CLK 55 AMG OIL LEAK/ADDITIVE QUE
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2000 ML55 AMG 2001 CLK55 AMG coupe 2002 CLK55 AMG Cabriolet 2025 BMW M2 6MT
CLK 55 AMG OIL LEAK/ADDITIVE QUE
Hey guys, so I have a slight leak at my front upper oil pan and Rear main seal. Don't have a lift so basically just have to deal with it for now. Was considering doing Lucas stop leak oil additive or something similar maybe one specifically for rear main seal, but I'm stumped... it says you're supposed to use the entire quart...my oil is right below the max line and has barely gone down in the last 1500 miles. So...has anyone used any products such as this? Would anyone suggest not using anything with these engines, and if so under normal circumstances after an oil change the engine takes about 7.5 qts. So if I were to use a quart of the Lucas additive would I fill with 6 quarts after an oil change, then add the quart of stop leak and then top off?
Anyone have any any experience any help would be much appreciated, thanks!!!
Anyone have any any experience any help would be much appreciated, thanks!!!
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
05 CLK55 AMG
Hey there, the m113 engine uses 8.9L of oil. Not sure where you got the 7.5 qts number. If you hop in the car with the key off, turn it one click and quickly press the trip reset button three times. This will open a hidden diagnostic screen that shows the voltage of your battery. Then turn the key to the on position but do not crank the engine over. Use the up and down arrows to scroll through the various pages such as voltage, VIN, and the engine type, model, as well as Dyno mode and oil level. This is extremely helpful in determining what your current oil level is as we don't have a dipstick from stock. Also, you can buy a dipstick but it cannot be left in the dipstick tube unless you want to buy a new engine haha
As far as the additive goes, I would get on FCPEuro.com and buy some Liquimoly Oil Saver if you really want to add something to your oil. All Lucas oil does is thicken the oil and a quart of oil thickener seems like a bad idea. Liquimoly oil saver is also an oil thickener but I think Liquimoly would be safer being that its designed for our engines as far as I know. Make sure you are using oils that are MB Sheet approved 229.5 and a Mann oil filter or a well know fleece oil filter as well. Liquimoly has a few and Mobil1 European Car Formula 0W-40 is compatible with our cars but most other oils aren't. You could cause corrosion or parts of the engine to wear out prematurely if you don't use approved oil. Both can be found using the car selection tool on FCP Euro.
If you aren't leaking that much oil then I would just top it off when you need it. I open up that hidden menu every day before I start my car to keep an eye on my oil level. I had a bad rear main seal leak and am still hunting down other leaks after I got the rear main seal and valve cover leaks fixed. Also, word of advice, don't take a mechanics word if he says both the rear main seal and the upper pan gasket need to be replaced. Get the rear main seal fixed for around $800-900 first, then see if the upper pan is leaking. More than likely its only the rear main. The two jobs do not overlap at all and could cost you double if you just take their word for it. My rear main was the only thing leaking but was splashing all over inside the transmissions bell housing so we thought it was both the upper oil pan and the rear main seal. Turned out to only be the rear main. You can get parts for everything on FCP Euro and they are the only trusted part source at the moment as pelican parts and a few others just got bought out by another company or something and have horrible customer service from what I've heard.
Hope this helps!
As far as the additive goes, I would get on FCPEuro.com and buy some Liquimoly Oil Saver if you really want to add something to your oil. All Lucas oil does is thicken the oil and a quart of oil thickener seems like a bad idea. Liquimoly oil saver is also an oil thickener but I think Liquimoly would be safer being that its designed for our engines as far as I know. Make sure you are using oils that are MB Sheet approved 229.5 and a Mann oil filter or a well know fleece oil filter as well. Liquimoly has a few and Mobil1 European Car Formula 0W-40 is compatible with our cars but most other oils aren't. You could cause corrosion or parts of the engine to wear out prematurely if you don't use approved oil. Both can be found using the car selection tool on FCP Euro.
