My '86 560SL runs great - have driven it from OKC to Austin, KC, and Dallas in the past few weeks (avg 19-20 mpg). But...

I have both oil and tranny fluid leaking. Transmission fluid leaks when car sits for a couple of weeks, but if I drive it every day I don't notice any leaking at all. Oil is leaking onto my exhaust cross member and the catalytic converter and can produce some pretty good smoke from under the car. I am using about 1 qt. per 1000 miles... Any one with some experience with these cars give me some ideas??? My mechanic thinks it's probably a head gasket leak...

Any thoughts on the tranny leak? I am guessing that the front seal (?) is shrinking, maybe the crankshaft is settling and pulling the lip of the seal ...

A few more symptoms: On my way home from Dallas today I noticed that after sitting at a drive-thru for a few minutes, when I pulled away I noticed smoke from the rear. Didn't know for sure if it might be coming from under the car or the exhaust, so when I got home I had my wife punch the accelerator after letting the car idle for a few minutes and clearly a pretty good cloud of smoke from the tailpipe! After the first punch, not much smoke evident. Looked white to me, but I have not noticed any drop in coolant since I have had the car (8 months).

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RG Newell

1984 300D
1972 250
1986 560SL
1991 300CE

The transmission leak could be the front seal (relatively easy) or the front pump o-ring (much more involved). Either way the transmission has to come out. But check the easy stuff first... pan gasket, etc.

The smoke could be from a bad transmission modulator. It isn't the head gasket if you aren't losing coolant. It could also be valve guides or stem seals, but if the smoke is really white and not blue I'd check the modulator.

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1987 W201 190D