W211 AMG Discuss the W211 AMG's such as the E55 and the E63

How to tell if my Rad is mixing with trans

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Old Jun 21, 2012 | 11:37 PM
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How to tell if my Rad is mixing with trans

Ok so the other day i noticed that the car was acting funny. I thought it had something to do with the s/c clutch going off and on. Come to find out i have a valeo rad in my car. Its a early 03. Then it started chattering and rpms where going slightly up and down like the torque convertor is locking up then unlocking. Trans does not feel right at all. There is no trans fluid in my coolant tho. Any Ideas.
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Old Jun 21, 2012 | 11:53 PM
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You can do the glycol contamination test. They sell the test kit at the dealership
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 02:13 AM
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Are you low on coolant?
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 08:23 AM
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Coolant is full.
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Old Sep 1, 2012 | 07:07 PM
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Identifying a Valeo

Originally Posted by 03w211e55
...Come to find out i have a valeo rad in my car...
How did you find out that it was a Valeo?!
I have a 2002 C230 Kompressor Coupe that gets a bit low on coolant every time I drive it. How can I tell if it has a Valeo radiator? I don't think the local dealer in Beirut has that glycol test. I was going to pressurize the coolant system to try and find the problem but was afraid coolant will be forced down to the transmission if I have a bad Valeo.
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Old Sep 1, 2012 | 07:51 PM
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anything in your coolant that looks out of place? Oily deposits, etc. Also, check your trans fluid,even a little down can cause the trans to go Eastwood on you.
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Old Sep 1, 2012 | 08:12 PM
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Originally Posted by 02C230C Lebanon
How did you find out that it was a Valeo?!
I have a 2002 C230 Kompressor Coupe that gets a bit low on coolant every time I drive it. How can I tell if it has a Valeo radiator? I don't think the local dealer in Beirut has that glycol test. I was going to pressurize the coolant system to try and find the problem but was afraid coolant will be forced down to the transmission if I have a bad Valeo.
if you remove the metal plate for the hood latch assembly you will see the radiator part number. Once you have the part number call the MB dealer and ask if there had been a replacement / updated part number. I am assuming you have a W211 E55.
If you are going to pressure test the cooling system don't exceed 22 psi.
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Old Sep 1, 2012 | 08:26 PM
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Originally Posted by pearlpower
anything in your coolant that looks out of place? Oily deposits, etc. Also, check your trans fluid,even a little down can cause the trans to go Eastwood on you.
I bought the car few months ago and didn't have the time to flush the cooling system yet. It had only water in the system with no cooling liquid mixed, and since it's leaking, I didn't add any yet. There's some rusty brown color on the expansion box inside walls. I did though drain/change some of the water (a bit more than a gallon) like 5 times using a small hose, pushing it down next to the small pump on the bottom of the expansion box. I only see very small amount of very fine rusty brown on top of water in the expansion box.
Could the reason be a rusted leaking heater core and how can I inspect that? I also thought about a leaking freeze plug (?) but I don't know if I have any and where.
I have the 2.3 engine (?) (with the red top)
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Old Sep 1, 2012 | 08:35 PM
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Originally Posted by shardul
if you remove the metal plate for the hood latch assembly you will see the radiator part number. Once you have the part number call the MB dealer and ask if there had been a replacement / updated part number. I am assuming you have a W211 E55.
If you are going to pressure test the cooling system don't exceed 22 psi.
I have a 2002 C230 Kompressor Coupe with a 2.3 (red top) engine.
The local dealer is not "customer friendly" at all, specially that my car was imported from the US (local dealer in Beirut sells only more expensive German made MBs)
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Old Sep 1, 2012 | 08:48 PM
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Originally Posted by 02C230C Lebanon
I have a 2002 C230 Kompressor Coupe with a 2.3 (red top) engine.
The local dealer is not "customer friendly" at all, specially that my car was imported from the US (local dealer in Beirut sells only more expensive German made MBs)
i can get a price for the glycol contamination kit and ship it to you if you are interested.
I don't think the C class had any issues regarding the valeo radiator.

Start of by doing a pressure test of the cooling system
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Old Sep 4, 2012 | 05:59 PM
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Well I checked my radiator the way I saw on a thread here, and found out I have the Behr not Valeo! Anyone knows where are the expansion/freeze plugs on my engine, and how many are there?
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Old Sep 4, 2012 | 07:41 PM
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Under the headers
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Old Sep 8, 2012 | 04:45 PM
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Originally Posted by shardul
Under the headers
Is there an easy way to check if they're leaking besides pressurizing the cooling system?
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Old Sep 8, 2012 | 07:23 PM
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Old Oct 16, 2013 | 12:43 PM
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I did a pressure test and found out that I have a leaking head gasket on the rear external side of the engine. The guy told me that it's not worth working on it now that the leak is not serious yet, unless it bothers me to keep topping the water and drain/change it from time to time, and he told me that I should not use any radiator flush. So I'm leaving it as is for now
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Old Oct 16, 2013 | 12:48 PM
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I would not do that.
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Old Oct 16, 2013 | 01:08 PM
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Originally Posted by shardul
I would not do that.
Agreed. This is not something you ignore until it gets bigger.
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Old Oct 16, 2013 | 01:46 PM
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What could happen? It's an external leak, not inside the cylinder. Should I try one of these liquid sealant you put in the coolant? A proper repair costs between $450 & $600.
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Old Oct 16, 2013 | 01:49 PM
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engine gets hydro locked.
no liquid sealant is not going to work
save up the money and fix it
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Old Oct 16, 2013 | 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by shardul
engine gets hydro locked.
no liquid sealant is not going to work
save up the money and fix it
How could I get a hydro-lock if the leak is not internal? Do you mean that the gasket will end up rusting and leaking internally to the cylinder?
And thanks guys for the replies!
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Old Oct 16, 2013 | 02:41 PM
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if it is close to the cylinder
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