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Besides the dealer, there are many choices (you guys are lucky in USA). RMEuropean, FCPEuro, ECS Tuning, AutohausAZ, and Pelican come to mind. AFAIK, the sedan and coupes have the exact same engines and powertrains. Nothing to worry about there.
The pictures on this site haven't shown up properly for years on my computer. If you figure this one out please let me know.
Slammer,
Thanks for your time & this thread.
I have I believe the same mysterious leak.
Already replaced the coolant reservoir & the nipple on the manifold above the exhaust.
Ordered up the other 3 today...
Actual spec from the factory for North America is 0W30 - however spec allows for 5W40 - most dealers use 5W40 which more common to be found in bulk drums, 0W30 not available in "bulk" in most NA areas.
Any instructions or videos on removing and replacing this part? I only see the instructions for a different pipe, but may have missed them.
I'd appreciate a quick response as time is of the essence on this- my car had lots of work done and days after picking it up a leak from this pipe left a big puddle on my driveway. Seems like too much coincidence. Any possibility that they may have damaged this pipe, collateral damage when making other repairs? Here's the list of parts replaced:
Engine vent hoses
Camshaft Adjustment Solenoid(s) and Adapter Harness(es)
Intake Manifold R&R
Crankshaft position sensors - Ignition Syst
O2 Sensor- Front of Catalytic Converter
O2 Sensor- After Catalytic Converter
Wiring harness - for engine
Position Sensor
Electrical Wiring Harness
Starter Line
Flange Gasket
TS Electrical Wiring Harn
Exchange Control Unit
2 different Sender Units
The only thing I had to move out of the way was this rigid plastic pipe at the top of the engine, that's connected to the vacuum pump. After that it was just carefully lowering a ratchet into the crack between the engine and firewall and undoing the single bolt holding the pipe in place.
I described how to replace all 4 plastic pipes on the engine if you scroll up and read the entire thread.
Last edited by slammer111; Dec 14, 2017 at 05:44 AM.
The only thing I had to move out of the way was this rigid plastic pipe at the top of the engine, that's connected to the vacuum pump. After that it was just carefully lowering a ratchet into the crack between the engine and firewall and undoing the single bolt holding the pipe in place.
I described how to replace all 4 plastic pipes on the engine if you scroll up and read the entire thread.
Thank you Slammer! Any thoughts on all the repairs done? Are those parts located in the area of the water pipe? Any possibility they may have accidentally damaged the pipe when replacing any of the parts I listed?
Your list doesn't seem to be parts in the back of the engine block. Removing the intake manifold might open up access to that back area ... possibly someone bumped the coolant hose that connects to that rear pipe. I notice you have a 2005 ... if you live in a harsh weather region maybe it's unfortunately just time that the rear pipe started leaking ...
Thank you Slammer! Any thoughts on all the repairs done? Are those parts located in the area of the water pipe? Any possibility they may have accidentally damaged the pipe when replacing any of the parts I listed?
Definitely, there is a part of the old/new harness that routes behind the cyl head @ the rear.
Also the manifold.
The supercharger usually has to be removed to replace the harness which is all located at the water line/pipe.
Probably needs changed anyway.
Why did MB ever decide that plastic water pipes working @ 200 degrees was a good idea?
Dealer broke the plastic valve behind the supercharger when this was just done, I had to pull the intake to fix this myself as they would not accept responsibility.
Your list doesn't seem to be parts in the back of the engine block. Removing the intake manifold might open up access to that back area ... possibly someone bumped the coolant hose that connects to that rear pipe. I notice you have a 2005 ... if you live in a harsh weather region maybe it's unfortunately just time that the rear pipe started leaking ...
Thank you, I live in California...just seems like too much coincidence. Never any signs of leaks before and just days after getting car back a big stain/ puddle.
Thank you Slammer! Any thoughts on all the repairs done? Are those parts located in the area of the water pipe? Any possibility they may have accidentally damaged the pipe when replacing any of the parts I listed?
It's possible but very unlikely. All of my pipes failed basically without me touching the engine. In this case I think it's simply a case of MB using an inferior material for the pipes. The good news is that the new pipes seem to be made of a slightly different material. The old parts are stamped GF30 (30% glass fibre) while the new parts are GF20. I guess they realized too much glass turns the plastic parts into powder over time.
In your case, none of the repairs you listed (to the best of my knowledge) involve reaching that far down the back of the engine. It would be possible if you were asking about the plastic pipes on the exhaust side of the car (ie the R side), but this is not the case.
My pipes all blew up in 2015 and my car is 2003 (ie 12 years old). Your car is 2005 and now it's 2017. Notice a pattern?
Last edited by slammer111; Apr 13, 2020 at 06:07 AM.
^ Glad to hear this thread has saved yet another fellow member. You may want to replace all 4 parts I mentioned above. The nipple is good to keep around as a spare as that one really makes a mess when it goes, and it is very easy to accidentally break in half (resting one's hand on it is enough) after the plastic has aged.
Last edited by slammer111; Mar 21, 2018 at 02:58 AM.
tl;dr = What’s the triangle-shaped extra bit that came with my replacement Oil Cooler Water Pipe (A-271-200-13-52)?
