E55: Oil Starvation From Bad Oil Pump O-Ring?
Not sure if you're allowed to link content from other MB sites so I won't even try, but if anyone googles "Adding oil pressure gauge CLK500", they'll find someone who tapped this very port for an oil pressure gauge. It's a W209, but the part number and function of the port are the same as our cars. Hardest part of the install seems to be figuring out where to mount the gauge, assuming you want more info than just an idiot light that gets triggered at some catastrophically low pressure.




I took the engine apart and found a lot of evidence of this not being the first disassembly, so clearly there was an incident before. At this point I still don't know where the ball came from and I hope to find out when I disassemble the supercharger witch won't happen before September. I took a look at the o-ring of the oil pump and it was in reasonable condition. However the rod bearings were a disaster. I found 6 spun bearings on 3 journals. This engine was about to grenade. The crank is reusable, but will need some work.
The car is from 11/2003 and has 130000 miles. It has been stock for 128000 miles and is running a 76mm pulley with a heat exchanger. When looking at the interieur and the state of the bores there is nothing that indicates it has more miles.
I included some pictures of the damage, spun bearings, engine storage and the car in it's previous condition.
You can clearly see the spun bearing.
E55 storage

More storage
Broken piston




This can happen to any engine. As the M113 ages gracefully. It is still most reliable and healthy engine I have worked on as a daily driver. Racing engines are in a class of their own..
Most US engines from pre EPA restrictions used a press fit sump tube into the pump with a vibra-tite sealant. the pipe also bolted to the crank main cap. Ford notably used a bolt on sump to the pump and micro thin gasket.
I will remember this post for the next M113 opened for mods.
Cheers, Gator
Last edited by GatorMB; Jul 9, 2018 at 12:08 PM. Reason: added content
The Best of Mercedes & AMG




Wow what a run on. haha.
Gulp cheers
On top o f that seems desperate to make it on youtube.
A stock e55 will not blow an engine due to this unless the owner completely dismissed maintenance for a long time.
Despite the evidence there are nowhere near high enough numbers to support this being a real problem. Even M156 headbolts being a well recognised issue are still pretty rare. It might be that all of our cars have slightly spun bearings and it just isn't causing a problem during the life of the engine unless you have a twin charged, pushed to the limits, track destroyer. As mentioned, anyone who is worried should install a pressure gauge. I will probably do it in the next couple of years. In the mean time I will pretend that very low mileage and not using the car much will save me.




Neoprene failure is evident
Just for a heads up folks. The gaskets used in manufacture of lubrication system are prone to fail no matter.
I recently resealed a newly acquired CLK55 NA M113. These seals are from the oil cooler housing which is shared with M112, M113, M113K. They loose elasticity like valve cover gaskets, A heat n cool process that never ends
The oil pickup tube might have been crystallized with heat but should not have broken in its orifice.
I like the video for presence of common failures among these engines in general.(well Narrated)
Best, Gator
This an over heat problem.I have seen a lot of O-ring failures like this in engines and hydraulic systems. This hardened O-ring was definitely cause by massively over heated oil condition, and it happened over time. He has been racing it, but that in itself should not have cause the problem.My educated guess from 50 years of building high performance engines and repairing everything from lawn mowers to battle tanksis that this is a problem with his oil cooling system.Your engine oil temperature should remain at approximately the same temperature as your coolant temperature (the water in you radiator).The more horsepower you force an engine to produce, the more critical oil temp control becomes. Horsepower is created by heat, the more heat the more power, the more power the more heat. That is why Mercedes and other performance car makers add an auxiliary oil cooling system to their performance cars..Most heavy diesel engines have a water cooled system as do some cars. Most hydraulic systems operate at higher temps and are almost invariably air cooled, they also use a different oil to handle the higher temps. Mercedes has an external oil cooling system like the one pictured, not all models may be exactly like this one, but this is an example from an '05 E55.Notice the small square radiator? This is usually located on one side of the car just behind one of the screened air scoops in the bumper.Most but maybe not all, (I haven't seen them all) also has an electric fan behind that little radiator.In some I have worked on, the motor is stuck and will not turn. They are in a major hostile environment, down at the bottom of the car just in front of the tire, sucking in water and dirt and every nasty thing you drive the car through. Nobody pays attention to them and 99% of people don't even know they are there because you don't see them.. If you have one of these cars check them once in a while to see if they still spin free and the fan motor is working. If you are using the car as a driver and only street race it occasionally, the fan not working won't be much of a problem. If you are racing it, especially for long periods where the oil does not have a chance to cool down by itself, that cooling system not working will destroy your engine. This engine failed from overheating the oil which caused the o-ring to harden and crack, but I doubt that caused the problem it is just s symptom of the oil heat. Most likely cause was a combination of the deterioration of the oil from over heat (it had the lubricating properties of heated water) causing the metal to swell, the rod bearing with the least clearance contacted the crank first and is the one that seized first bringing the whole engine to screeching halt.
My 221 S-65 has this option. First thing I reach for starting it is three clicks to the right to get it to display oil temp and voltage.
I don't hammer on it until oil temp is above 80C.
Now if only I could get it to show boost and oil temp. Hmmmm







