M111 Head Gasket - Benzworld.org

**Buellwinkle** · 07-09-2008, 11:17 PM

Here's the old SLK230 being dissected. I post it here because some of you have the M111 motors in your 2002 C230's. The head gasket has been leaking coolant for a while and since I can't risk my kid having a problem while away at school, I had to get it done. Car has 110K miles.

This is the block

This is the faulty gasket, hard to see in picture but it's in the upper right hand corner, part of the gasket deteriorated. It's very brittle -

This is the head, all clean up, polished and port (nah, just kidding, wouldn't want it to be too fast for a kid) -

This is all the parts removed on a cart just to get the head out, this is easily a 10-12 hour job for an experienced mechanic -

2002c230 · 07-10-2008, 12:42 AM

I hope I can trust myself enough to do major engine work like this in the future... Looks good after you cleaned, and polished everything Buellwinkle. Is it all back together, and running good now? By the way, how could you tell there was coolant leaking?

**Buellwinkle** · 07-10-2008, 08:24 AM

I was losing coolant and couldn't figure out where and there was a streak of dried coolant going down the bell housing. No, I'm not doing it myself, I don't have the time.

Whosdis · 07-12-2008, 05:57 PM

Did they resurface the head or just clean it up? If the head wasn't resurfaced, there is a large chance that it may happen again. Plus, resurfacing the head is inexpensive compared to having the job done twice.

**Buellwinkle** · 07-13-2008, 08:52 AM

Yes, head was resurfaced but block was not decked.

MBC240 · 07-13-2008, 09:50 AM

This is mighty scary!

I hope I never have any major engine problems. I can deal with the electrical gremlins!

**MB-SV** · 07-13-2008, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBC240

This is mighty scary!

I hope I never have any major engine problems. I can deal with the electrical gremlins!

Yep 110K miles, pretty bad.

2002c230 · 07-13-2008, 11:44 PM

Is this normal wear for 110k miles, or more likely a defect in the manufacturing of the area around the gasket?

**Buellwinkle** · 07-14-2008, 11:23 AM

Many people may not even have noticed or figured out their coolant leak is related to the head gasket as it was only low about 3 times a year. I have heard of a few cases where people replaced the head gasket on their SLK's, generally with more mileage, like 150K miles.I've been watching it for a year from when it was first diagnosed by the MB dealer and it wasn't leaking bad enough for me to take action but lately it got worse and I would continue to watch it but my kid is going away to school and can't risk it while she's gone.

It's enough of an issue that MB published an article on head gasket replacement in their magazine for MB tech this month.

C230 Sport Coup · 07-17-2008, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buellwinkle

It's enough of an issue that MB published an article on head gasket replacement in their magazine for MB tech this month.

Anyway to post that or make it available to us?

I'd love to read that. I got a "coolant low" error recently.
Never ever happened before. Topped it up, and now NP.
No Mayo in the oil, so I'm ok there too. Likely I need to replace the
gasket or get a new cap. That's pretty standard. The gasket in the caps wear out. Same with the oil.

If and when this becomes necessary, it would be great if I could DIY.
I've done it on other cars, but with Benz, there's bound to be some tricks, and I've never done a DOHC engine before.

I think I'd do the timing chain while I was at it.
The DVD covers a lot also.