I noticed what appears to be an oil leak and grime on front of the engine. Can someone advise if similar problem observed. please and thank you

 

You'll need to pressure-wash the engine (or clean it with brake cleaner) and then check closely to see what's leaking. I had a leak at the front of our engine early on (under warranty) and it was the oil filter housing that was the culprit.

 

So with that leak on front engine i went to my trusted mechanic and he right away gave it a closer look and confirmed it’s the WATER PUMP leaking. He said the wet residue is not oil. It’s coolant. So he said i need a new water pump. Coincidentally i had to add a little bit of coolant not so long ago, and last week the coolant light went on again. After adding some coolant the warning light went away. I just left the shop and he’s supposed to call me with a price estimate for parts and labor.
I really love this car, it’s now 7 years old cause its a 2013 ML350 4Matic and it only has 43,080 miles. My wife drives it locally and doesn’t put much milage on it. We both really love the car and i want to keep holding on to it as it’s really nicely loaded and drives mint.
After i get a price i will post it and the progress of this repair.

 

I've seen water pumps last forever and some for less than 50,000 miles. Seems to be no rhyme or reason why. It always seems to come unexpectedly. Keep us posted. I have a 2015 ML and have a vested interest in this story.

 

My car has the alternator encrusted in oil and road grime.

My mechanic is cleaning as part an A service and I suspect it came from people spilling oil during services.

At least that's what I would like to think.

 

I received an estimate of $750 parts & labor. Water pump comes as a kit with everything included, original parts from mercedes including the coolant.

On my cars engine front there is a lot of dirty road grime as u see in the picture. Upon closer inspection you can see the wet stuff has a blue/green tint to it.

Im dropping of my car tomorrow morning.

 

Same here. Oil grime residue all over alternator. Scared it was a leak and brought it up to my dealer. They cleaned it up and said drive for 1000 miles. If it didn’t come back then most likely was spilled oil during oil changes. It didn’t come back

 

That is great that it didn't come back. I wish that was me too. My wet road grime unfortunately as you can see in the photos is all over that front of engine and it accompanied two prior “Coolant Level Low” warning lights. 1 approximately a few months back and now again a few days ago.
Additionally my mechanic said they will do a pressure test to make sure this is the case before they tear my car apart. I’ll find out today for sure and will keep you guys posted.

 

I dropped off my 2013 ML350 for repair. I have 43,000 miles on it (wife doesn’t drive that much and we baby this car so im surprised that this is happening.) So far 3 things aren’t good:
1. Water pump leaking
2. Both Cam-magnets leaking a little oil
3. Also oil in the intake manifold (may be a bad PCV)

I couldn’t pick up my car today. They said it’ll be done by tomorrow. I will post updates for anyone interested.

 

So i picked up my 2013 ML350 from the mechanic today after having what appeared to be an oil leak front of the engine.

The following was replaced with all original parts:

1. Water pump (had coolant leak)
2. Radiator (had small coolant leak)
3. Both Cam solenoid mags (had small oil leaks)
4. Engine Filters (both were dirty)

Now it’s back, parked in my driveway. No check engine lights and no fault codes. It looks like im back to enjoying this awesome machine $1,000 bucks later 🤷‍♂️

 

Reasonable price, IMO. Glad you got it sorted. Is the shop an M-B dealer or indy?

 

No, not a M-B dealer. I called the MB of Brooklyn and they quoted $1,500 just for the water pump and nothing else.

I had my car fixed at a auto repair shop near my house. I know them for a long time and they work on foreign and domestic cars.

I trust the work of one mechanic who i talk to all the time there, cause he is certified to work on these, but also him as a person he is excellent at troubleshooting things and himself he owns a 2012 Mercedes GL and the guy knows this car in and out.
He was impressed with how mint and clean i keep the car and thats despite having my 2 kids making a mess every time.