I have been reading this forum for a whilebut just got around to posting. I bought my 300D a couple months ago and have been bringing it back to life since. I thought I had it good to go this weekend but after cranking it up and driving it around the block while doing a diesel purge Ideveloped a severe oil leak. I looks like its coming from the oil return pipe from the turbo. I can't get a very good look at it but the oil is puddling up there on top of the oil pan then dripping down. I lost about 3 quarts inside of 10 minutes. It never leaked that bad before when it ran and it only leaks while running. I noticed a couple of cans of PVC cement in the trunk leftover from the previous owner and also noticed the goop on the oil line that I believe is leaking. I guess he was just trying to patch it with the PVC cement. Is this a gasket or does the whole line need to be replaced? Any idea where I can find the part? Is this going to be a PITA to fix?
Thanks,
Erich
'83 300D Turbo Diesel

 

Sounds like you have a leak at the turbo drain tube. There's a nice tech tip w/illustrations posted at: http://www.mercedesshop.com/Wikka/OM617TurboDrainTube

I haven't done this job myself so can't speak to its complexity. From the sounds of the article, it's difficult. Good luck.

 

Thanks for that. That's actually not as bad as I thought it might be but then again I haven't started that fix yet! I still need to order the parts-if anyone can help with that.

 

You can buy the parts directly from MB. They are fairly inexpensive. You probably don't need the upper tube section (check to be sure though) but replace the lower tube just as a preventive. They tend to get rusty and pitted and then a new one won't seal even with new seals. This is an annoying job to do because there's just barely enough space to make it work and it's easier if you remove the oil pan.

 

Yea, i also found a repair kit on dieselgiant.com. It comes with the bottom/straight portion of the tube as well as the gaskets. I think I will remove the oil pan and replace the O.P. gasket when I do this as well. Thanks for the help!