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Just ordered everything I think I need to replace the oil filter housing gasket and oil cooler gasket. Spent roughly $76 with the majority of this cost being the oil and antifreeze. I did fill out a rebate from Mobil 1, $6 back from each 5 quart jug and they were $26 each. I bought the parts from eEuro saving money by buying the OEM gaskets and seals. i also had some points to use from a previous purchase so saved another $3.45. Basically just got the oil filter housing gasket, oil cooler gasket, thermostat gasket and thermostat o-ring and an oil filter. I got a couple engine block drain gaskets since they were only 5 cents, if I can reach it easy enough ill drain the coolant from the block also. Got some vacuum line just to have on hand. Was going to order a new coolant hose but figure its easy enough to swap out so ill wait to see if theres an issue when i put everything back, the hose does seem in good condition, may even be newer and changed at some point.
Not on MB, but I have seen draining by adding "elevated" distilled water on the reservoir. "Elevated" by either lifting the reservoir higher than then engine, or using a large funnel adapted to the reservoir and pouring distilled water at the top. Pure gravity work at its best.
Will say im impressed, ordered Friday and was shipped Friday and got here today Wednesday with choosing economy shipping. Came to $31.76. There not Mercedes branded parts but Elring and Victor Reinz which im finding is the OE equivalent.
Good thing i decided to look up all the torque specs for the bolts ill be removing, was not aware the oil filter housing bolts need to be torqued in a specific pattern.
From reading it doesnt appear they specifically say the oil has to be drained. Just to remove the oil filter to allow oil to drain, I assume it means drain down out of the housing. Does say to drain the radiator, but im wondering if that even needs to be done. I plan on draining the radiator to replace the coolant anyways, but why cant you just unbolt everything and have all the fluid gush out, have a pan underneath to catch everything. I have a few cans of engine degreaser to clean the engine when im done, im also going to cover all the pulleys with plastic bags to keep them clean and dry.
Good thing i decided to look up all the torque specs for the bolts ill be removing, was not aware the oil filter housing bolts need to be torqued in a specific pattern.
From reading it doesnt appear they specifically say the oil has to be drained. Just to remove the oil filter to allow oil to drain, I assume it means drain down out of the housing. Does say to drain the radiator, but im wondering if that even needs to be done. I plan on draining the radiator to replace the coolant anyways, but why cant you just unbolt everything and have all the fluid gush out, have a pan underneath to catch everything. I have a few cans of engine degreaser to clean the engine when im done, im also going to cover all the pulleys with plastic bags to keep them clean and dry.
I wondered about having to drain the coolant as well since I have to replace my oil filter housing. My theory is that the oil and coolant passages are adjacent to each other and you risk allowing coolant to enter an oil passage when you pull the housing away from the block. On the C250 it’s more involved than the C300 so adding a few extra minutes to drain the coolant is no big deal.
Could put a floor jack under the rear and jack it up so the front of the engine is angled down while the housing is removed. And the oil and coolant ports dont really look stacked over eachother, they seem more offset from eachother. I did see a youtube video where im pretty sure the guy just unbolted it and fluid gushed out. Not saying thats right, but would save some time.
After i put the oil filter housing back in I was thinking of filling coolant where the thermostat goes, then pour coolant in the coolant hose as its connected to the radiator right before i connect the hose back to the thermostat. That way im thinking the radiator will be filled back up.
I also totally forgot about the idler pulley bolt, since im reusing the bolt it says to only torque it to 25nm. I remember doing this before when i had that pulley off but i cant remember why I removed it. Or was it the tensioner bolts also?
Finally getting around to replacing the oil filter housing gasket. I learned theres no need to disconnect the thermostat from the coolant hose or disconnect the thermostat sensor wire. It does make a mess, i didnt drain the radiator and just let everything flow out. It was only coolant, no oil. I held off draining the oil until tomorrow. its getting dark and I started late so will finish tomorrow. Glad i didnt have to disconnect the coolant hose, was worried about wearibng out the gaskets in there.
One thing that saved me some time was buying a 1/4 T10 torx socket. The secondary air pump is very close to the top bolt holding the thermostat on and I couldn't fit my 3/8 T10 on it. The 1/4 T10 with 1/4 extension is just small enough to fit and remove the bolt. I specifically checked this previously after seeing the article on Pelican parts where they said the air pump may have to be moved out of the way.
I put plastic bags over the ac pulley and the crankshaft pulley so they wouldn't get covered in oil and coolant.
Because i didn't drain the radiator the coolant came rushing out when i removed the thermostat and then again pulling the oil filter housing off, it came rushing out. I hadn't planned on draining/replacing the oil but I got paranoid about coolant going down the open ports so i did it anyways. I first sucked the oil out the dipstick with my 12v fluid pump and then went under the car and removed the drain bolt just to be completely thorough. No signs of coolant in the oil. I will say the 12v pump does a very good job sucking most of the oil out, I got an additional 6oz from the drain bolt and that was after the car was sitting all night plus I happen to jack the car up in a way that the drain was at the lowest spot. Jacked the front up and the drivers side was higher and the drain is in the rear passenger corner. Also i didnt go crazy trying to get all the oil out with the pump, as soon as it stopped pulling oil I stopped, where usually I would play with the suction hose moving it up and down trying to get everything out. Thankfully Walmart has next day delivery from the store since I only had one jug of oil and needed two, a guy delivered at 10am for $9.95 + a tip. Could have had it same day delivery if it was earlier in the day.
