Has my head gasket gone on w124 280e?

[w124-24v]

Just giving her a look over today and noticed that my expansion tank was full of yellowy/light brown slim. So I then took a few coolant hoses off and they to were coated in this slim. At the same time as doing this I noticed it also has an oil leak down the left hand side of the engine from some where underneath the manifolds as it is dripping every few seconds at idle from the bottom of the alternator. I checked the oil level and it is just above max.
I would not of known that anything was wrong without me finding these faults as she is driving great, doesnt over heat and is good on fuel. She has 167k lots of history and one owner before me and before got her last week she had been dry stored for nearly 6 years.
If it is the head gasket how much does it usually cost to get the job done?
Many thanks

 

[BenzComander]

Compresion test to confirm the head gasket.

But it may also be damp from being standing??

HTH

 

[Vlad]

Sounds like a classic blown head gasket.....I have just had my 300SL 24V done and it cost me, including VAT £666.86. Was done in a day and because my gasket had not completely blown, I did not have to have the head skimmed, which would obviously have added to the price had I needed to have this done.

My head gasket was leaking in exactly the same area as you mention and ever so often the oil was dripping onto the manifold...which stank!

The reason yours is likely to have started leaking is down to the storage period and basically age....the head gasket will have dried out and with the car now coming back into action, the oil has found a way out etc etc....

Don't leave it too long as it will only get worse and if it finally overheats you will have to get the head skimmed.

 

[BlackC55]

Around 600-800 depending on where you take it.

 

[bolide]

A couple of things:

* the oil leak is not caused by CHG failure
* I've seen mayonnaise in the header tank of 280s where the CHG has not failed
* all 280s and 320s will leak above the alternator at some point due to a design flaw
* IMHO the only sure sign of CHG failure is pressurisation of the water system by exhaust gases (easy to test for)
* oil in the water and water in the oil can be caused by failure of the radiator / gearbox oil heat exchanger and, in this case, it's gearbox oil that's in the water
* oil in the water and water in the oil can be caused, on the 606 diesel engine, by failure of the oil / water heat exchanger set into the alloy sump

In summary: don't panic

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Vlad]

Having read your posting once again, and taken note of where the oil leak is, ie front left hand side and not rear left hand side as I thought, I would concur with Nick....the oil leak from that area is likely to be the timing cover gasket. Its quite a tricky gasket to seal correctly but not that expensive to get changed....my local Indi charged me £70 for the job.

I would however still check the rear offside.....if its leaking down the back of the block, then that is a head gasket on its way out.

If it has blown the coolant system will pressurise immediately...ie the top hose coming out of the radiator will be hard to the touch rather than squishy.

As Nick also states it could also be the transmission oil cooler that has split leaking transmission oil into the radiator/coolant.

If you need a replacement radiator, let me know as I have a very good second hand Behr radiator that was only fitted to my car for 6 months. I'll happily sell it to you for much, much less than a new one.

 

[Ade B]

Just checked mine and the header tank also has a coating of goo, slime on the filler cap - the actual coolant is clear still but has a layer of goo on the top....

changed the coolant a couple of months back, what came out was grubby brown but clear. Oil is reasonably clear and level has not dropped since purchased 6k miles ago. ATF is still healthy red.

Like the first poster, the car is running perfectly since the new battery, overheating problems seem to have resolved themselves following new thermostat...

It has a slight oil leak at the front of the engine which has been there for longer than I've had it but not enough to cause a noticable drop in level (my bike burns more oil in 500 miles)

We're about to go to Dorset tomorrow night for a long weekend, am I asking for trouble driving there or is it something I can keep an eye until next week - planning to get it serviced and looked at when we get back.

How do I test for pressure in the water system tank - it hissed a bit when I took the cap off just now, but the engine is still warm from a trip up the road.

Car on 56k and has a FMBSH

After stirring about a bit...

Nice....

Front of engine

Rear of engine..

Hoses were soft and squishy with engine running - would it normally take time to build up pressure with a slight leak?


Ade

 

[w124-24v]

After having a closer look today Im 99% my head gasket has gone.
Oil leak has got worse, started over heating about 115 degrees I removed the thormostat, didnt make a huge difference and not driven her since.
Cooling system I think is pressurising, but I think my smaller hoses are clogged up which isnt helping also the heater has stopped blowing out hot air. I think its broke! Thanks for all your help and advice.

