mtnman82

Can't find the thread on the little plastic 'tube' part that carries coolant near to the engine on the m271 that breaks and leaves you stranded, but this is related...

Having just replaced the sensors in the coolant and washer tanks a couple months ago, I was surprised to see the 'check coolant' light on the way home last night. I figured I was just down on washer fluid, but to my surprise when I openned the hood I found a small coolant leak!!!

The little nipple coming off the top of the coolant reservoir and carries coolant thru the hose (and thru the part that breaks mentioned in the other thread) has developed a crack!!!

I didn't have time to mess with it last night and left the car at home today. I'll take a picture and post later tonight. I sure hope I don't have to replace the entire reservior over that one little nipple (in which case some 2-part epoxy will be coming into play - as much as I hate doing that sort of thing).

sammydragon3

i think on partsgeek they have the entire hose from the resorvior to the block

Hogger

This little guy??
The nipple piece is part of the rip off $92 tube from the reservoir. It plugs into the upper coolant tube.

Boom vang

Here is the link to the FYI/DIY I created
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ance-item.html

mtnman82

Thanks Hogger and Boom vang - I searched on 'maintenance item' but for some reason it didn't come up?!?

Unfortunately, it looks like the same problem exists at the other end of this hose but there is no <$5 replacement part - looks like the nipple is part of the coolant reservoir. I have no idea where this goes, but it sure seems like one of the MB engineers had an 'oh sh*t' moment late in design and they just added this plumbing in last minute.

I've never touched this but notice there's a different clamp on the reservoir side, so somewhere along the line MB did something when it was in for service and I'm guessing that's part of what led up to this.

Here are a couple pics - there's also a short metal tube inside the nipple that broke.

mtnman82

PS - I was going to take the car out of town this weekend. Really, really glad this happenned on the way home from work instead of 300 miles away from home...

buklae620

Ahhh that little connector!! Yep, that thing broke on me on the interstate on my way to school once. I had to stop at a rest stop along the highway and call a tow truck to tow me home.

I went to the dealership the next day, paid $10 for a new part, installed it, checked the coolant, and topped it off and I was up and running the next day.

Thank goodness that I had roadside towing on my insurance coverage to cover the towing bill.

Boom vang

go to a hobby store (model railroading etc) and buy some small thin copper/brass tubing so that it will fit inside the outlet from the reservoir snuggly and the broken off piece (sort of like a stent), you might need to bore it out with a drill as it might be a diameter in metric and the tubing will be imperial. When that is in, clean the outside area with acetone and then coat the area with West Systems Six10 epoxy, tint it black if you want it to blend in, you may need to thicken the epoxy with one of the West thickeners. Let it dry/harden for at least 24hours before using. I have used this epoxy to fix my vanity mirror flap (there is a DIY) as well as fixing my engine cover when it broke apart when I changed my plugs. Again, got to love those German plastics anyhow the Six10 seems to tolerate the heat. Only use West Systems epoxy as they are marine grade and very strong, and withstand all parameters, the basic 5min epoxy that you get at the Homer will not last or do the job. A tube of Six10 is about $22.

The brass tubing is quite hardy as I use this piping as bushings for my rudders on my beach Catarman to stop the slop between the pintles and gudgeons and have a better feel on my tiller so that there is no play. (now that you know I am really in to sailing, hence my forum name comes from that sport)

btw that extra plumbing is not an afterthought but one of the best feature of our car, it is a small pump that circulates the coolant after you turn off the car if you want to keep the interior warm without idling or if you go shopping and leave the car outside. When you park your car and take out the key, hit the A/c button twice and you will hear the fan turn on at a very slow speed and the little pump will circulate the hot coolant for about 45 minutes, you will always come back out to a nice warm interior. A great feature for those that live in a crappy climate, Glyn would not have a clue what that is like! or you living in SoCal

mtnman82

Had to take a break on this to take my boy up for openning day of fishing season yesterday (California general openner). Fresh trout for dinner tonight.

Thanks for the tip on the epoxy Boom. Unfortunately I live in the middle of no where and there's no hobby shop around for at least a couple hours. I'm going to have to run by one of the auto places and look for an automotive grade 2 part epoxy I guess, and just try to epoxy it all together. The inner metal tube/sleeve should help. I'm also going to look at various copper tubing I happen to have on hand to see if anything will work - I like that idea too.

I totally dig the heating after engine off feature too. I didn't have it until my original climate control went belly up and the unit they replaced it with had the function and it all worked(! - i.e. the original climate control unit did not have the 'rest' function on it) - so the plumbing was there apparently, hmmmm. Still seems to me that there's water from the engine block there behind the dash (heater core) all ready, so why the need to run separate plumbing from the coolant tank?

edit - maybe it was there and I didn't know about hitting the a/c button twice... The new cc unit has the word 'rest' above the a/c button, and if you hit the button once after you turn the car off a light comes on next to 'rest' and you can hear/feel the warm air.

Another edit - so after taking care of other chores all day I'm finally getting to this. Found some JB weld quick epoxy that's supposed to be good to 300 degrees, so I think I'm going to give that a try. Went out to look at the whole thing again and just TOUCHED the other end of the setup - the end Boom's original maintenance item thread was about - and it fell apart!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Looks like I'll be using that extra one, and will be getting another spare for the glove box.