[rightstuff4u]

I bought my 1992 500SEL a couple of months ago. After smelling coolant in the garage, I decided to put it up on the hoist and have a look. There must have been 20 leaks! All hoses in need of tightening. No worries, a very cheap fix.

I drove it about 1000 miles and observed no loss of fluid. One morning I smelled coolant as I was getting out of the car. Dang! Now what? So I topped it off and watched it close. More smells! Each time I checked it, the system was down about a half pint. I was getting over sensitive to the issue as I could observe no leaks.

Then one day I observed coolant on the floor of the garage. Right in front of the passenger side front wheel. Off to the garage I go. After inspecting the car, we noted a tank under fender below the headlamp. No leaking hoses, only a inlet hose running to the pressure cap. The tank was full. So we removed it to inspect.

The mechanic and I both looked at this while scratching our heads and pondered what the heck this tank was all about. Nothing in the owners manual. A review of the AllData didn't really describe what the heck we were looking at.

Our conclusion is that this is an overflow tank. We emptied it to about 1/3 capacity and put it back together. It appears the owner (that would be me) was over filling the system due to his hyper-sensitive inspection of the coolant tank.

So what is the proper procedure on this? I note the spill-over outlet just dumps into the wheel well area, but it was also dribbling all over the place making one very smelly mess. And how are you supposed to empty this tank? A siphen hose?

Any expert advice on this would be appreciated. I feel fortunate to have a neighborhood mechanic that will endulge me with his help--a genuine MB dealer is 100 miles away. Today's education only cost me an hour and $32 of Stupid Tax.