Head gasket?

[Dannyboy75]

Hi all

I have a 2014 W204 C-Class C220 CDI which I've owned since November last year. Had no issues for the first 8 months, however in July I had to have the dual mass flywheel replaced, which set me back £1,500 (had new clutch at the same time).

After that bombshell I was hoping for many months of trouble-free motoring. But for the last 2-3 weeks I've had to keep topping up the coolant. Had it again this morning, but this time I noticed that the coolant in the expansion tank looked distinctly dark in colour, and when I dipped my finger in it feels oily.

I checked the dipstick too, and can't see any evidence of coolant in the oil. I've not had any issues with engine temps either, as yet anyway.

Is this pointing to failing head gasket though, or is there anything else that could be causing this? I did some googling and saw oil cooler (or the seal for it) mentioned as a possibility.

Appreciate any advice.

thanks
Danny

 

[Oleks1992]

Hi all

I have a 2014 W204 C-Class C220 CDI which I've owned since November last year. Had no issues for the first 8 months, however in July I had to have the dual mass flywheel replaced, which set me back £1,500 (had new clutch at the same time).

After that bombshell I was hoping for many months of trouble-free motoring. But for the last 2-3 weeks I've had to keep topping up the coolant. Had it again this morning, but this time I noticed that the coolant in the expansion tank looked distinctly dark in colour, and when I dipped my finger in it feels oily.

I checked the dipstick too, and can't see any evidence of coolant in the oil. I've not had any issues with engine temps either, as yet anyway.

Is this pointing to failing head gasket though, or is there anything else that could be causing this? I did some googling and saw oil cooler (or the seal for it) mentioned as a possibility.

Appreciate any advice.

thanks
Danny

It's more than likely oil cooler failed and oil entered coolant circuit. I've done loads of them

 

[Dannyboy75]

Hey, thanks for the reply. Excuse my ignorance as I'm not particularly savvy when it comes to engines. If it is the oil cooler, would that still explain the loss of coolant? Also, would this scenario be slightly less costly than a blown head gasket?

One other question - possibly a silly one, but should I be OK to drive it for the next few days until I can get it into my local garage (they're normally booked up a few days ahead). Or should I avoid trying to run the engine at all, until it's fixed?

Thanks

 

[Oleks1992]

Hey, thanks for the reply. Excuse my ignorance as I'm not particularly savvy when it comes to engines. If it is the oil cooler, would that still explain the loss of coolant? Also, would this scenario be slightly less costly than a blown head gasket?

One other question - possibly a silly one, but should I be OK to drive it for the next few days until I can get it into my local garage (they're normally booked up a few days ahead). Or should I avoid trying to run the engine at all, until it's fixed?

Thanks

Quiet possibly the oil has mixed with coolant so some coolant might be in the oil too, although you May! have other coolant leaks as these engines are like sivs so definitely worth checking for coolant leaks too. But if you can definitely confirm if its oil in the coolant then that's the most likely culprit from my experience. I'd advise against driving the vehicle if that's what it is.
Also forgot to add it's about 7 hours labour to do full job properly which includes oil change and coolant system flush a few times. And shouldn't cost as much as a headgasket replacement as removing cylinder head is labour intensive job.

 

[Dannyboy75]

Thanks again for all the info, really appreciate it. Hopefully my garage will be able to take a look sometime this week and see what's what.

 

[Oleks1992]

Thanks again for all the info, really appreciate it. Hopefully my garage will be able to take a look sometime this week and see what's what.

Hopefully you'll get it sorted