hafeez.rehmaan

guys! i am upset to find two issues;

1- the my engine oil cap having brownish stuff on it, i checked with mechanic and he said either the head gasket is cracked/damaged or head is cracked.. can you please look at the picture and let me know what is the exact issue and possible solution


2- the temperature gauge in the instrument cluster is above 80 degree but when i am driving it gets down a little below 80 degree, in addition i checked the when it is above 80 degrees its rotation is very slow. however i would like to highlight that the temperature never goes beyond the one shown in the pictures!

waiting for your expert opinions!

snoop562

from everything ive read the stuff on your oil cap is normal if you make alot of shorts trip and your engine doesnt get up to temperature for a good amount of time.

your temp gauge is working fine if you had a cracked head you would have alot of problems car probably wouldnt be drivable.

how often do you change your oil? brand?

snoop562

read post #21 http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210...ng-help-3.html

hafeez.rehmaan

i change engine oil and oil filter every 4,000 kilometer and use Mobil 1! so you say everything is normal? even the temperature and that brownish stuff... one more thing i dont know where the engine coolant is going i have checked everything from the outside no leaks.. Any idea?..

just to give you an idea about the driving condition the temperature in UAE is approx 22 degree now a days i am driving every day total of 180 KM from home to office at the speed 140 KM/H, obviously traffic jams causing engine to run idle for 20~30 minutes (so i put car in Neutral when there is complete stop for longer period) .. in such driving condition do you think the coolant level should drop (i filled the bottle two days back and bang today i got low coolant level message)

snoop562

i didnt know you were loosing coolant. is the car overheating? it can be a headgasket then. have you checked the oil or drained it? if its the same color as stuff on oil cap then you do have that problem.

RichM

At 22degrees Celsius (approx 70 degrees F) you should not be getting buildup like that. In cold weather climates (-10 C) you can get this buildup when the car is used for short trips. In this type of cold, short trips don't allow the car to come up to temp for long enough period of time to burn off any condensation. This along with a coolant loss issue leads me to think your mechanic is correct in thinking head gasket or worse case a cracked head.

mercedes4ever

Seen that before, cracked head or cracked bore, that's water / coolant mixed with oil.$$$$

mercedes4ever

How many Miles has the car done?

hafeez.rehmaan

215000KM.... so what do you suggest get engine replaced (from scrap yard for 900$ )or head gasket replaced,... !

if i go MB workshop they gonna rip off my skin from body for the repair....

Hirnbeiss

The normal running temp is 87C. I would replace the thermostat as the first step.

Then refill the coolant and double check the loss rate, and look for leaks.

I don't understand your comment "it is rotation is very slow". The fan?

hafeez.rehmaan

Test! Today filled the coolant up to the max and went for a drive approximately 20km the temperature raised above 80 degree as shown in the image I uploaded! I parked the on the road side I checked Fan it was spinning on very low speed and then I opened the radiator bottle cap the coolant was boiling and it came out from the bottle pretty rough and it started spilling out of the bottle! I squeezed the upper radiator pipe few time and then coolant level dropped down in the bottle and then pressed the throttle kept it at 2000 RPM for a minute or two coolant again started spilling out from the bottle ! I suspect radiator is choke!

I have already replaced the radiator Fan six months back the radiator fan is electric! So I want to know is there a way to change/set the speed of the fan manually because it is spinning at very low speed on above 80 degree Celsius temperature!

Figuero

First, I doubt very much that the water in the coolant bottle was boiling, it was hot and under pressure when you released the cap you were seeing the pressure released. If the water was truly "boiling" you would probably be posting this from the hospital.

Second, your electric fan will not switch to "high" until your temperature approaches 100C. Which is way below boiling if you have the proper coolant.

Third, when you say you filled the system to the "Max" are you sure you didn't overfill it? If you completly filled the coolant bottle, you would get exactly the symptoms you describe.

Going back to your original issue. Your temperature is perfectly normal. However, getting that emulsion indicates there is water in your oil. In the winter as others have noted, it's a normal condition due to condensation if you drive short hops.
However, in warmer weather it's a warning sign. You need to focus on gaskets first, then move on to more serious concerns....... In any event a clogged radiator would cause overheating not oil contanimation.

hafeez.rehmaan

Guys tomorrow I going to replace the engine because Iam pretty sure now that engine gasket is either damaged or head is crack! Iam not going to do repairs on this engine because later onwards it might come up with a new problem! And mechanics here are not expert in repairing !!!

You guys are really good! Salute to your knowledge and assistance

Figuero

Replacing an engine because you suspect a gasket problem seems like....well..... an extreem measure. But you will most likely resolve the problem.

RichM

Make sure to get the control modules that are mated to the replacement engine to avoid any issues after engine replacement.

hubert

The white brownish stuff on the cap is normal, I had this on my older Mercedes cars. And it was com firmed by master mechanics that it's nothing to be worried about unless your car is loosing power, smoking bad from a tail pipe. If you had a gasket failure ur oil inside the engine(try looking on your dipstick) would be this color with little bubbles. If you replaced your engine already try selling the perfectly good one you took out of your car.

renault12ts

Strange strange thread.

Everyone knows that if you stop your car...any car...and immediately remove the coolant cap it will "boil" and spill everywhere...but to change the engine because of this!!!!!!!!

Thread of the year so far.

rorf

Very strange thread indeed - temperature gauge is reading normal, fan at low speed normal, filler cap abnormal for a warm climate and doing the high mileage everyday, and 4000km Mobil 1 oil changes - wow.

The only way to test the cooling system is to do a pressure test and a CO sniff test on the coolant.

Major problem could be the crankcase and valve cover vacuum breathing system.

Coolant could be lost to the transmission?

mercedes4ever

Sludge in your oil will kill your engine & is one the main causes of timing chain failure. M271 engines have a timing chain with an oil hole in each roller to help lubrication. Sludge in your oil will block these holes & lead to timing chain issues. A rich fuel mixture will also cause sludge.