Chip,
I had a serious oil leak in my 300SD a couple of years ago. Gallons of oil pouring out, being slung all over the engine compartment.
First, be aware that if the leak is in the front, the fan and any belts it gets on will spew it everywhere. So NOTHING short of finding the leak is a good indicator of where it's coming from.
Mine turned out to be a cut in the hose carrying oil to the oil cooler. This is a true pain in the ass to fix, since doing it right means lifting the engine OFF of the left side engine mount (the hoses to and from the oil cooler route through a clamp that is on the side of the engine and hard pipe sections of these 'hoses' have to be snaked through some areas that are impossible without lifting the engine.
CLEAN it all. Then look carefully at hose ends and any connection that might spew oil. Then look at the hoses themselves. This is going to be much easier to address than a front seal on the engine.
If you've just had engine work, why would a front seal go out? A seal leak should be pretty obvious, once you get things cleaned.
Look at the oil pan and gasket. Is it possible that you hit something, and caused a leak in the front of the pan or gasket? This will be terribly messy, but a new pan and gasket isn't expensive or particularly time consuming to install.
If it's a hose cut (my hose shifted and go sliced by the power steering pulley), you can do a temporary fix. I went to Pep Boys (any auto parts house should do) and got a "gasket repair kit". This was a blister pack with 6" x 6" squares of various gasket materials. I cut out a section of the rubber square (probably actually neoprene or some other synthetic rubber) and put it over the cut and clamped it down with a hose clamp. For this job, I wanted a hose clamp that had holes in it, so the rubber would squeeze through as the clamp tightened, and thus be less prone to slip out.
I run Mobil 1 synthetic oil. Very slippery. Even with deep cleaning of the hose, the clamp and rubber piece wanted to slide sideways. It took a while to get it positioned right.
Once it was positioned, it stayed in place for more than a month of leak free driving, until I could convince Nate to actually crawl under, get the engine lifted off the engine mount, and install the new hoses (I replace both, even though only one was cut).
You might find that one of the oil return tubes, around the turbo and air cleaner, has been nicked or just knocked out of its proper place. This seems less likely with the consumption you report, but you have to check it out. Also look for any other pipe around the engine that carries oil.
Don't overlook the oil cooler. On my Dodge crewcab, on a trip a decade ago through Idaho and other mountain states, the trans oil cooler decided to start spewing trans fluid. It was a break in the middle of the cooler. Rare, but not impossible. Again, this is something that you will only find after thorough cleaning, so that you can see where the oil originates.
You're going to have to invest in some cans of engine degreaser and find a self-wash car wash or some other place with a hose that you can run over the engine after you have sprayed it down with degreaser. This is messy, and it takes WAY MORE cans of degreaser than you want to pay for. But it works wonders for finding problems.
For what it's worth, "worse on the driver's side" means worse on the side with the oil cooler and with the oil cooler hoses.
Please keep us posted on what you find.
Tom '81 300SD, 344,3++ miles
In a message dated 12/17/2011 4:13:07 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, czulli@gmail.com writes:
Guys,
I am broke down in Montgomery Alabama on the way back to NC for Christmas. The 82 300 cd turbo is throwing oil all over the engine somewhere from the front on the motor. The oil seems to be worse on the drivers side but it is wet with oil on both sides of the motor from the front back.
I have driven it about 200 miles after finding the motor and undercarrage wet with oil. It threw out about two quarts in the 200 miles.
I had been driving it pretty hard through Texas down to New Orleans, 80+ most of the way. The car still runs fine, oil pressure is good, only a oil leak.
I have stopped for the night, or more in Montgomery, Al.
Where do I start searching for this leak? It could certainly be the front seal, but I would not think it would throw that kind of oil out. In the morning I'll try and dry it off and let it run to see if I can find something, but some good guesses from you guys would sure be helpful about now.
Dare I continue on my journey using more oil than fuel?
Chip
Montgomery, Al.
If anyone on the board knows a good MB diesel mechanic in this area that would be a welcome reference too.
