Jay11

2003 C240 87k miles

I want to hook up a smoke machine to the engine but I am not sure where. The guy I saw do this on UT was working on a GM car so he disconnected and used the brake master cylinder tube. This car BMC is not as accessible. Where would I do that at?

After installing new valve cover & breather cover gaskets do they need to be re-torqued? Is so after how many miles? And how many pounds of torque is needed or and good tightening will do?

Are MB C240 recommended spark plugs heat range strictly 6? That's the one currently installed.

There's oil leak on the driver side breather (Is that what this is?) Should there be oil in there, that it can actually leak? Is this normal or does this indicate that there's another problem somewhere?

Racin_fool

If you want to hook up a smoke tester to the engine, remove the hose at the purge valve that is going to the engine/intake. use that connection to test the system back to and including the engine.

Jay11

Basic question but again I am new to MB, so bear with me. Is this the purge valve? And the line to unhook is the one going out on the right?

insame1

Your breather cover was done with way to much sealant. Also it will leak from there but should not after a proper seal.

Racin_fool

the M112/113 doesn't really require a specific amount of sealant to seal the breather covers. Yes it looks sloppy, but it doesn't interfere with any oil/coolant passages like the cylinder head covers on the M272/273.

As for the picture provided from Jay11, the hose you want to test for smoke testing the intake of the engine comes out of the left of that component, and yes that is the purge valve. The other side of that (hose coming out on the right) goes to the fuel tank/charcoal canister which can help diagnose air leaks or failed components in that system (leaking fuel cap gasket, filler neck, charcoal canister and shutoff valve, etc).

insame1

The trick is to only fill the recess. if you add to much it can come off and get sucked into the oil and clog up the filter. Also if done sloppy it will not seal properly and it can get in the threads and make it really hard to remove the bolts. not to mention that this needs done every 30-50k and cleaning it when over done is a pain.

Jay11

Thanx guys, breathers and top cover gaskets are fixed and dry.

Before going on further I think I might have a serious issue here. I have not been happy with the way my guy conducted a PPI, he just wasn't detailed and even skipped some basic but very important steps.

Yesterday I watched a UT vid on spotting a blown cylinder head gasket - open oil cap and see if it's milky. So I opened this car's and it was very very tight, had to use a pliers. Well I found the mouth had milky substance, the cap had a small streak of it, I would say may be early stages? Well as you can imagine I am pissed like a wet chicken at my mech., I am afraid I plunked $$ into a car that has a blown gasket, something could have been easily avoided. I am already trying to pinpoint the whine that my mech guy said is a power steering pump, but there's no churning in the PSP. When I place a steth on the back of the PS I can hear a constant whine, same if I place it on a the alternator. But this is new, installed at 80k miles.

Question 1,
Looking the cap and cap mouth, does this point to potentially a blown gasket? Or what do you make of this?

Question 2,
When you steer end to end there's no change in idling. What is the whining - Is it possible for the reservoir not to have churning (pointing to a bad psp), yet the PS Pump is actually bad? How else can I find what is whining?

insame1

that's just condensation on the cap. Power steering is a distinct sound and will get louder when you turn the wheels without the car moving.

Jay11

I removed serpentine belt and these are the noises - short ut vid - starting with compressor, tensioner, pulley then PS Pump. It appears tensioner and pulley definitely need replacing. AC Compressor seems to have a slight maybe half a mm to a mm back/forward play. Any advice you can chime in I would really welcome. Also I see the kit here but where do you guys find better deals?

DH1951

"The trick is to only fill the recess. if you add to much it can come off and get sucked into the oil and clog up the filter."

That makes sense to me yet MB pictures show sealant on the breather cover and valve cover. Don't forget those pesky 1 mm drainage holes!