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Possible purchase error......300SD

653 views 8 replies 3 participants last post by  John350 
#1 ·
Ok I will go more into detail about the purchase of the car later but let me just say I think I should have followed my first mind. Long story short spoke with a guy with an older 300 SD. It has a rebuilt transmission and records of the engine being swapped. Lots of other records so I kind of felt good about jumping at it. What made me pause was the fact that there was a little oil around the air filter top and oil cap. The air filter wasn't oiled so I kind of just noted it. While the car was idling it was not smoking out of the engine and I didn't see any oil popping up. I said to myself, naw just pass on it, but it was cheap so I jumped anyway. I later thought you didn't let it warm up enough. Drove it home and well just watch the video. Be gentle with me but what do you guys think?

 
#2 ·
Don't panic yet. What happens if you open the filler cap and rev the engine up? Make sure the crankcase breather lines are clear and they don't leak. There's some sort of separator in the valve cover. You should pull the cover off and clean it. How is it on oil consumption?

Clean up the mess and see what you can figure out then.
 
#3 ·
Ok so after reading your post I went out and revved the motor and when I did the smoke reduces. Nothing really popped out except for about one time doing it. I did however notice a little smoke on startup. It was small but when I turned I saw it moving out from the car. I also took that line off that goes to the air filter and blew in it and it seemed to flow free. Oh and I went to the store and got myself some tequila.
 
#5 ·
Hard to tell for sure. It looks like both ends of the crankcase vent line are leaking. Clean it all up and then see if you can figure it out. If there are hard, old grommets or something similar at the ends of that line I'd just replace them. The gasket on the cap could be bad. Or. someone tried to drive it with the cap loose...
 
#6 ·
While there was residue, just a little, before I drove it home it was nothing like in the video. I did realize the hose is lose to the top of the vale cover. The clamp is not holding. Also I revved it good to 3000 RPM with the cap loose and it stayed on. I will follow your advise and clean it off and see what to do from there.
 
#8 ·
Ok so I think I will purchase a new oil cap if I can do so locally. I will properly clamp that hose and put in a good additive. Then I will drive it on the freeway at night and see how it performs. Lastly I will borrow a compression tester from Autozone and see what I get.
 
#9 ·
Is the cap you have loose?

The smoke in the video looked more like water vapor to me If so, it's perfectly normal.

Compression check on a Diesel is a little involved; you need to take the glow plugs out. If you borrow one, make sure they know it's for a Diesel! Should read to at least 500 psi. Alternatively, you can check the crankcase pressure by "T-ing" into the line from the valve cover to the air cleaner with a fuel pressure/vacuum gauge.

The cam shaft slings a lot of oil around near the vent line. If the baffles up there are not working you'll get a lot of oil into that line.
 
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