I will say that UV dye makes the oil look funky and kinda glad i got it out. Oil had a yellowish color. Maybe its the led light I was using but it doesnt glow like i thought it was going to. The oil just looks green with the light.
Ill also add the only things I'm seeing that glow in the engine bay using the light looks like old oil stains and the white corrosion on the metal. I wouldn't buy this product again. Plus I don't think I have any oil leaks that are of a concern.
The old coolant looks great, a nice blue clean color. Im not sure exactly how much came out since most spilled all over the place and not in the pan i had underneath. I was sure to not let it get on the ground though, laid an old plastic shower curtain liner down then covered with cardboard to soak anything up. So far I used 5 liters of 50/50 to refill it. May still have some air in there so ill be driving around with the jug of coolant in the trunk in case i need to top it off more.
Inside of the oil filter housing looks great, totally clean no oil sludge. The outside was a mess so i cleaned it with some diesel fuel the best I could.
I was in the basement and decided to see what new engine oil with no UV dye in it compares to the used engine oil with UV dye in it. Surprisingly the only difference is the new oil without dye looks clearer, but it does glow green.
Not exactly florescent green like I was expecting. Im not sure what the issue is, the led flashlight I used does seem to make things glow like a black light does.
Heres the oil filter housing after scrubbing with diesel fuel, scotch bright pad and a brass bristle brush. Gunk Original Engine degreaser didnt touch the stuff that was caked on. Tried cleaning the engine with the Gunk Original degreaser and hardly did anything. That stuff sprays on like water, i was expecting a foam and should have read the can before buying it. Im thinking a brush dipped in diesel fuel wouldnt be the best idea to clean the engine down with. Anyone have any recommendations for a good engine cleaner?
Here's the tools I used for replacing the oil filter housing gasket and oil cooler gasket.
- Breaker bar with 17mm socket. Used to rotate belt tensioner counter clockwise to insert pin to hold it in position. (I saved the metal pin that came with a new belt tensioner)
- Ratchet. I used my 1/2 ratchet for most things except I used my 1/4 for thermostat bolts. Most of the sockets I used are 3/8 drive so I used a 1/2 to 3/8 socket adapter.
- Socket adapters. 1/2" to 3/8", 3/8" to 1/4".
- 3" long extension to reach the bolts.
- T12 torx socket. Remove belt tensioner bolts.
- T14 torx socket. Remove smooth idler pulley.
- 1/4" T10 torx socket with 1/4" extension. Remove thermostat housing bolts. (Bought the 1/4" socket specifically for this job since my 3/8" wouldn't fit due to air pump in the way)
- T12 torx socket again. Remove the 6 oil filter housing bolts.
- T27 bit. Remove the 5 oil cooler bolts.
- 3/8" torque wrench. A must have to properly reinstall everything.
- 1/4" torque wrench. For oil cooler bolts @ 12nm/106 inlbs.
- 2 jugs Zerex G48 50/50 coolant. (Napa Autoparts during one of there monthly sales)
- 2 5 quart jugs Mobil1 0W40 oil
I was debating if I should buy a new coolant hose because I was worried about the o-rings at the ends leaking from disturbing them, turns out I didn't even have to disconnect the hose. Connections seem fine, no leaks.
My work sheet with torque specs and bolt pattern for tightening oil filter housing.
I wonder why the different torque specs for the idler pulley and it appears new water pumps do not have the bolt holes for the pulleys threaded, if the water pump is new then torque the pulley down to 35nm, if reinstalling the pulley on an existing water pump like I have here then its 25nm.
I made a diagram of the oil filter housing bolt locations on a piece of cardboard and poked the bolts through when I was removing them to not mix them up. But the sizes are written on the sheet above if they do get mixed up, pretty easy to tell which is which bolt.
Like I said I saved the pin that came with a new belt tensioner that holds it in the counter clockwise position. Something like a nail will work thats 5mm in diameter.
Very strange. My operators manual says coolant capacity is 5.1 quarts/4.8 liters. So far I put in over 5 liters. I say so far because im still not sure all the air bubble are out. its running great, getting up to temp and can see it going down as if the fan is kicking on. Heat works great.
It even confirms this on proceeding pages under what ratio of antifreeze/water to use. Says 2.5 quarts/2.4 liters of antifreeze mixed with equal parts water.
Or is the operators manual incorrect? Similar to how my manual says the front differential fluid capacity is 1.1 liters but i was only able to drain half that out and put half that in and its running fine.
I also found this interesting in the operators manual about the water that should be used to mix the antifreeze.
I was surprised how simple it was to refill the coolant. I just filled the reservoir, started the car, poured more coolant in as the level went down and repeated a few times. Drove the car like normal with the heat set up all the way and just topped off a few times when the car was parked. Kind of surprised i used almost 7 liters though. Now im curious what the total capacity is because its not the 5 liters it says in my operators manual.
Replaced the o-ring on the dipstick and gave it a good cleaning. As you all know the Mann oil filters come with a new dipstick o-ring that should be replaced to have a good seal and prevent vapor from escaping. I cleaned the dipstick since I was getting the DD69 code on my scanner for dirty dipstick. Car runs much better now and feels quicker.
09-07-2023, 07:07 PM
