Hi,

I have a 2002 C200 Kompressor W203. It has done 196 927 kms and I've had the car for about 3-4 years. It hasn't had any trouble as such during this time besides the usual stuff, services, brakes etc.

I took the car in for a service yesterday (I go to an specialist independent mb mechanic) and he noted some stuff that was worrying to me. As written on the report,

-Coolant leak at rear of cylinder head (has formed a moist crust).
-Radiator starting to leak around bottom transmission cooler fitting.

He told me it was a sign there was a crack forming in the head gasket and said he doesn't know how long it would take for it to blow completely, said it could take 1 week or 10 years. (Note that my car has never had any over heating issues and never been driven low on coolant since I've had it for 3-4 years). This has left me iffy, isn't the head gasket either blown or not or is there truth in what he says? The thing that has me worried is that he suggested putting stop leak through the coolant to help seal up any small cracks to help it from getting any worse, me trusting him I said go for it. I'm not sure what brand he used but the only thing he told me was make sure you drive the car for 30 minutes before turning it off after he put it in.

So today I started googling about stop leak and worryingly everything I read said that it's a horrible product to use and that it's just a last ditch effort to extend engine life minimally at best. Why did I need to even put the stop leak into my car then If I have had no signs of coolant leaking on my driveway and no over heating as of yet. Was this a horrible idea to use? Should I flush out my coolant and put in some new coolant?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm stressing out a bit about it. I haven't driven it since I got home from the mechanics in case it needs a flush.

Thanks,
Antoni

 

Do nothing.

Don’t use more stop leak. Used excessively it plugs the radiator.

Leaks are generally manageable and most of the time they don’t cause sudden catastrophic failure without advanced notice. Your vehicle could be fine for 10 years or it could leak faster tomorrow morning. It’s life with a 200k km car.

Keep driving.

 

Thanks for the response. Will do. Fingers crossed the leak doesn't get any worse for a very long time haha.