 

[grober]

Almost certainly CHG gone. Most good garages will be able to test for exhaust gases in the coolant system as has been said which is a pretty good predictor. Any "mayo" in the oil?---this can be the faintest of thin white tracer in usually black oil at first and only latterly white scum under the oil filler cap.

 

[w124-24v]

The oil looks clean with no apparant water in it also there the underneath of the oil cap is clean. Whatever happens, I now have a big bill to get her fixed.

 

[grober]

The oil looks clean with no apparant water in it also there the underneath of the oil cap is clean. Whatever happens, I now have a big bill to get her fixed.

Good .That means the engine bottom end will be unaffected at least. The 280 is a cracking engine and suits the car very well. You will enjoy it all the more when its sorted.

 

[Ade B]

The oil looks clean with no apparant water in it also there the underneath of the oil cap is clean. Whatever happens, I now have a big bill to get her fixed.

Same with mine, contaminated coolant but clear oil (from what I can see)..

Hope it goes well, let us know how you get on...


Ade

 

[fnkhan68]

Ade, I am strongly inclined to say that the head gasket is on its way out, by looking at your pictures, it is exactly the same as my 1st W124. There were no symptoms at first except for contaminated coolant so I carried on driving it until gradually it got worse such as overheating, regular oil top ups but the oil was always clean. Then it got to a stage that I was flushing the coolant every week but mind you the car always kept going. Carried on like this for 9 months until someone rear ended me and the car was written off. My advice to you is get it checked and sorted before it gets worse, plus side is that the weather is no longer hot so you can prolong it but would you really want to be doing that?

 

[Ade B]

Thanks for the response.

after scouring the forum, I think you are right - I was curious as to how progressive HG failure is, and I expect there are no simple answers here either...

However you look at it, its not a good idea to continue driving with a known fault and I'm thinking of all the sludge building up in the coolant routes...

Am looking into hire cars for this weekend - would go on the bike but my wife is 6 months pregnant and there is no room for the dog...

Ade

 

[Ade B]

oil in the water and water in the oil can be caused by failure of the radiator / gearbox oil heat exchanger and, in this case, it's gearbox oil that's in the water

Having rechecked the car this morning, when held at a steady 3k rpm, no bubbles in header, hoses nice and squishy.. Need to get it pressure tested to confirm.

Checked ATF with engine running, level has dropped slightly below min although the ATF is clear...

Reckon this could be the problem.

Irritating thing is I normally religiously monitor fluid levels before every journey but have in the last few weeks got a bit slack - so I can't say for sure how long this has been like this..


Ade

 

[Ade B]

after a quick trip to MB croydon, the goo in the coolant appears to have gone bar a bit on the headertank lid.

checked ATF after buying 2l - was over max!

let engine stand for 1/2 hour, then fired it up again and ran for 2 mins as per handbook and checked again - ATF level right in the middle of markers...

there is obviously oil of some sort getting into coolant from somewhere, but what is causing it will have to wait until after the bank holiday..


Ade

 

[kth286]

Oil into the coolant is the classic head gasket fault on the 103/104 engines.

At the rear of the gasket oil and coolant channels pass very close to each other, and it is there that the gasket develops a crossover between the channels.
The gasket has been uprated.

In addition to replacing the head gasket the ccoling system MUST be thoroughly cleaned. Without proper cleaning oil will saturate the cooling system hoses, making them soft and prone to bursting.

To clean the cooling system, use Mercedes cooling system cleaner MB part number 001 986 21 71.
Use a 3% solution. Run engine for 10 minutes before flushing the cleaner out of the system with clear water. The heater must be on and running to clear the oil from the heater core.

Get a Merc specialist that understands the proceedure to do the job, if you don't do it yourself.

 

[Ade B]

Pretty certain its the head gasket - although its maintaining reasonable working temperatures, the cooling system is now pressurising enough to make the front hose solid and its now using a bit of oil..

Will look into repair options on Tuesday.

Ade...

 

[Preso]

head gasket

hi,

i am just new to this forum, i have read about k seal and other similar products which in time fix the head gasket problem by pouring its contents into the engines. I have not yet encountered though about mercedes engines.

Has anyone tried it? Any comeback?

 

[grober]

There are some sealants which can temporarily seal minor radiator leaks but NOTHING repeat NOTHING will cure a leaking headgasket except complete renewal. The longer you delay this repair will increase the chances of (a) the cylinder head warping (b) water getting into the engine oil and damaging the bearings.------ so not advisable to add this IMHO