If you aren't leaking that much oil then I would just top it off when you need it. I open up that hidden menu every day before I start my car to keep an eye on my oil level. I had a bad rear main seal leak and am still hunting down other leaks after I got the rear main seal and valve cover leaks fixed. Also, word of advice, don't take a mechanics word if he says both the rear main seal and the upper pan gasket need to be replaced. Get the rear main seal fixed for around $800-900 first, then see if the upper pan is leaking. More than likely its only the rear main. The two jobs do not overlap at all and could cost you double if you just take their word for it. My rear main was the only thing leaking but was splashing all over inside the transmissions bell housing so we thought it was both the upper oil pan and the rear main seal. Turned out to only be the rear main. You can get parts for everything on FCP Euro and they are the only trusted part source at the moment as pelican parts and a few others just got bought out by another company or something and have horrible customer service from what I've heard.
Hope this helps!
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
05 CLK55 AMG
Hey there, the m113 engine uses 8.9L of oil. Not sure where you got the 7.5 qts number. If you hop in the car with the key off, turn it one click and quickly press the trip reset button three times. This will open a hidden diagnostic screen that shows the voltage of your battery. Then turn the key to the on position but do not crank the engine over. Use the up and down arrows to scroll through the various pages such as voltage, VIN, and the engine type, model, as well as Dyno mode and oil level. This is extremely helpful in determining what your current oil level is as we don't have a dipstick from stock. Also, you can buy a dipstick but it cannot be left in the dipstick tube unless you want to buy a new engine haha
As far as the additive goes, I would get on FCPEuro.com and buy some Liquimoly Oil Saver if you really want to add something to your oil. All Lucas oil does is thicken the oil and a quart of oil thickener seems like a bad idea. Liquimoly oil saver is also an oil thickener but I think Liquimoly would be safer being that its designed for our engines as far as I know. Make sure you are using oils that are MB Sheet approved 229.5 and a Mann oil filter or a well know fleece oil filter as well. Liquimoly has a few and Mobil1 European Car Formula 0W-40 is compatible with our cars but most other oils aren't. You could cause corrosion or parts of the engine to wear out prematurely if you don't use approved oil. Both can be found using the car selection tool on FCP Euro.
If you aren't leaking that much oil then I would just top it off when you need it. I open up that hidden menu every day before I start my car to keep an eye on my oil level. I had a bad rear main seal leak and am still hunting down other leaks after I got the rear main seal and valve cover leaks fixed. Also, word of advice, don't take a mechanics word if he says both the rear main seal and the upper pan gasket need to be replaced. Get the rear main seal fixed for around $800-900 first, then see if the upper pan is leaking. More than likely its only the rear main. The two jobs do not overlap at all and could cost you double if you just take their word for it. My rear main was the only thing leaking but was splashing all over inside the transmissions bell housing so we thought it was both the upper oil pan and the rear main seal. Turned out to only be the rear main. You can get parts for everything on FCP Euro and they are the only trusted part source at the moment as pelican parts and a few others just got bought out by another company or something and have horrible customer service from what I've heard.
Hope this helps!
As far as the additive goes, I would get on FCPEuro.com and buy some Liquimoly Oil Saver if you really want to add something to your oil. All Lucas oil does is thicken the oil and a quart of oil thickener seems like a bad idea. Liquimoly oil saver is also an oil thickener but I think Liquimoly would be safer being that its designed for our engines as far as I know. Make sure you are using oils that are MB Sheet approved 229.5 and a Mann oil filter or a well know fleece oil filter as well. Liquimoly has a few and Mobil1 European Car Formula 0W-40 is compatible with our cars but most other oils aren't. You could cause corrosion or parts of the engine to wear out prematurely if you don't use approved oil. Both can be found using the car selection tool on FCP Euro.
If you aren't leaking that much oil then I would just top it off when you need it. I open up that hidden menu every day before I start my car to keep an eye on my oil level. I had a bad rear main seal leak and am still hunting down other leaks after I got the rear main seal and valve cover leaks fixed. Also, word of advice, don't take a mechanics word if he says both the rear main seal and the upper pan gasket need to be replaced. Get the rear main seal fixed for around $800-900 first, then see if the upper pan is leaking. More than likely its only the rear main. The two jobs do not overlap at all and could cost you double if you just take their word for it. My rear main was the only thing leaking but was splashing all over inside the transmissions bell housing so we thought it was both the upper oil pan and the rear main seal. Turned out to only be the rear main. You can get parts for everything on FCP Euro and they are the only trusted part source at the moment as pelican parts and a few others just got bought out by another company or something and have horrible customer service from what I've heard.
Hope this helps!
