MartinWake

Hello everyone I usually post on the W215 part of the forums but its not very active and this question is more toward the M113k engine then it is toward a specific car model, anyways I was wondering if head gasket leaks are "common" on the m113k engines. I have been googling and most people talk about the tuning but I have seen some post talking about or repairing a head gasket, is it something that someone owning a m113k should worry about? of course it varies by car and how it was treated but I am hopefully buying a 2003 CL55 in the upcoming days so I was just wondering if anyone here has an input on this. I had a 2002 CL500 a couple months ago and that car did require quite a bit of coolant and most likely the head gaskets but from my couple months of ownership the car had never been over heated, It did have 9! previous owners so anyone of them could have over heated the car, and I know its not the same engine but kinda similar, anyways if anyone could please give me some input on this and maybe how to test out the car for that when I go check it out. Thanks!

E55Greasemonkey

Head gaskets.....Not very common...you're biggest worry should be the ABC suspension on the CL - at 17 years old it's going to be an absolute nightmare.

Ls1toAMG

That suspension can cost more to fix than the car. Anyway back to your question. If a blown gasket is leaking into an oil passage it can go undetected for a while. Depending on the size of leak it could go weeks without ovreheating. Even then most top it off thinking it was low. It also is much harder to detect it in the oil when you drain it. It's not noticeable like you would think. You have to let it sit in the pan for days to really know. It's not common on the m113. But it happens from time to time on any engine. Good luck in your hunt for your next car.

MartinWake

Yes I am aware of the ABC suspension, I am going to take care of it for as long as I can and if it gets too annoying ill throw on some coilovers or air suspension depending on how I like this car. Okay good thing the head gaskets are not common makes me feel better about the m113k.

MartinWake

Yes the ABC suspension can cost a lot to fix but it is very good so I will try my best to have it, if anything ill throw on some coilovers, anyways thats pretty scary not being able to detect it for a couple weeks, what I was thinking of doing is if I see I am having to top of coolant often I could send the oil to a test lab and they could probably see if it has water content inside.

Ls1toAMG

I test drove 4 cars with ABC suspension and loved it. I took a sharp left in an s55 at 50mph and it had zero body roll. Definatly keep it if it's possible.

MartinWake

Yes if it works properly it is really good it makes a heavy car feel half its size! I will try to keep it.