My 190 2.3 went from going 3,000 miles this summer before needing a quart of oil......20-50 dino oil
to my low level oil light going on after a 1,500 mile run.......10-40 dino oil.....now its colder fall weather.
My question is...does a MB gasket only last three years?........and do higher mileage valve covers warp, and not seal as well as lower mileage valve covers.
If necessary, I can go to a U-Pull it and get another valve cover, and order a new MB gasket. Thanks, Rob
Hi Ignatz, why are you associating oil loss with valve cover gasket? Are you seeing that you have a serious leak the the valve cover? That should be very obvious to the naked eye.
Yes...The last valve cover gasket was a MB gasket....around three years ago. I've had cheapo's leak after a year.
And over the years when the car started needing more oil, its usually been a valve cover gasket that has shrunk in the winter, or cracked. Also...oil caps are good for about 3 changes, and then they start seeping a little.
I didn't know if our valve covers distorted over the years. I think they are magnesium.
I saw a thread in the W124 section where a member was looking for sources for a brand new M103 valve cover because he was tired of buying used covers that leak. I'm looking to buy another valve cover I can take my time and refinish so that the car isn't out of service while I'm doing the job. If it's that hit/miss I'll either be very careful selecting one from a car in the yard that appears to have no leaks around it (which I should do anyway) or forget it all together and redo the one on the car that's good.
I own my 1990 2.0L petrol m102 for a couple of months. It had a valve cover gasket leak at the front. The merc gasket i removed looks and feels perfect. I replaced it with a febi and torqued down the nuts correctly and the oil is still gathering at the front semi circular part of the seal. I have checked and rechecked everything a few times but no difference.
My car is on 87000 miles. The valve cover shouldn t be warped but it could be.
I might throw back in the old merc and carefully torque the nuts just in case the previous owner hadn t done the job right.
I wonder if the oul is seepung from the oil filler cap and just by capillary ang gravity (i park on a hill ) collecting at the front.
Did someone mention That the filler cap seal dies quickly and needs replacing?
Also i was reading about using some permatex ultra black gasket dressing along with a new gasket but i hate doing that. I like a simple clean correct job. I ll hold off on that a while.
I m sure this isn t a help but at least i m on topic
Thanks
Darragh
Darragh, I am willing to bet your leak is not the valve cover gasket but rather the top timing cover gasket. They always leak, not too difficult to replace and re-seal. I know because I have the same problem and have talked to others who do. It is a design weakness in my opinion. One should not have to seal things with locktite in an engine but that is what is called for. I have a temporary "diaper" fix that I have to change every other gas refill. I can send a photo when I get home.
I will get around to a permanent fix when I open the valve cover again.
Sorry Darragh, it appears the 4-cyl and 6-cyl engines are quite different in the front timing cover area. Your engine may only have a single piece timing cover that requires the removal of the entire piece for example for a cylinder head removal. I looked it up in my Haynes manual.
My 6-cylinder has a two piece cover, upper and lower. Only the upper gets removed for changing the head. It is the seam between the upper and lower cover that leaks notoriously in most 6-cyl engines.
You may have an entirely different problem.
For the sake of Ignatz and maybe other users reading this, now that I have taken a couple of pictures of the diaper, I'm attaching them. My engine has a new MBenz valve cover seal and the engine block below is bone dry once this diaper is placed to suck up the leaking timing cover gasket/seal. It is held in place with a stiff wire that loops around to the other side of the cylinder head. Valve cover area is also dry. Hope this helps others.
If it helps any, I've been using 0W-40 here. The low oil light comes on, inconsistently, when the oil level is within the markers on the dipstick, but towards the middle or lower half. If I fill to near the upper line it goes away. No noticeable significant leaks @ around 120k miles.
My low oil light will come on when I'm about 1 1/2 quarts low......maybe 1 3/4 quarts low. Mobil 0-40 really helps cold morning startups here in Pa. My car had dino oil its entire life, until I put the 0-40 Mobil 1 in at 290,000 miles.
The owner's manual for my E63 says only use 0W-40. I tried to request/verify this is the weight they would put in last year at service and they put in 5W-40. Grumble grumble, and charged me for the oil separate as well! Luckily BEVO says 5W-40 is okay.....
It's good stuff, and I'm glad to read you've been happy with it! [emoji4]
Sent from my MT2L03 using Tapatalk
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