Last edited by LITAMG; Sep 16, 2018 at 09:47 PM. Reason: Tried posting this reply earlier but it didn't post.
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2000 ML55 AMG 2001 CLK55 AMG coupe 2002 CLK55 AMG Cabriolet 2025 BMW M2 6MT
Thanks for your response, gonna try the hidden menu, but I did get a little concerned when you said the car doesn't have a dipstick and by leaving it in it's gonna break the car. I really hope that's not true! Lol it's a 01 clk55 m113 and I know many later models do not come with the dipstick. It doesn't appear to be coming out of the crank seal, but under hard revs it does seem to come from the upper pan. Rear leak is just between the bell housing and engine, I think the liqui molly oil thickener is a good idea. I've only run liqui molly from FCP 0w-40 and some people have said to consider running a thicker oil especially in the winter. Not a good idea?
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
05 CLK55 AMG
Yours might have come with a dipstick. I just know that the dipstick I bought for the car is a dipstick that MB uses to check multiple different cars and when fully inserted still sticks out. I have no clue if running your specific year and engine with a dipstick would hurt anything. You might search the forums or ask your dealer. If you have been running it for a while with it in there and seen no damage then you should be fine haha.
How can you tell if it is coming out of the crank seal vs the upper oil pan? Send pictures if possible but I know I wasn't able to tell just by looking up in the inspection hole. I would start with checking for leaks and oil residue from the top of the engine down. Oil only travels down and it could be from elsewhere. Spraying everything off with brake clean and adding some UV dye with a Blacklight/UV light would be your best friend in diagnosing your oil leaking. You can put the car on stands or a lift and clean everything off with brake clean, add the uv dye, put a big fan blowing on the motor/front of the car and then run the engine in Park until operating temp, use a crowbar or something to wedge between the gas pedal and the driver seat and use the seat controls to slowly move the pedal forward until its at a solid 3K rpms in Park. This will simulate you driving the car and you can then carefully get under the car and look in the inspection hole to see if it is leaking from only the rear main seal, the upper oil pan, or both. I had a few friends swear it was both the oil pan and the rear main but turned out to only be the rear main and the rear main seal housing that was leaking.
If I were you, I wouldn't run anything thicker because that's not what the engine was made to run. The engine has tight tolerances and thicker oil than whats recommended could cause more damage. A 5W-40 oil wouldn't hurt depending on the weather you experience but solving an oil leak by increasing oil thickness is just a band-aid fix. Also, you've got to remember that a 5W-40 and a 0W-40 will have the same viscosity once up to operating temperature so there's not much point in switching. Using the liquimoly oil saver will help you decrease consumption until you can get it fixed but it should only be used as a temporary fix.
How many miles is on your car and where are you located?
How can you tell if it is coming out of the crank seal vs the upper oil pan? Send pictures if possible but I know I wasn't able to tell just by looking up in the inspection hole. I would start with checking for leaks and oil residue from the top of the engine down. Oil only travels down and it could be from elsewhere. Spraying everything off with brake clean and adding some UV dye with a Blacklight/UV light would be your best friend in diagnosing your oil leaking. You can put the car on stands or a lift and clean everything off with brake clean, add the uv dye, put a big fan blowing on the motor/front of the car and then run the engine in Park until operating temp, use a crowbar or something to wedge between the gas pedal and the driver seat and use the seat controls to slowly move the pedal forward until its at a solid 3K rpms in Park. This will simulate you driving the car and you can then carefully get under the car and look in the inspection hole to see if it is leaking from only the rear main seal, the upper oil pan, or both. I had a few friends swear it was both the oil pan and the rear main but turned out to only be the rear main and the rear main seal housing that was leaking.
If I were you, I wouldn't run anything thicker because that's not what the engine was made to run. The engine has tight tolerances and thicker oil than whats recommended could cause more damage. A 5W-40 oil wouldn't hurt depending on the weather you experience but solving an oil leak by increasing oil thickness is just a band-aid fix. Also, you've got to remember that a 5W-40 and a 0W-40 will have the same viscosity once up to operating temperature so there's not much point in switching. Using the liquimoly oil saver will help you decrease consumption until you can get it fixed but it should only be used as a temporary fix.
How many miles is on your car and where are you located?
