Oil leak panic for the Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel

Posted By on July 29, 2018

SteelStik

SteelStikRepairWhew … 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 MB300D_OldEpoxyRepairto 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.

OilUnderHood

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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