Oil leak panic for the Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel
Posted By RichC on July 29, 2018
Whew … I was worried on Friday while driving the old 1982 Mercedes Benz for a reasonably close business call as I noticed oil leaking everywhere. My first concern was for an engine seal or gasket since there was so much oil dripping under the car. As a babied the car home, I feared the worst but was hoping it might just be an ill-fitting valve cover gasket, it was hard to tell when looking under the hood — oil was everywhere.
After a little more digging, I was relieved to figure out what was wrong. It seems the epoxy blob that I thought was added to the valve cover by a previous owner was not added to “just” hold on a small square of carpet to keep the engine from touching the rod that hold up the insulation under the hood … but was actually patching a worn hole in the aluminum valve cover. As the epoxy heated and cooled over the years it aged and eventually cracked loose, allowing oil to leak from the valve cover.
I could have shopped for a new valve cover or taken the old one off and welded some new metal in, but instead use some JB Weld SteelStik 
to make the repair. I still need to keep an eye on the “now padded” rod that is under the hood, but at least I know what the previous owners repair was there for now. Crisis averted.
Previous leftover old epoxy on the left and rod under the hood with oil saturation on right
EDIT: After buffing and waxing on Sunday afternoon, the “old girl” is looking pretty good.
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