

Ken300D

Thanks, Ken. I appreciate the input. The best I can tell is that the leak is dominant in the rear of the engine. The filter cannister was suspect to me from the top of the engine. Looks like I'm going to put it up on a rack and start it and watch it warm up. That could very likely be the culprit.

It does have pretty extensive service records for the last 5 years or so. I will go through them and check for valve adjustment work being done. I wondered about the valves. I read a post on that here recently and downloaded the image of the bent wrenches to do the adjustment. This takes me back to the old days of VW beetle ownership.

What is the recommended valve adjustment interval?

Valve adjust interval is 15,000. It is a lot like a bug, but hunching over the engine is not as comfortable as lying on the ground. I use the bent wrenches, some guys here use straight ones or heat them up and bend their own. The first time I did it I could adjust all but one, that particular one would not go because the whole valve kept turning with the nut. I had to get the third tool that holds the valve still while you mess with the nuts.

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andy t
'78 300d
'95 volvo 850, wagon
'86 300sdl - engine out, maybe I'll have it rolling by June

whole bunch o' bicycles