1stmbenz

Still continuing to have problems with my 1993 400E. My problem is when I take off from a standstill position my car leaves behind a cloud of smoke. The engine is quiet and the power is good. I was recently experiencing a lot of tailpipe smoke due to having too much oil in my car. I'v had people say its the head gasket, valve seals. Any suggestions are appreciated.

tifosiv122

How many miles? You could just be burning oil....what color is the smoke, black, white, blue?

Erik

1stmbenz

Car has 111 000 miles. Blueish smoke. I've had people tell me the rings, the valve seals or the head gasket is the problem. I'm wondering what is the best fix. I'm still wondering if its not something small that is being overlooked. Power is great, engine is quiet. I had a mechanic do a compression test and everything was good.

tifosiv122

Unless I am mistaken, blue means buring oil...white is head gasket. How's your oil consumption?

Erik

1stmbenz

My oil has gone down since adding oil on Saturday.

Jim's500E

Sounds as if oil is seeping past your valve seals....your M119 motor been hammered on, or neglected? Usually they last a bit longer than that , 130-140K miles.

Daniel_uk

Engine brake.. Accelerate and then release the gas quick so you engine brake. If its smokes more its a classic. cam/valve problem

Possibly it sounds that the prevoius owners have been driving hard with her or eventual haven't changed the oil correctly.

A trip to the garage is probably the best. Possible renovation of the TOP.

Good luck, Danny

1stmbenz

I was experiencing a lot of smoke when i accelerate. The last time I drove the car, i did not see any smoke. I took my car to dealer. They changed the air mass sensor. After this part was changed they started the car and the car started smoking. For Mercedes to do further investigating, they have to go in to the engine. I still don't understand. My power is good and the engine is quiet. But I think oil is getting to the plugs. I've noticed oil consumption and coolant consumption. Smoke is a whitish gray.

Daniel_uk

Look at the coulour of the oil. If its slightly white, DON't drive the car. That means that water have got into the engine and it may brake down totaly if you drive it and have bad luck.

There is a copper gasket between the top and the engine block. If that one have got bad, the car will take coolant and engine oil.

White smoke = water.

Check it fast as it may be very pricy if it gets f-ed.

Best of luck!

Danny

cgmike10

just do a head job and take care of most if not all of the problems you will have in the future anyway!

pwagner

Are you putting lousy California gasoline in your car? 110k miles on a 400e (with the very high gearing) is *LOW* mileage. However, the engine is high compression and 91 octane is an absolute minimum. Add to that the "California reformulated version 2" gasoline requirements and you wind up with a lousy driving experience. You shouldn't need any engine work until 250k.

I have a 1986 300E with 220k miles that works great everywhere except California. Here in CA I go through a quart of oil every 2k miles wherease in Seattle it would go all the way to the 5k oil change without needing an extra quart.