Mercedes-Benz Forum banner

Gasket(s) problem ?

5K views 16 replies 5 participants last post by  BENZIN 
#1 ·
My car made some fumes at the exhaust and the water level drops a bit, I'm concerned, look what the oil cap looks like ...
Does somebody has experienced to repair/remove engine on this car ? All advices will be very appreciated.
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#2 ·
If there is a lot of short trip driving we get that on of our M112 and M113 engines in colder climates. We call it peanut butter. I have seen it look a lot worse on vehicles
that had no engine problems at all.

As far as the coolant loss goes all of the usual tests should be done before even thinking about pulling the engine.
Our M113 powered ML was losing coolant. I stumped me for a couple of months. It was the weep hole in the water pump
and it was lading in the pulley which has a lip so it never dripped and nothing looked wet. The pump always showed no
signs of bearing/seal wear. Changed the pump and no more coolant loss.
We also had another one where the overflow cap went bad and evaporative loss was the culprit. New cap and the coolant
level stabilized.
 
#3 ·
Thank you Noodles, I do make short trips, and it is cold now, but it worries me, it looks like water mix with oil and oil and probably water in the combustion chamber to get these fumes, now the fumes are gone ( I used a snake oil as soon as I saw the cap, I know it's not a repair and it wont last but it helps for now) so, just peanut butter or something important is happening to the engine ?!
A repair is far more expensive then an engine replacement (price at MB is around 5000-6000€ + taxes) and I can get a second hand engine for 1500€, I don't think there's a lot of independant guy in Belgium working with these kind of engines, that's why I'd like to get an insight about the work that might come.
 
#4 ·
No need to panic just yet. The 5 liter M113 V8 hardly ever blows a head gasket unless the engine was over heated. If you have not had an over heating issue then I am confident that your head gaskets are fine.

You are seeing oil and water mix that causes the peanut butter. The engine does not get hot enough to get rid of normal condensation so the moist fumes blend into the EGR system and cause that peanut butter sludge. If you have the time please take it out for at least good 1 hour drive at motorway/highway speeds and then check the oil cap.
It may very well be clean or at least added no more sludge. If that is the case you do not have blown head gasket. What you see is just from short trip driving.

When you have time just to make sure do a leak down test on each cylinder. I am sure they will all be within spec. If one is not within spec then using a scope to look inside might show a gasket issue.
If you already have a serious problem you would see oil in the coolant tank or if you drained all the oil into a clear container the water would be visible once it separates after a few minutes.
 
#6 ·
Ok, thanks Noodles, I'm not the first owner so I can't say for sure about overheating, I drove the car for more than 3 years with around 10.000 miles but I know that the previous owner had a problem with the original water radiator which leaked a lot, did he drove the car then without enough water I don't know?

Didn't know I got EGR system on my car, thought it was only for new diesel engine.
I'll drive the car longer tomorrow, hope it will be OK, drove today half an hour and nothing special, no more peanut butter on the cap !?

I'll see to get an hand on a "leak down tester" I didn't know it existed... but already I've got a scope with a 90° mirror.
Btw, do you know a reference for a manual air pump with cap that we could install on the cooling water tank to increase the pressure inside the water cooling circuit please ? It might help

Thank you again for the good explanation.
 
#10 ·
If you have a blown gasket you're going to see brown chocolate looking coolant result of oil and antifreeze mixing, or white smoke (lots of it) coming out the exhaust pipe, or loss of coolant, or back pressure and overflowing or foaming and of course overheating too. Any one or all of these symptoms would be present in a blown gasket case. I don't think you have a problem. Good luck.
 
#12 ·
Thanks vvrjrlaw, for now there's a water leak, my cooling water isn't standard water with anti-freeze since I used a snake oil. But the oil cap is normal now, I'll have to check further this leak but it's cold here and I 'm have to work outside so it will wait a bit, I'll post any news about the car behavior.
 
#15 ·
Indeed, I'll replace air filters as well, there's some good sets available for about 60$.

Btw, do you have some specific info for my engine about the hoses removing the vapours, where to check I mean ?

For now, there's no problem with the water leak nor with the peannut butter on the cap, so just good to drive the car.

Thanks for your message
 
#16 ·
Mounted on top of each valve cover is a breather chamber.One hose connects to the left one,when viewed from the front,and two hoses connect to the right one.
The larger one of these supplies air to the crankcase and the smaller ones remove vapours. If these are blocked,or the small holes in the breather chambers are blocked,then vapours will accumulate and result in oil deterioration,peanut butter sludge etc,and/ or other running problems.
These chambers often accumulate some sludge and leak oil on to the engine.If they are leaking they should be removed ,cleaned and resealed.Usually the valve cover gaskets are replaced at the same time.Some people replace the hoses,but I have found they are ok unless your car has done a lot of miles or are actually cracked or damaged.
Search on this forum for breather chambers or breather hoses and you will find a plethora of information.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top