Alright so I have an oil problem. I believe I have a leak in a hose at some point. (this may not be the problem, but it seems like it to me) If I park my car for a whole weekend and check under the car, there will be a small (about the diameter of a baseball) ammount of oil on the garage floor. This has been happening for about a month now, and today my (oragne/yellow?) oil light came on for about a second, then flickered off. It was not the temperature light, but the "oil can" light. Normally I would take the car into the stealership right away, but I have a major service coming up at 100k. The car is now sitting at 96.795k and I don't know whether to wait til 100k to get the problem fixed or to take it in now to prevent more problems. Anyone have an experience simialr to this or any ideas if I have a worse problem thank a leaky hose? Thanks alot-

-sholly

 

Can you see where it's leaking from (tracing back from about where the spot
on the floor is)? Oil pan, valve cover etc. areas..... What is the level on the
dipstick?

 

I can't tell from where the leak is coming exactly, because of the fact that it is so slow. Like I said, it takes two days to notice any leakage. If I were to guess, though, it looks as if its from the oil pan area. As for the dipstick level, I haven't cehcked it yet, although when I do, I'm sure I'll find that it is a little below normal, which is why the oil light came on for a second on my dash. Thanks-

-sholly

 

that car looks way to nice to be low on oil. i would be checking it every morning until you get the leak fixed.

 

Thank you very much- I appreciate your comment. Yes, I'm going to be calling the stealership to get her 100k done early.

-sholly

 

Pull off the " belly pan " and look at the oil level sender ( right by the drain plug ).
Sounds like possibly the culprit & only takes 5 minutes to check.

 

THanks I'll do that- a memeber on Club202 suggestedf I check the o-ring between the dipstick and the block as well.

-sholly

 

possible headgasket leak...do you know if the headgasket has been replaced before?

 

(sorry)...GDawg, that new signature makes your defection complete! You should totally mod out the 220 and use it as your sig here!

 

Sadly, GDawg, you were right on the money. I'm freaking screwed. I'm a poor student (I have about $700 bucks I can spend, maybe $1k at the most) and I just found out the problem(s) with my car.

1) I need a new head gasket as is it leaking- $1,600 (w.stealership labor)
2) I need a new oil pan gasket- $800 (w/stealership labor)

First question is, is this a fair price for this job. I'll assume the answer is no since stealership prices are rarely fair. Secondly, I have three options (IMO) at the moment. Which does everyone think would be my best bet:

1) I can buy the parkets I need online and attempt to fix the problems with the help of my uncle, who is a GM Master Technician. (no MB experience)

2) I can try to sell the car to someone (and part out the aftermarket stuff) for much less than its worth because of the problem.

3) I can try to sell the car without telling someone about the problem, and hope they dont come and kill me when they find out whats wrong later.

thanks for any help-

-sholly

p.s.- i probably wouldnt try option 3, but I'm pretty desparate as of now...

 

that gasket job is higher than most...average is $1000-$1200. Part is like $200 and the rest is labor (10-11 hours of labor). Get a second opinion on the job like a MB independent.

how much oil is leaking on a nightly basis? if it's not much, keep an eye on the oil level and just add when you need to. My headgasket was leaking for about a year before I brought it in to be replaced, but it was a slow leak. Maybe a drop or two a night but I never needed to add oil to the car, ever. But I think for your current situation, adding oil may be the "cheapest" solution until you can rack up some money for the repair or whatnot.

once the gasket is replaced, you shouldn't have another problem as the updated gaskets were made with a different material that's stronger than the first ones.

You could go route 3 and hope they don't bring it to a mechanic to have the car looked at and if they did, just say you didn't know.

But yeah, it sux. Sorry dude. Let us know what you decide.

 

Thanks for your suggestions- They told me a decent bit of oil (like a baseball sized puddle after two days) was leaking out. Do you think this is due to the oil pan gasket also leaking>? It looked like most of the oil was coming from that area. Thanks-

-sholly

 

Does anyone know of a good website that might carry a head gasket and an oil pan gasket? I checked German Star already, but they did not have one for my model listed on the website. Thanks-

sholly

 

1600 for a head gasket? 800 bucks for a pan gasket? thats got to be some kind of sick joke. i couldn't imagine paying that. even if i could. if you are strapped for cash, the pan gasket could probably be cleaned up and re-used and if not i would put a thin layer of black permatex around the old gasket and try that. changing the head gasket is the trickier of the two, and you probably will need a new one of those. get it up on top dead center for the number one piston, check where the marks are on the timing gears, make some diagrams for the hoses and wires or snap a few pictures with the handy digital camera. etc.. but it should be no problem for your uncle who you say is gm certified. there are a lot of people who work on about everything else that won't touch a benz because it's a benz, but a car is a car. yes there are differences, yes changing a head gasket on about any modern car is a lot of work, but if you watch how it comes apart, it will go back together. your local parts house might be able to find the gaskets for you. some of the advertisers on this site might be able to help too, try your favorite search engine. as long as you keep the oil full it shouldn't self destruct or anything, just make sure it's topped off. maybe this is a stupid question, but is the drain plug leaking? those copper rings can get bent up and let oil drip by. put a wrench on it and feel if it is snug. wipe the old oil off and see where the drip is coming from. hope it works out. your car looks like a blast to drive....this should not be a 2400 dollar job.

 

hahaha

 

possible it's the oil pan gasket leaking as the headgasket leak should be fairly slow and should get parts "wet" underneath the hood. Maybe a few drops.

Baseball sized puddles, most likely the oil pan has a leak...see if you can look underneath to see where it is, if you can.