Engine Oil Leaks
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 165
Likes: 9
'05 SLK55, Obsidian, black/red, light and premium pkg., COMAND with nav, airscarf, Sirius
Engine Oil Leaks
I had my car in for service at the dealer, and they said they found the left valve cover leaking and replaced the gasket. Is this common and something I need to keep an eye on in the future? They also said they replaced the gasket at the crankcase breather connection. What are they talking about? Does the car have something similar to a PCV valve? Where is it? Thanks in advance for your help?
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2006
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Hmmm....
I just took mine in two weeks ago because of an oil smell. I've noticed on occasion, at stop lights, that I would see a white puff coming from the front right hood vent (when sitting in the driver's seat and looking out). I've noticed the smoke only once per drive for several months. It's not a big cloud, it's like someone exhaling cigar smoke - that's all it ever was.
So the dealer worked on the car and called me a few days later telling me it's ready. The result: BOTH VALVE COVERS were leaking from the back.
My 1994 S500 did this recently (but it had aftermarket gaskets that rolled up - causing the problem). I keep both cars in the Southeast US.
So, I know it's not a fictitious warranty claim. But it is unsettling.
My car only has 11k miles on it. It's a 2007 and I picked it up in Germany.
The engine in my car was made by Erol Cenk.
I've been to the AMG factory. I've seen their awesome engine-building process. When those engines are made, the mechanic rolls the engine on a cart through the assembly process, making sure to scan into a digital reader, the exact tool that he's using before fastening something. The digital scan records which tool - because they have hundreds of tools hanging from the ceiling. And each tool is set for the exact torque and socket required at each station for the different engine configurations that come through.
I just took mine in two weeks ago because of an oil smell. I've noticed on occasion, at stop lights, that I would see a white puff coming from the front right hood vent (when sitting in the driver's seat and looking out). I've noticed the smoke only once per drive for several months. It's not a big cloud, it's like someone exhaling cigar smoke - that's all it ever was.
So the dealer worked on the car and called me a few days later telling me it's ready. The result: BOTH VALVE COVERS were leaking from the back.
My 1994 S500 did this recently (but it had aftermarket gaskets that rolled up - causing the problem). I keep both cars in the Southeast US.
So, I know it's not a fictitious warranty claim. But it is unsettling.
My car only has 11k miles on it. It's a 2007 and I picked it up in Germany.
The engine in my car was made by Erol Cenk.
I've been to the AMG factory. I've seen their awesome engine-building process. When those engines are made, the mechanic rolls the engine on a cart through the assembly process, making sure to scan into a digital reader, the exact tool that he's using before fastening something. The digital scan records which tool - because they have hundreds of tools hanging from the ceiling. And each tool is set for the exact torque and socket required at each station for the different engine configurations that come through.
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 72
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From: Chuck Norris, USA
AMG
Burning Oil Smell for first 5 min.
I have a similar issue with my 2006 SLK55 with 35000mi. I get a burning oil smell coming into the cabin for about the first 5 minutes after startup. After that it goes away. Looking into the engine compartment, it appears that the valve cover gasket area is seeping a small amount of oil. The engine oil level measures "ok" so it must not be losing much oil. My guess is that this isn't a serious problem, as long as the oil level is not decreasing rapidly. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 26
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From: UK
slk55
This is not serious. Polymer style gaskets can relax with age and the valve cover bolting is clearly not well designed to maintain adequate seating stress. Renew the gaskets and away you go but really a very simple fix.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,990
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From: Bay Area
'10 Porsche Turbo PDK, 500e, GL450
very normal
on these engines. The gaskets suck in my opinion and seepage is pretty normal. The dealers won't redo the gaskets unless they feel that its is actually leakage ... not seepage. Its easy to redo and not a big deal.
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
I have a similar issue with my 2006 SLK55 with 35000mi. I get a burning oil smell coming into the cabin for about the first 5 minutes after startup. After that it goes away. Looking into the engine compartment, it appears that the valve cover gasket area is seeping a small amount of oil. The engine oil level measures "ok" so it must not be losing much oil. My guess is that this isn't a serious problem, as long as the oil level is not decreasing rapidly. Correct me if I'm wrong.
http://4q.cc/index.php?pid=top100&person=chuck
Mercedes engines throw around a lot of oil. That's how they remain bullet-proof.
The M119 in the W140 S-class and W124 E-class is suseptible to broken/failed "oil tubes" which sit atop the valves. These plastic pieces eventually break at the tips, and if you have a leaking valve cover as I did, it gets very messy, very fast.
The only thing interesting about the SLK55 is that it uses synthetic oil, which isn't supped to smoke. But I saw a small puff from the engine compartment, along with that oil burn scent. However, the exhaust is flawless... here's a video of a cold start of my SLK55 from last spring. You'll notice that the startup is nice.
http://www.topgearage.com/?p=22
Overall, I'm not worried about the valve covers leaking as long as it's under warranty. But if it continues to happen, I will want MB/AMG to correct it at no cost in perpetuity. It cost me $1800 to have the dealer replace both valve covers on the 1994 S500 in 2008.
I had a 2006 E350 for a few years, and when that was sitting around for a few days, a HUGE white/blue cloud would come out of the tailpipes for about 10 seconds. But the V6 in the E350 C350 CLK350 and SLK350 (did I leave anything out?) consume about 1qt every 12k miles when new. It takes about 50k miles before this stops.
Member
Joined: Dec 2004
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Yep... I'm glad my wife's car isn't the only one that had (has) this issue. I initially took the car to the dealer for extreme valve ticking noise. When the adviser popped the hood open, we noticed engine oil leak on the driver's side. Had the gaskets and valve train replaced.
On another note, the car just had the A-pillar and rooftop seals entirely replaced by MBUSA due to window grease problems. The outer and inner window sills on both windows were also replaced due to the accumulation of the liquefied grease. We might just lemon this damn car due to a chain of problems that keeps popping up. The transmission valve body was recently replaced due to harsh up- and down- shifting on 1-3rd gears. I can only imagine how much these items would cost if the warranty was out.
On another note, the car just had the A-pillar and rooftop seals entirely replaced by MBUSA due to window grease problems. The outer and inner window sills on both windows were also replaced due to the accumulation of the liquefied grease. We might just lemon this damn car due to a chain of problems that keeps popping up. The transmission valve body was recently replaced due to harsh up- and down- shifting on 1-3rd gears. I can only imagine how much these items would cost if the warranty was out.
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Member
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 87
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I stand corrected... the valvetrain did not get replaced. Sorry to disappoint.
Here are the notes per invoice:
"Rocker arm causing noise inspected and checked for noise with foreman found rt side rockers causing noise rr rt side valve cover and rr alternator rr chain tensioner and removed cam bearing bridge and replaced rt side exhaust and intake rocker arm and retested fully."
Here are the notes per invoice:
"Rocker arm causing noise inspected and checked for noise with foreman found rt side rockers causing noise rr rt side valve cover and rr alternator rr chain tensioner and removed cam bearing bridge and replaced rt side exhaust and intake rocker arm and retested fully."
