Vlad
MB Enthusiast
Are you sure its the head gasket as the area you describe ie; O/S/F often gets wet with oil from the front timing cover gasket which is notorious for leaking oil. This gasket always fails on the M104 engine and costs about £70 to replace by a decent indi.
If you have oil dripping down the block onto the distributor, I would hazard a guess that its the timing cover gasket.....get this done first before you embark on the head gasket.
I've had to do this on the two M104 engined cars that I have had....one being a very low mileage C280 with just 24,000 miles on the clock.
Whilst I have also seen M104 head gaskets going at the front O/S/F, most I have seen have blown at the O/S/R, between 5/6......tell tale being oil starting to leak down the side of the block.
One quick way of telling whether your head gasket has blown, other than the usual oil in water, is to feel the top radiator hose on the right hand side of the radiator when you start the car from cold. It should be soft and squishy. If its already hard with pressure from a cold start then exhaust gasses are escaping into the coolant system and it backs up in the top hose before going around the system when the engine gets hot and the thermostat opens.
If you have oil dripping down the block onto the distributor, I would hazard a guess that its the timing cover gasket.....get this done first before you embark on the head gasket.
I've had to do this on the two M104 engined cars that I have had....one being a very low mileage C280 with just 24,000 miles on the clock.
Whilst I have also seen M104 head gaskets going at the front O/S/F, most I have seen have blown at the O/S/R, between 5/6......tell tale being oil starting to leak down the side of the block.
One quick way of telling whether your head gasket has blown, other than the usual oil in water, is to feel the top radiator hose on the right hand side of the radiator when you start the car from cold. It should be soft and squishy. If its already hard with pressure from a cold start then exhaust gasses are escaping into the coolant system and it backs up in the top hose before going around the system when the engine gets hot and the thermostat opens.
