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Help! I have a new-to-me 1993 300e, 2.8 sedan with 171,000 miles. The previous owner serviced it regularly at indie mechanics and daily drove it all of 2019. I purchased the car and replaced the water pump, flushed the coolant, and got an oil change with Mobil Synthetic Euro 5W-40 (this was all done by the mechanic). MB dealership replaced the keys and all stores gave it a thumbs-up in quality and condition. Every record checked out.
We took the car on our first trip this weekend across Texas for a mini-vacation. It was 180 miles each one way with 90% highway miles, and it was very very hot each day. At night we smelled a slight burning smell like it was rubber. I checked but didn't see anything but kept thinking about it. We drove around the weekend (20 miles max) and came home today in the afternoon. I checked the oil when we were getting close and it looked low.
I saw a bunch of black melted rubber on my driver side fenders and chalked it up to the new tar on the highway. I was wrong.
I looked at the bottom of the engine bay and see a lot of oil. Mind you, this is my first month of ownership so I know some oil leakage is normal. I get under the car and find the problem. This rubber hose melted and is leaking oil. And that is the melted plastic I saw on my fender!
No CEL, no oil light, coolant level is steady at 90-100, and oil pressure is a solid 3 when driving.
What is this? Am I looking at the transmission fluid hose that melted and is leaking oil? How serious is this problem? I did searches across the forum, checked my workshop manual, and did some google searches but couldn't find anything. I am kicking myself for not being able to find any extra of the Mobil oil to top it off this afternoon when I saw it was low.
Thank you Lululu. Now I know what will need to be replaced. I call my independent mechanic and he believes it's fine driving 20 miles to get serviced. The oil leak hasn't gotten worse, but also not better. There must be something else happening within the engine bay I will have them investigate.
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