Urgent! Do I need a tow truck?
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 252
Likes: 1
From: South Florida
Daily 06 E55, Fun 12 GSXR750, Racing John Deere D110
Urgent! Do I need a tow truck?
I just bought this car two-three weeks ago so I still barely know anything about it except that its awesome and scary fast.
I ran inside a gas station to grab a candy bar and when i came out I noticed a minor puddle under the car. I popped my hood and found the lower nipple of the line leading from the top of the coolant tank broken. An intake was recently installed so I suspect that it was nudged during the installation.
What it should look like:
Broken:
The fix:
I walked a couple miles to an advanced auto and got creative. I shoved this coupler inside the fitting then inside the hose, very nice and tight fit. I popped the hose on the other end. What worries me is theres no way to clamp it down tight for some peace of mind.
My actual car, "fixed":
I didn't have any tools except a pocket knife so unfortunately I had to cut the hose to bring with me to advanced. I purchased a second coupler and some clamps. Fairly confident this will work out well, I'm just worried about the first one even though from the factory theres no clamp or anything to hold it in place.
HELP HELP HELP! I'm 100 miles from home and would hate to cough up $200 for a tow. My local dealer has the part in stock so as of tomorrow it'll be repaired.
Now for the questions.
Is this hose simply a low pressure overflow hose or does it serve a greater purpose?
Drive or tow?
Does a thread exist with other common breakages, brittle parts, parts I should replace ahead of time for reliability. 250 mile round trip to work, I need my car reliable for the days I decide to fly to work.
Thanks guys!
I ran inside a gas station to grab a candy bar and when i came out I noticed a minor puddle under the car. I popped my hood and found the lower nipple of the line leading from the top of the coolant tank broken. An intake was recently installed so I suspect that it was nudged during the installation.
What it should look like:
Broken:
The fix:
I walked a couple miles to an advanced auto and got creative. I shoved this coupler inside the fitting then inside the hose, very nice and tight fit. I popped the hose on the other end. What worries me is theres no way to clamp it down tight for some peace of mind.
My actual car, "fixed":
I didn't have any tools except a pocket knife so unfortunately I had to cut the hose to bring with me to advanced. I purchased a second coupler and some clamps. Fairly confident this will work out well, I'm just worried about the first one even though from the factory theres no clamp or anything to hold it in place.
HELP HELP HELP! I'm 100 miles from home and would hate to cough up $200 for a tow. My local dealer has the part in stock so as of tomorrow it'll be repaired.
Now for the questions.
Is this hose simply a low pressure overflow hose or does it serve a greater purpose?
Drive or tow?
Does a thread exist with other common breakages, brittle parts, parts I should replace ahead of time for reliability. 250 mile round trip to work, I need my car reliable for the days I decide to fly to work.
Thanks guys!
Last edited by S2K750; Aug 27, 2013 at 05:15 PM.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 252
Likes: 1
From: South Florida
Daily 06 E55, Fun 12 GSXR750, Racing John Deere D110
Another issue I just thought of....
I filled the system with distilled water,about 1/3-1/2 gallon. I have no idea how to bleed the system for air bubbles. There seems to be a block off cap on a hose thats connected to the system.
If I had to guess it looks like I'm walking back to advanced in the rain again =/
Edit: The coolant was only leaking out; and the tank never fill drained so i think the leaking fluid was replaced right away... Once i noticed I filled the hole with a towel to prevent any more spillage. There shouldn't be any air in the system. Regardless since I just purchased the car I'll replace the coolant this weekend when I do an oil change, tranny, diff, in cabin filter, and spark plugs.
I filled the system with distilled water,about 1/3-1/2 gallon. I have no idea how to bleed the system for air bubbles. There seems to be a block off cap on a hose thats connected to the system.
If I had to guess it looks like I'm walking back to advanced in the rain again =/
Edit: The coolant was only leaking out; and the tank never fill drained so i think the leaking fluid was replaced right away... Once i noticed I filled the hole with a towel to prevent any more spillage. There shouldn't be any air in the system. Regardless since I just purchased the car I'll replace the coolant this weekend when I do an oil change, tranny, diff, in cabin filter, and spark plugs.
Last edited by S2K750; Aug 27, 2013 at 05:38 PM.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 252
Likes: 1
From: South Florida
Daily 06 E55, Fun 12 GSXR750, Racing John Deere D110
What does that hose do? There are no clamps so it's just for the overflow expansion correct? Low pressure when it gets hot?
The lower part isn't clamped, but it's a tight fit. That's what I'm worried about. The coupler you can see in the picture isn't really my concern
The lower part isn't clamped, but it's a tight fit. That's what I'm worried about. The coupler you can see in the picture isn't really my concern
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,212
Likes: 5
From: Chicago
03 E55 AMG, 06 Harley Road King Custom 06 Ram 2500 Cummins, 97 Firebird Race Car, 88 Cutlass Supreme
I agree your good to drive it. Its not under any real pressure if there was no clamp on it. Seeing as it is clamped now I don't see that failing any time soon.
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Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 252
Likes: 1
From: South Florida
Daily 06 E55, Fun 12 GSXR750, Racing John Deere D110
I'm home now thank god... The bottom part isn't clamped. The coupler is simply jammed in. What you see is my fix after cutting it to buy parts.
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Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 381
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From: Houston, TX
2006 E55
Nice macgyver job there. Glad you made it home without having to have the car hooked. Get yourself a new hose and call it a day. Welcome to the AMG club by the way. Or as my local mercedes parts guy likes to call it, All Money Gone club 
