MBWorld.org Forums - Smoke/steam coming from W212 E350 CDI Engine

Hi all,

I think these two issues may be unrelated - but this morning when I started the car, I got a 'Top Up Coolant' message... it wouldn't come back when i turned it off/on again... coolant was about 1cm under the mark.

On the drive I also noticed that the car was smoking/steaming a little, from the engine area. The 'smoke' seemed to be coming out of the passenger side front (driver's side in USA), but it varied a little. Temp is normal/stable, car appears to run fine.

On investigation, the smoke/steam seems to be coming from near the PCV valve, behind the air filter on the driver's side (UK). I shot a short video showing this, attached.

As I was disassembling things, the whole air intakeunit just slipped off and I realised that the big red/orange turbo seal was shot and so I went to MB and purchased new one, along with a few other seals (the breather valve one, and the two oval ones just after the airboxes) and some MB coolant to top it up. I replaced them but it didn't make the 'smoke' go away when the car is running.

Can anyone suggest the source of the problem/smoke?

The breather pipe from the turbo intake to the oil separator could be leaking - it's £15 and special delivery from germany, would be here in a few days. The MB parts guy seemed to suggest that's rare the problem. It's also possible that it's the PCV itself?

I'm guessing if there's a coolant leak, it's unrelated/coincidence, as there isn't really any cooling hoses back there - or are there?

Thanks for any info you could give!

Ed