[e_razor]

I've seen this mentioned in a few posts, as its like a good month since i got my car i don't "know" it fully yet, but it seems to consume a little oil, and a little bit of cooling fluid. I feel its smoking more than other cars when its cold outside. The smoke is not blue or white really, it has the "normal" exhaust color. And in it seems just a little oil is comming out from the joining of the cylinder head and the engine block in the front. The speedometer in the car says 345.000km so if the engine uses a little oil i would think that is normal. I'm more concerned about that it looks like it has a leak, how far forward does the head gasket go? all the way to the front of the engine?

 

[Jackd]

Normally the head gasket fails at the back/right side of the engine.
A leak at the front of the engine is normally from the front engine cover (easily fixed as compared to the head gasket.
Oil consumption: either hardened valve seals (which is easy and cheap to fix) or worn valve guides (requiring head removal)

 

[redwood]

The sure way to tell if your headgasket is beginning to leak is to closely inspect your coolant tank. You will definitely see an oil film ring around the water level line, also the underside of the cap will have a frothy oil build up. My 300E has approx 219K miles and it uses about 2 qts. of oil between changes (every 4,000 miles) the factory says this oil consumption is normal for an M103 with this many miles and without an overhaul. If you are not seeing any oil residue in your coolant tank, You need not worry. Just keep her well fed with quality fuels and lubricants. I have seen M103 engines with 300K miles without ever taking the head off!!


89'300e
92'400e
92'500e

 

[e_razor]

i was reading another post, could it be the upper timing cover seal for my engine as well? the oil seem to be comming out on the left front side(when facing the front of the engine). If so, does anyone know the partnumber for it? And i also noticed its consuming just a little bit water as well. But the engine runs very good and the exhaust doesn't seem to have any miscoloration or smell as far as i can tell.

 

[Kestas]

Yes, it probably is the upper timing cover seal, sometimes called a U-shaped seal - a very common problem. The part is commonly available on import automotive internet ordering sites.