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Hello everyone, I would like to seek your advice/collective wisdom. 2013 E350 BlueTec OM642, 126K miles, owned since new, immaculately maintained. AEM done in Sep '22 at 114K miles. Brought it for service last week, discovered an oil leak. Unidentified source so far. Only on the front of the engine, in the splash guard (but no puddling). Engine oil level did not drop, no puddles/drops under the car ever. Most of the visible oil was on the sway bar, relatively equally distributed between the driver and passenger sides, and on the hoses above it, bot no overspray on any parts behind it (see a few screenshots from the video walk through from the dealer; circled in red is one possible source - not sure what the part is, and not sure whether I am correct about it). The belt itself looked clean or at least clean enough.
Completely cleaned/de-greased the engine, tech told to drive for a few days/about 1K and come back. Drove about 200 miles so far, at varying speeds, tried to examine the engine from above, did not find anything obvious. Filter housing is dry, anything I can see with a good flash light below it is clean as well, splash guards appear to be clean.
Have any of you experienced similar leaks (I have looked carefully here and on other sites, but have not found an answer). Any thoughts/advice on how to proceed? Love this car dearly! Thank you everyone.
When it comes to German technology it means realms of possibilities. I keep my engine super clean from top to bottom. Start with cleaning the engine. If you have a turbo then check ducts as oil from PCV system can escape.
Not super helpful but our 2011 was the oil filter housing. As noted, start at the top of the engine and then inspect going down to see where it starts to get oily. The oil filter housing got oil everywhere since it ended up on the belt and flung around the front of the engine.
When it comes to German technology it means realms of possibilities. I keep my engine super clean from top to bottom. Start with cleaning the engine. If you have a turbo then check ducts as oil from PCV system can escape.
Thank you. Cleaned the engine, drove some 250 miles, will recheck in the next couple of days. I can see some oil already, including on the oil filter housing - just not sure whether it is a splatter or the actual leak. No puddles, only spray. At least for now.
Not super helpful but our 2011 was the oil filter housing. As noted, start at the top of the engine and then inspect going down to see where it starts to get oily. The oil filter housing got oil everywhere since it ended up on the belt and flung around the front of the engine.
That's what I suspect, that the oil gets flung around - BUT the belt looks dry for now. The oil housing is not clean at the bottom and at the attachment point, but I am not sure yet whether it is the primary leak site.
Not super helpful but our 2011 was the oil filter housing. As noted, start at the top of the engine and then inspect going down to see where it starts to get oily. The oil filter housing got oil everywhere since it ended up on the belt and flung around the front of the engine.
Same. 2013 GL. Bought it and oil filter housing was leaking. At the time of changing oil I went to dealer to buy original filter and was quoted $180 for the oil filter housing WITH the filter in it so decided to change the whole assembly. Apparently, there is an updated part number for this housing so most likely an improvement over the stock.
Im not familiar with that engine so had to look where the oil filter housing is. If it was leaking it looks like you would see oil running down the power steering pump and ac, which seems to match up with your photos on the bottom.
My M272 engine had oil seeping out from the oil filter housing so I replaced both gaskets and it fixed the issue. The car had just hit 150,000 miles so I had to replace the coolant anyways so I crossed that off the list at the same time.
I was looking around for your oil filter housing and see its also made of metal like mine is. I found some gaskets that im thinking will fit your housing.
Hello everyone, I would like to seek your advice/collective wisdom. 2013 E350 BlueTec OM642, 126K miles, owned since new, immaculately maintained. AEM done in Sep '22 at 114K miles. Brought it for service last week, discovered an oil leak. Unidentified source so far. Only on the front of the engine, in the splash guard (but no puddling). Engine oil level did not drop, no puddles/drops under the car ever. Most of the visible oil was on the sway bar, relatively equally distributed between the driver and passenger sides, and on the hoses above it, bot no overspray on any parts behind it (see a few screenshots from the video walk through from the dealer; circled in red is one possible source - not sure what the part is, and not sure whether I am correct about it). The belt itself looked clean or at least clean enough.
Completely cleaned/de-greased the engine, tech told to drive for a few days/about 1K and come back. Drove about 200 miles so far, at varying speeds, tried to examine the engine from above, did not find anything obvious. Filter housing is dry, anything I can see with a good flash light below it is clean as well, splash guards appear to be clean.
Have any of you experienced similar leaks (I have looked carefully here and on other sites, but have not found an answer). Any thoughts/advice on how to proceed? Love this car dearly! Thank you everyone.
UPDATE/QUESTION: Drove 350 miles, saw oil again. MB Tech thinks it is passenger side valve cover gasket. Quote is $2,500 to reseal (parts next to nothing, mostly labor). Not sure if I can get it covered under the EMC warranty, a different matter. From your experience, if one side leaks, wouldn't the other do it soon too? Would it make sense to do both (if the cost is not prohibitive)? Or is this leak a sign of another major problem brewing? The engine is 126K miles, which is not all that much for an OM642 diesel, but I don't want to pour money into it if it is starting to fall apart and going to croak anyway despite being meticulously maintained (thinking back, I should not have done that emission modification; I have a suspicion it is the culprit). Thoughts/advice? Thanks.
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