[afroney]

Hey I was driving my 82 300D down the Interstate and all the sudden the thing came to a stop. I got out and found that all the oil had shot up through the dipstick and the engine had seized up. I put the 3 quarts of oil I had in the trunk and drove a mile to the next gas station, I refilled the oil and drove home slowly. I got home the first thing I did was check the air filter, turns out there was a 2 inch deep puddle of oil in the air filter case, the air filter was soaked in oil and there was oil going down that big tube (im assuming its the air intake). The car still runs but is hard to start, and I can hear something chattering very loudly, probally valves. I dont think I threw a rod. The car has no power left to start up, but it regains its power after about 15 minutes of driving. I noticed the oil pressure stays at 3 even at idle. Also the engine seems to leak and burn about a quart of oil every 20 miles of driving or so. Also there is alot of blue smoke pouring out of the tailpipe. Im pretty sure the engine is toast and not worth fixing... Is there anything I can do before this car joins our great graveyard of cars?

 

[MercedesMax]

hmmm....

Well, it doesn't sound too good [V]. Oil shot up through the dipstick? Sounds a bit odd. It's hard to tell from the dipstick, but I'll do a crap shoot and try to help.

Firstly, and most importantly, you need to check the compression. This will involve removing the injectors, and getting a compression guage that will fit into the metric thread. If your compression is still above 300 in all cylinders, you should at least get it running and have reasonable power. Most importantly, the compression should be even across all cylinders. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, take it to someone who is, it won't cost you too much - and if it is someone else doing it, ask them to do a leak-down test. The smoke worries me less than the loud noises coming from your motor. The smoke could well be caused by all of the oil and crap you have in your air filter housing. Start by cleaning this out thoroughly.

Secondly, it sounds like the problem could be to do with your vacuum pump. If your air filter is full of oil, there's a chance it's made it's way up to the air filter from there. Check the vacuum lines around the car in a few places - if there is oil through them, this could have been the problem to start with. If so, it would have been a very easy fix (but it really does sound like you've buggered the motor, so this is now the least of your problems if I am correct).

All I can say for now, is check your compression and get back to us and see if we can diagnose it from there.

 

[Josh77]

Also the engine seems to leak and burn about a quart of oil every 20 miles of driving or so. Also there is alot of blue smoke pouring out of the tailpipe.

Check for vacuum leaks, and fix any that you find. clean out your air filter housing and all that of the oil. next do a compression test. my guess is you will have low compression on 1 or more cylinders, from the blue smoke, I can tell that the piston rings are fried on at least one cylinder. you'll have to replace the rings, and the bearings, and re-adjust the valve clearances to get it running again, but it should be do-able without having to replace the whole motor.

Also, check the turbo oiling stuff. perhaps there could be a problem there that caused your air filter to fill up with oil. im not sure, but that could be it too.

 

[Josh77]

Another Option

If your anywhere near New Jersey, I have a 1982 300D with 223,000 miles on it in near mint condition that I would be willing to part with. if you want to you can purchase mine, and use yours as a parts car or vice versa, just a suggestion.

 

[lrottering]

300D engine

I have a 81 300SD with a bad transmission for sale, if you're looking for an engine. I hope it isn't that bad, but if it is... E-mail me at [email protected]