oil leak on my new 220 ce

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d_jay1

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hello all

I've just bought my first merc. It's a 220 ce '93.

There's a lot of crusty oil behind the pulleys on the front of the engine which looks like it's been there for some time. The engine pan underneath is also fairly covered in old crusty oil. looks like there is a slow leak from something and I'm hoping it's not the head gasket!

any ideas? If it is a slow leak from the HG can you tighten the bolts slightly to seal it up again?

Is it likely to get worse or should I not worry too much?


thanks!
 
If it's behind the pulleys it's most likely come from the front main seal on the crank. To check properly you'd have to get the engine steam cleaned so you can see where the oil leak is coming from.

Whether you have it fixed or not depends on how much oil the car is using and the cost of the repair. I assume you're checking the oil level regularly to make sure it isn't dropping?
 
ok, it looks like that could be the culprit. there's no oil in coolant or vice versa, and no other HG signs. I need to give the whole thing a good clean then look at it properly.

changing the seal wouldn't worry me too much, I'll keep an eye on it and take a look at fixing it when I have a free weekend.

exhaust needs sorting first as that's blowing a bit!

thanks
 
To change the front crank oil seal you need to remove the front pulley-- this is often on very tight and difficult to remove ----you need to stop the engine from rotating to do this. Even if you renew the seal it has often worn a slight indentation on the crank shaft which makes getting an oil tight seal difficult EVEN WITH A NEW SEAL..So unless you are experiencing heavy oil loss I would be inclined to leave it alone.
ps using the new thin synthetic oils can mean greater leaks. A good 10w40 semi-synthetic is fine for this generation of engine.
 
just had a better look, and I don't think it's the crank seal anyway. it's coming from higher up on the engine which makes me think it is the head leaking. It's clearly been like this for a long time though seemingly without any adverse effects. nay suggestions? that oil leak stop stuff worth a go before an oil change?
 
Most probably find it is the seal on the front cover. This is a common problem on these motors. It will more than likely be the u shaped seal. Good luck.
 
thanks chaps! that C gasket looks like the culprit. Will start the big cleanup today!

also, what's the best manual for a '93 220 ce? does the Haynes W124 one cover it, as it's not mentioned on the cover.
 
Unfortunately the HAYNES manual doesn't cover that engine tho it covers quite a lot of other parts of the car. The one that does is the manual for the W202 C class.
 
not the C gasket as it doesn't have one!

it's coming from the seal around the camshaft at the front. I presume that's a pain to replace, but probably doesn't matter as I'm not sure I'm keeping it due to wiring loom problems as well. bugger.
 


here's a pic of my dodgy loom connections (can't see it too well in this pic to be honest) and where the oil seems to be coming from. Is it the seal at the end of the camshaft?
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwhittle/6163973000/


here's the link. can't embed it for some reason.
aoFYqy
 
That seal is the varible valve timing unit. What you should do is give this area a good clean and then have a look to see where it is leaking from. Bud if it is leaking around that C gasket it is straight forward to replace it. Just take photos every step of the way as you strip. That is how i do it so that i know where everything goes.
 

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