SO thankful for this post. You guys saved me a lot of frustration & money spent on topping up coolant all the time.
I wanted to remove the part & double-check the P/N, but I was afraid of all the other components people said they had to remove in order to get to this pipe. I’m either lucky or stupid, but I decided to just go for it & try to remove the pipe without removing anything else.
I had a pretty easy time getting my hand wiggled between the other hoses that make getting to this pipe difficult. My palm-sized articulating ratchet slipped right into the correct space, and made getting the ONE BOLT that holds this thing on easy to remove. (If MB would’ve added another bolt 180° opposite, I’m sure these wouldn’t fail as often)
Total time = 10 min. (+15 min spent looking for something to catch the leaking coolant under the car)
Like many of you, I found I did have a cracked pipe at the o-ring (which was stretched out)...BUT...mine was so brittle I couldn’t put it back on after I removed it. This little Merc is my daily, so I was in a bad place.
I used some Gasket Maker (sold at all the local parts stores) to create a stop-gap solution while I waited for the new part I ordered to arrive. It worked! For about a month, actually....but I’m now experiencing coolant leakage just like before, so it’s time to put the new part in.
BUT!... I don’t know what this extra triangle-shaped boy is for. I’m sure it’s staring me in the face & super obvious, but I’m just not seeing it. A little help?
Also: I’m reusing the hose clip. It’s easy to swap onto the new part: Just pop the inner rod out using an awl/screwdriver/nail, or, in my case: a letter-opener.
Last edited by snobrrdr; Nov 6, 2018 at 01:35 AM.
Reason: Adding photos thatbdidnt appear before.
Can you post a photo of this triangle shaped piece? I assume you're not talking about the long plastic section (the part that's not part of the pipe), which holds another hose in place.
Can you post a photo of this triangle shaped piece? I assume you're not talking about the long plastic section (the part that's not part of the pipe), which holds another hose in place.
I tried. Trying again now. If this fails, here’s a link: janky looking link removed Turns out it was a Chinese Part, btw. Didn’t know that when I ordered it. The tube + o-ring would NOT fit. Luckily, I bought a $10 Metric O-Ring Set online as well. Came in VERY handy.
Last edited by snobrrdr; Nov 7, 2018 at 05:26 AM.
Reason: Janky looking link removed
lol Yeah...I looked at every MB diagram I could find and...
same conclusion.
Ten bucks says it was a piece of something else that somehow got mixed in by mistake - and then repeatedly included with every additional casting.
The fitment wasn’t GREAT. It was OK. It wouldn’t slide in with the included O-ring. A smaller and thinner O-ring did the trick, though.
To be fair to the mfr: Do you see that little ridge of stuff in the hole in my pix? Pretty sure that’s leftover gasket material from my temporary DIY fix. I scraped more off after I took the pix, but it’s such an awkward spot to reach. Who knows if I scraped it all off. It was 4am. I didn’t even bother taking another round of pix. I’d already wiggled/jiggled/screwed/unscrewed the thing so many times...I was fresh out of f*cks to give. It’s entirely possible the unit would’ve fit perfectly the 1st time (with the included O-ring) were it not for me jizzing 40 ounces of gasket goo all over that hole.
Complete(?) list of immediate needs for a pre-owned 230k
Haha! We bought the exact same things! I also got 3 siphons — 1 to eventually change the supercharger oil (jet oil), 1 for oil changes, 1 for transmission fluid changes.
I recommend the hose clamp set, too. I found it really valuable. Before I diagnosed the plastic water pipe, I changed out the coolant expansion tank because the connector there had broken. It was made of the same material as the failed oil cooler pipe.
I got rid of that crazy hose-to-metal-pipe-to-hose nonsense that goes from the cylinder head to the expansion tank. I replaced it with a cheap hose from Autozone, replacing the old clamps with new ones along the way.
Oh...and the adapter!! Ugh.
Same material there, too. That tiny little piece of expensive plastic ($80 at my dealer, but only $9-$16 online) can render your car immobile, so I highly recommend changing that as well. In fact, buy 2 just to have one on-hand, just in case!
For anyone reading this who just bought one of these older W203 C230Ks:
A) FCP Euro offers a LIFETIME GUARANTEE on all parts. I don’t work for them, I just trust them a lot more than Amazon or Alibaba.
B) Replace the items below asap because they’re due to fail after ~12-14 years:
2035010025 - Coolant Recovery hose (personally, I think this hose is a dumb design, so I made my own. See pics) https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mercedes-engine-coolant-recovery-tank-hose-c230-mer-2035010025
Note: I believe this comes with the adapter.
Yean my upper water pipe has been leaking since I bought the car 3 years ago but not so bad that it drips. It is just a slow seep. The Overflow tank did deteriorate though and ended up blowing out that little pipe at the top. The plastic just went completely brittle somehow. At the same time I noticed a split on the ecs pipe (or whatever it is). It is kinda crazy, ever since I replaced my front rotors, it has been one break after the other... I even had a stepper motor die in the dash on me. the last thing to break (an hour before the last pipe was replaced) was my hood struts. I am just going to leave it broken in the hope that it will delay the next thing breaking ha ha
By any chance does anyone have the tools at home to reset the SRS... I kinda disconnected the Airbag.
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