Still not sure; the front of the oil pan is shaped strangely and has an odd texture, so I am guessing it was repaired sometime in its life. I had scraped it leaving the parking lot at lunch, but I didn't have any drop in oil pressure; my current theory is that the bump knocked something loose, and the oil pressure happened to keep something in the hole driving home. As the engine cooled, pressure dropped, bit loosened, and oil came out. Hopefully I will know more when I get it off, I've only had the car for two months so I'm still getting it broken in (nyuck nyuck).
All in all it was good that it died at home, aside from the annoyance of having parked myself in and having to mulch the driveway; much better than losing oil at highway speed and maybe not noticing immediately. Just wish I'd parked on the street like I usually do. :) Thanks, -Tim On Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 12:11 PM, Dillon, Meade M CIV SPAWARSYSCEN-ATLANTIC, 53310 <meade.m.dil...@navy.mil> wrote: > What caused the breech? > > -Max > > -----Original Message----- > From: mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On > Behalf Of Tim C > Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 11:49 AM > To: Mercedes Discussion List > Subject: Re: [MBZ] OM603 oil pan breech > > Danke alles, I have calmed down a bit. I figure I will push the car into the > street while SWMBO is at school, set the parking brake, back the 300D out as > fast as I can, and then roll the poor SDL back in, hoping no one is waiting > to pass during the interval. :) Unfortunately because the street is narrow, > and slopes pretty severely at the end of the driveway, it is hard to get a > good parking spot without blocking one of four driveways, and my narrow > driveway makes it hard to swing with a push/pull. > > On the down side there was -nothing- good in the junkyard today (also looking > for [Alan's?] SLS thingy and Joe's 126 stuff), just three pawed-over > 380SEL/420SELs. One guy was pulling bits out of the interior of a "new" 380, > but all gassers and nothing useful. [There was a really sad MG Midget, about > 3 years from being an orange pile if left alone. Almost no parts worth > saving, and not just because they only fit on an MG.] > > On the up side I got a pan from car-part; still cheaper than buying a welder, > mask, and wire, and probably more effective as well. :) These things > apparently are pretty valuable, so if you've got one now might be a good time > to sell. There were only a few on car-part, none on ebay, no other used > source I could find. > > Don, I will look through the archives for your writeup, but do you remember > offhand if there are any special tools I will need (other than cherry picker)? > > Thanks, > -Tim > still a bit bummed but happy to have a repair plan > > On Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 5:54 PM, OK Don <okd...@gmail.com> wrote: >> The pan is cast aluminum - not the thing to learn to weld on. >> I punched a hole in a 603 pan with a jack once - took it to a good >> welding shop - the pan and three broken parts. They clamped it to a >> flat surface, and welded the part back together - very carefully, and >> worked hard to keep the warping to a minimum. When I installed it, I >> found that I couldn't torque one of the rear cormer bolts all the way >> without the pan leaking - had to go only to about 60%, so I waksed out >> the bolt hole with brake cleaner, and used blue lock-tite on that bolt. >> I drove the car another year or two, then traded it off - last I >> heard, it was still running fine. >> >> Note that you will have to remove the idler arm and steering shock to >> remove the pan, as well as loosen the mounts and lift the engine some with a >> hoist. >> >> A better write-up is probably in the archives of this list - >> >> On Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 3:16 PM, <bb...@crone.us> wrote: >> >>> The kids came in and told me the diesel had some oil under it... I >>> came out to 6 quarts on the driveway. It appears we knocked a hole >>> (an old >>> weld?) in the oil pan on the way home from lunch. >>> >>> There were no 603s in the junkyard last time I was there, and I need >>> to get the car driving (only a little) so I can get out the 300 >>> tomorrow. Will a stick weld hold for a few minutes to get things in and >>> out? >>> >>> Longer term is there any solution short of replacement? It doesn't >>> look awful in the manual but the pan prices are kind of prohibitive >>> (Rusty @ $526 for example). Will any 603 have the same pan or do I need to >>> stick to SDLs? >>> I can't weld (yet), is this a good excuse to learn? Need to get it >>> fixed before December, give or take. >>> >>> Thanks for any advice, >>> -Tim >> >> -- >> OK Don >> 2001 ML320 >> 1992 300D 2.5T >> 1990 300D 2.5T >> 1997 Plymouth Grand Voyager >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives >> http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives > http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
