Malsori

My 2006 c230 (m272) is leaking oil really bad. My belt shredded off and it damaged something I just dont know what but every time the engine is running there is oil being sprayed out. I could see the oil spraying around the crankshaft pulley and the pulley is picking it up as it spins and splashing it on the side of the tensioner body. Anybody have any idea what can be damaged around the crankshaft pulley thats spraying out oil while the engine is running? It seems like it's coming from the left lower side of the crankshaft pulley. Next to what I assume is a coolant hose that's connected to a T connector which sits between the alternator and crankshaft pulley. This is a nightmare.

pcy

Sorry to give you the bad news. When the belt shredded (while the engine was running), the belt got behind the crankshaft pulley and the parts of the belt went in to the engine thru the crankshaft front main seal. Don't run the engine. You'll need to drop the oil pan and check for pieces of drive belt. Then replace the front main seal.

Malsori

I was fearing that. I wished that wasn't the case. God knows what this will cost me. Smh!!!

Thanks for the input.

Malsori

Is dropping the oil pan really necessary? Can I just replace the front seal and be done with the leak?

pcy

The reason why you should drop the oil pan is to check if there are any pieces of the belt went inside the engine. If there are pieces inside the engine, they can destroy the engine...

Malsori

I understand. I'm just in no position right now to pay $1k or whatever it costs to drop the oil pan and clean the engine out. I would hate to spend all that money to find out there are no belt shreds inside and it was just a damaged seal. Then again I don't want to avoid it altogether and risk damaging my engine if there are shreds inside. It's a messed up situation I'm in.

I have confirmed that the belt is wrapped around the rear of the crank pulley. I can't pull it free so I'm going to need to remove the pulley in order to remove the shredded belt wrapped around the shaft and then I'll replace the seal. I can do that part myself. I will just have to look at what tools are needed to remove the crank pulley and then replacing the seal. I pray to god a new seal will plug the leak. I've read some people with different cars replaced their seal and still had the leak and then had the dealership tell them their engine is damaged and need a new block.

pcy

I feel your pain.

Unfortunately, there is no way to tell if there are pieces of the belt inside the engine without dropping the pan.

Malsori

Thank you for the help. I truly appreciate it. People like you are what's good in forums. Many people don't care to help others. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be clueless to what is wrong. At least now I know what I must do. I'm going to order the tools and new front seal and replace that myself hopefully over the weekend. I'm assuming the crank pulley bolt is 27mm. Hopefully the new seal plugs the leak for good then I will get it towed to a shop to see if there are any pieces in the engine. I'm def not risking totalling my engine over $1k. I only have 54k miles on the engine and it runs like new still. I'm not going to let it destroyed like that.

Malsori

I want to give an update. So I never got the car "fixed". I ended up buying a w204 c63 and kept my w203 c230 parked up for all these months since my belt snapped off.

Today I decided to put a new belt on the c230 and take it for a spin around the neighborhood to help charge the battery because it was pretty low since I haven't started the car in a while. While driving, the new belt ended up slipping off since the car was leaking oil from the crankshaft seal and spraying oil all over the front of the engine. I pulled over and put it back on. I then drove again and shortly after the belt slipped off again. I pulled over and put it back on. I did this about 5 times before I got home and parked the car. I drove for 1.5 miles round trip.

After I parked and opened the hood, I noticed the old shredded belt that was tightly wrapped around the crankshaft pulley had completely fell off. There was only a small piece still wrapped on the pulley pretty tight which I pulled off by hand. It took some time in but it came off. I don't know how the belt came off just by driving the car but it wouldn't even budge when I tried to unwrap it by hand before.

After I removed the last piece of belt behind the pulley I decided to turn the car back on to see if the leak got worse since there's nothing blocking the seal anymore. To my surprise, there was no leak! I'm talking about nothing! I took the car for a drive 2 miles away and back (4 mile round trip) and the new belt never slipped off and after I got home I opened the hood and the belt was dry!

It seems like somehow the old belt caused the leak and now that it's been removed the leak has gone away. How could this be? This is so weird! Maybe the belt was pinching the oil seal and once it was removed the oil seal was able to flex back to normal? I have no idea but I'm stoked! I will continue to monitor it to make sure the leak doesn't come back but for now it's gone!

I must say, driving the c230 after driving the c63 all this time felt like I was riding a bicycle lol. It's so underpowered.

Malsori

Just drove 60 miles with the car and not a drop of oil. This is absolutely amazing. I don't know how my car went from gushing out oil to dry and normal.

pcy

If there are no pieces of the old belt inside the crankcase, consider yourself very lucky. You've just saved a ton of money. What I am afraid is that there may be small pieces inside and they will be picked up by the oil pickup tube and may block internal passages. Unfortunately, there is no other way to tell if there are any broken pieces inside the engine without dropping the pan.