a bit oil leak from the engine block gasket

[aroppi]

hi guys!!! recently i found that there are oil marks in between the gasket of the engine block.
it's just a kinda oil mark and the amount of the engine oil keeps ok.
so...
is it a serious problem or just leave it first?
(now, all the things work fine.)

 

[kid-jensen]

aroppi,

I don't seem to have fitted my ESP module this morning............

What car is it?

What gasket is it?


A bit more info would make it SO much easier.

 

[aroppi]

i've a 1994 C280 with a 2.8 straight six engine.

the gasket is the one between the upper block and the middle block of the engine body.

 

[pluggers]

Sounds like the head gasket to me which are prone to leaking at the front.Never usually serious sometimes the head can be torqued down to try and slow it down.Mine had a leak, I had mine replaced under warranty in January,Quess what ? Its started to leak again f***ing thing.cant seem to win on this one.

 

[Alps]

apparently a common problem on these engines, mine has a little leak too, but nothing to worry about!

cost in excess of £500 to fix if you want to tho.

 

[kid-jensen]

AROPPI,

As you've probably gathered, the head gasket leak is pretty common on these engines.

How bad is the leak? You have to ask yourself if you can live with cleaning the engine every now and again, or shelling out hundreds for a head job.

I guess you've nothing to loose by re-torqueing the head bolts, just don't overtightnen them

At least THAT would make up your mind for you

 

[aroppi]

Thanks guys!!!!
i'll try to clean the engine bay first then re-torqueing the bolts and see how it goes!!!

i live in Hong Kong and i think the cost for repairing this stuff is more or less the same.
so i'll leave it first!!!

but...
how come this happened onto such a GOOD straight 6 engine!?!?

 

[Brian WH]

Don't worry about the leak it happens to the best engines. Keep an eye on the oil filler however and if it shows white deposits then the leak is getting more serious as the water is leaking into the oil.

You haven't said what Mileage your engine has done?

 

[aroppi]

yeah!!!
it's a 1994 C280 with Straight 6 engine and it has 67000km.
years before i replaced the wires, middle block gasket, fuel pump, coolant pump and hoses, fuel injector, suspensions (Eibach spring and bilstein shocks + eibach anti-roll bars) and brake rotors (front=black diamond, rear=Original Mercedes parts with OEM pads)
so far so good and it's still STRONG!!!:bannana:

 

[funmobile]

For what it's worth, I have a "96 E320 with 40k miles and a similar oil smear - no drips, just damp on the side of the engine.
Local specialist George Fraser tells me it's commonplace, nothing to worry about, just leave it and he'll fix it when / if it ever gets bad. I like a man who doesn't want my money...

 

[aroppi]

GOOD!!!! thanks a lot!!!

 

[Paul]

Mine also has a oil stain at the front. Remember this is only where the cam chain lifes so its not under great pressure.

I was also told this was very common and to just give the area a dose of Gunk every 6 months or so.

 

[Philirv]

Hi Aroppi,

I've got the same 280 engine in my 95 W124.

I bought it last year from a dealer and found at the first service, that there was oil leaking from the front and rear of the head.

It's apparently caused by manufacturing tolerances on the gasket and usually appear at about 70,000 miles (mine appeared at 54,000 miles).

In the case of mine, I also had a problem with hydraulic lash adjusters which failed due to oil starvation (this may or may not be related) so the engine needed work anyway. I had the gasket and several lash adjusters change in November of last year.

As the other people said, it is possible to torque down the head but the only way to cure it completely is to replace the head gasket. In all it cost the warranty company about £2.5k to put right, includig rental car for time it was off the road.

Do you get tappety tappets on start up from cold, particularly after a few days of non-use ? Probably doesn't get cold in HK at all......


If not, your probably OK just torquing it down and making sure that oil doesn't go below minimum level.