I've had this undetectable coolant leak for YEARS. I think I may have the culprit here. What parts do I need?
A boroscope can get up in the area you need to see to verify the issue before deciding what parts you need. Do you have the dumbass heated wash reservoir system in your car?
Thanks. The M8 nuts are pretty much at class strength
The M10 nut for the strut support looks like they have REVISED DOWN to close to a class 5.8 torque value. Same applies to the M10 wiper arm nuts.
Without access to WIS the only thing to go on was diameter and class.
A bootleg copy of the WIS is cheaper than the repair you will need if you brake bolts most parts of the car. Cheaper than the frustration to fix them yourself. For like $30 you can get the WIS and the EPC. It's a no-brainer.
But if you somehow still don't want to do that, you can ask for torque values here and a member with the WIS will get them for you.
A bootleg copy of the WIS is cheaper than the repair you will need if you brake bolts most parts of the car. Cheaper than the frustration to fix them yourself. For like $30 you can get the WIS and the EPC. It's a no-brainer.
But if you somehow still don't want to do that, you can ask for torque values here and a member with the WIS will get them for you.
Really no excuse to guess on these cars.
I've always had the manuals for the other cars I've owned so I had the torque values for them. A bolt can 'stretch' if tightened out of range but thats another topic.
If you have a reliable source where I could get a copy of WIS, send me a message. There is so much stuff out there, I kind of wonder what works and what doesn't.nowadays.
This is the frame on short video I recorded of the area. That blue dot towards the bottom of the picture is a drop of coolant in mid air before it hits the ledge. I was lucky enough to catch a drop on the frame. It doesn't drip that often.
I got mine from ebay. I just found one of the many sellers that had good ratings and took the chance and it worked out. Maybe someone else here can remember which seller they got from...
A cool day came around so I managed to sneak this one in and complete it.
I would recommend getting the following tools. They made the job alot easier to complete and are cheap in price.
1. Hose clamp pliers
2. Hose removal tool.
They are both available on amazon.
Also, there is very little coolant loss (1/2-1 cup) doing this job as it is high up on the coolant circuit. There is no need to get under the car and drain coolant.
Lift the spring (blue arrow) with a flat bladed screwdriver to begin disconnecting the hose from the engine. This hose feeds water from the block to the heater core.
This hose has a plastic end that slips into the part on the firewall. It may be stuck in there but you'll see it slowly moving out as you pry it eventually popping off.
Mine was still in good shape so I reused the hose. You may want to replace yours with a new one if you'd like.
Use the hose clamp pliers to pullback the clamp (red arrow) going to the heater core pipe on the bulkhead.
Use the hose removal tool to get in between the hose and the heater core pipe. Break the seal with it and you'll find it alot easier to remove.
Use a flat blade screw driver to push in 3 tabs (green arrow) holding the black distribution valve to the firewall (see image above). Push the part in towards the bulkhead. I found it easier to push it in and towards the passenger side to remove the part. Its tight in there.
Once I lifted it out of the tight space, I used the hose clamp pliers again to remove the small clamp for the hose going to the washer fluid. My hose clamp was facing down (as per the above picture). The hose clamp pliers made this job a breeze.
Installation of the new distribution part is the reverse of removal.
Below is the old part I removed. The crack is circled in green.
I hope you replaced also the plastic pipe ( V bank side ) <---- this pipe is where #180 hose connects to.
I didn't for a couple of reasons.
Mine was dry and in good shape. That, and the fact that its an easy enough part to get at (removing the top 'plastic' intake), made me decide just to leave it in place.
Others may want to replace theirs.
No more leaks ! Coolant has been stable at one level now.
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