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2000 ML55 AMG 2001 CLK55 AMG coupe 2002 CLK55 AMG Cabriolet 2025 BMW M2 6MT
I'm thinking you may have a w209 04+ while mine is a w208 01-03. I'm assuming ur speaking of the long metal dipstick which is used to check transmission fluid, but I purchased that one as well as a new oil dipstick from FCP Euro. Attaching a video of the leak. Engine was entirely stripped down, degreased and steam cleaned. When I was changing the crank pulley crank seal appeared to be in good condition with no leaks or signs of oil around it. But I probably should have changed it while I was there. Currently at about 171150, about 1100 miles since disassembly and degreasing. Seems as though oil just steadily drips from upper pan under load. No signs of oil behind the crank pulley that I can see. After inspecting after 1000 miles oil just seems to drip and cover oil pan, sway bar and bottom of tensioner pulley assembly (which is kind of surprising) but not on or behind crank pulley. I suppose I could just throw some jb weld carefully on the upper pan seal to see if that helps. As for the rear main seal I suppose it could just be the housing seal, it's not so bad as to where it is dripping or leaving oil spots or stains, but the front one is. It seems quite steady but isn't spreading or getting thrown to any other parts of the engine. Oil was filled to the max line and is still there so after about 1100 miles really hasn't been much of a loss of oil even though it looks like there would be based off the video. Going to drive and monitor more. Located in CT about 15 minutes from FCPeuro. Have about $10k worth of parts from there alone into the car so far 😅
Last edited by quik55; Sep 18, 2018 at 02:52 AM.
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 13
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From: St. Louis, MO
05 CLK55 AMG
Thats so weird. Might be time to pull the engine again and do an upper and lower oil pan gasket/reseal. Also, i believe we basically have the same engine as far as im aware. The W209 vs the w208 is just chassis models i believe. There is a universal dipstick that MB uses that doesnt have a min and max level and is flat with plastic pieces attached to it, just measures oil level in milimeters. Thats what I have. I also have the transmission fluid dipstick that is a long coil/spring with a black plastic end with numbers 1 through 12.
Damn, that's convenient for you haha I wish I lived that close to them 😂
Feel free to check out my oil loss excel file if you start to actually lose oil.
https://mbworld.org/forums/clk55-amg...heet-tool.html
The oil loss definitely looks like it'd show up on the dipstick. Maybe try the UV dye to completely rule out the front crank seal.
JB weld might work but i dont know how well itd work as a sealant. Id be more apt to cleaning it up with brake clean real good and apply rtv over the seal pretty heavily. It'll more than likely leak again since it seems to be getting pushed out but maybe not.
Damn, that's convenient for you haha I wish I lived that close to them 😂
Feel free to check out my oil loss excel file if you start to actually lose oil.
https://mbworld.org/forums/clk55-amg...heet-tool.html
The oil loss definitely looks like it'd show up on the dipstick. Maybe try the UV dye to completely rule out the front crank seal.
JB weld might work but i dont know how well itd work as a sealant. Id be more apt to cleaning it up with brake clean real good and apply rtv over the seal pretty heavily. It'll more than likely leak again since it seems to be getting pushed out but maybe not.
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,427
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From: Florida
2002 CLK 55 AMG cabriolet Eurocharged
W209 does not have a dip stick.
If the upper pan is leaking it can be lowered for reseal.
JB Weld is for broken non engine parts. never leaks (dont do it)
If the upper pan is leaking it can be lowered for reseal.
JB Weld is for broken non engine parts. never leaks (dont do it)
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2000 ML55 AMG 2001 CLK55 AMG coupe 2002 CLK55 AMG Cabriolet 2025 BMW M2 6MT
Good call, gator. Yeah it's definitely been stumping me. Can't seem to find any sign of leak from crank seal, but still have oil showing on bottom of pulley tensioner assembly. Weirdest part is oil buildup on lower water pump coolant hose. Doesn't really make any sense. I cleaned it but I will run and take another pic soon. Looks like oil coming from lowest bolt on water pump but to me that really would make any sense. All typical upper oil leaks checked and nothing. 2k miles since oil change and oil is still at max assuming must have lost less than a quarter of a quart since then. Maybe I'll just eventually put the splash shield on and forget about it. No oil seems to be getting onto belt which is good considering last year I lost 2 front cooler gaskets etc. some sort of build up on tensioner pulley though, looks like rubber and that's sort of stumping me.
