Hi everyone,

I've been going through this forum to find answers for this issue. I recently bought a 1984 300TD. I did a little bit of a blunder and purchased the car site unseen, but only after having a lengthy conversation with the mechanic that was working on it fro the old owner. There are some things he did not mention to me, like the SLS not having any fluid in it, and this not working. That came at a surprise to me (maybe all the fluid leaked out when the owner drive it 600km to me after the sale). Problem is now: I don't have any indication as to what is wrong. How did the fluid leak out? (struts, pump into engine, lines?) I don't know. So here the questions:

I want to avoid wasting hydraulic fluid. What's the best way at doing that? Is there a "cheaper" way to figure out where the leaks might be before just losing all fluid? Maybe buy cheaper fluid just for testing? Can the SLS pump leak into the engine, if I don't find any leaks on lines, struts, accumulators or valve? What is most likely to be broken? I haven't seen any obvious issues yet, but I have also not looked too much yet either. Car is currently winterized

(btw, that's one of the reason I purchased it: it hasn't seen winters in 14 plus years, maybe ever. Very solid underneath. Euro import with Euro headlights and euro tach. Unfortunately quite a few thing the mechanic didn't mention, which I'm now stuck with.)

I'd appreciate if someone has some goods tips on best strategy on how to tackle this.

Cheers, Hans