Hi guys, have a 04 mercedes e500, had the car checked out by my local indy, who has work and retired from mercedes/bmw 35 years and has his own shop. Car checked out great $140 for the entire pre inspection.

I have a few things to do, but nothing major, however I smell a coolant smell when I am in the vehicle every so often. Is it possible he missed the smell?

I did tell him regardless if the car was pretty much without any problems right now. I would like him to do a trannny flush, coolant flush, oil, and brake flush, change rear end mount and engine mounts.

my question is, will I know if my heater core is going out when he does a coolant system check ( for contaminants of glycol)

P.S anyone with a write-up on heater care replacement? thanks

 

You can have smell without contaminants. Did shop do a pressure test?

 

My heater core needed replacement this Summer. I never smelled coolant, but did smell s strange Vinyl smell for about a week before I lost the A/C.

(Repaired under Ext Lim Warranty)

 

thanks! their was no pressure check done, only a full post inspection. however this is something that i told them i will be back to do since i wanted the tranny flush/ coolant flush and other issues looked at and taken car of. they did state their was no linking of any kind except from the valve covers.




QUOTE=homeofstone;5537068]You can have smell without contaminants. Did shop do a pressure test?[/QUOTE]

 

How many miles do you have on the vehicle? My 2003 now has 120,500 and I had the coolant - transmission leak issue back in 2007 that was covered by my warranty. Does your vehicle still have the original OEM radiator that was prone to connector break and leak into the transmission line? If so, you might want to consider replacing it with the replacement radiator part, but if it hasn't leaked by now, maybe your radiator will last okay.

 

okay, did not know this. thanks!



I have 118,000 miles on her, as for the original radiator. My indy said their were no leaks and everything looks good, so not really sure. mercedes dealer did say all the recalls were done , but the radiator issue you speak of is something I was going to do, but my indy believes it was already done. He will do a thorough check when i get all fluid completely flushed and other items look at.

I don't smell it all the time though.

 

If you want to PM me with your email address, I can send you the pdf file with the MB Technical Bulletin for the defective radiator manufacture and part no. and how to test for the glycol contamination.