When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
am posting here since the SL55 boards are not as active….
Just had a MB Indy shop install a new MB water pump on my 04 SL55 with 81k last week and after 2 low coolant warnings (I topped them off) I found coolant is now mixing in my oil which you see the milky dirty oil in the pic with the oil cap removed.
The car was running perfectly before this, except for a noisy water pump. The oil was clean and I wasn’t leaking any coolant.
What could they have screwed up on this repair to cause the coolant to get into the oil?
They have damaged the head gasket? Or damaged one of the cooler lines?
I’m will call rhe shop Monday morning since they’re not open this weekend. Thanks for any feedback.
The timing cover orings are bad. That’s the problem with these engines, very difficult to get to. While you are in there do the pickup tube oring
@cdk4219 - thats what I am guessing this is which is unfortunate... i'm guessing when they removed the water pump bolts that was just enough to allow coolant to drip past the worn timing cover o-ring seals??
i realize those o-rings are a problem on the m113k but am just upset this presented itself after the new water pump was put on...
Is this a engine out type of job or can it be done with the engine still installed in the car?
R.K.
i've asked around on some of the forums and have heard its a pretty massive repair....30 hour job with Subframe needs out, suspension, both oil pans out, supercharger, all timing covers off. And all accessories. just bad timing here ugh
@cdk4219 - thats what I am guessing this is which is unfortunate... i'm guessing when they removed the water pump bolts that was just enough to allow coolant to drip past the worn timing cover o-ring seals??
i realize those o-rings are a problem on the m113k but am just upset this presented itself after the new water pump was put on...
Nope they are destined to fail from the inception. If you would like to be mad at someone, be mad at Mercedes for designing this front cover with such a silly design. To replace these correctly, the oil pan, and the heads need to come off.
The Mercedes engineers designed the top of the cover to be sealed with the head gasket, and decided that the oil pan would be sealed with the same RTV as the front cover. It’s a real ****ty design and much Rube Goldberg was engineered into it.
I have dealt with this quite a few times, and it isn’t an isolated problem.
There’s some pictures for you. The first is 2 orings, they are the same, but one has been compromised from either oil or possibly coolant. I would go for the oil contamination that has swollen the ring to a jelly like substance. The other one is an oring that has started its journey into the water passage of the head , that’s where they end up, at least the passenger side one. This one is starting to swell and bulge like a bad spinal disc. A little more swelling and movement means coolant dumped
this one is harder to see, but is the factory install with a bulging oring ready to leak. It’s quite the Achilles heel of these 112 and 113 engines .
Nope they are destined to fail from the inception. If you would like to be mad at someone, be mad at Mercedes for designing this front cover with such a silly design. To replace these correctly, the oil pan, and the heads need to come off.
The Mercedes engineers designed the top of the cover to be sealed with the head gasket, and decided that the oil pan would be sealed with the same RTV as the front cover. It’s a real ****ty design and much Rube Goldberg was engineered into it.
I have dealt with this quite a few times, and it isn’t an isolated problem.
There’s some pictures for you. The first is 2 orings, they are the same, but one has been compromised from either oil or possibly coolant. I would go for the oil contamination that has swollen the ring to a jelly like substance. The other one is an oring that has started its journey into the water passage of the head , that’s where they end up, at least the passenger side one. This one is starting to swell and bulge like a bad spinal disc. A little more swelling and movement means coolant dumped
this one is harder to see, but is the factory install with a bulging oring ready to leak. It’s quite the Achilles heel of these 112 and 113 engines .
@cdk4219 thank you for sharing this. Indeed am upset at the terrible design with these o-ring seals. I am curious as to what age / mileage these o-ring seal failures are happening? I saw some of Tassos videos of these issues at 150k miles but I’m at 80k and never expected this.
my car is 100% stock never tracked and is a 4th car I drive maybe 2-3 time per month for long weekend drives so perhaps I am just unlucky with this happening to mine.
I’ve enjoyed the car and will put some thought into repairing it of parting with the car as it’s a SL55 R230 which has been amazingly enjoyable to drive when it works but between all my ABC issues and now this the love for the car is at its end for me… Coolant mixed with oil
Yes, I have a couple of the r230 cars, and these are cars that require lots of fixing. They also catch fire spontaneously, so disconnect the batteries if it’s not going to be used.
Jvakos..... just pull the engine. It is much easyer to do it that way and these engines come out in no time. But....
If it was mine I would {right now} drain the water from the engine and then change the oil and filter, use cheap oil, run it for a couple minutes with no water in it and than drain oil out again BEFORE you pull the engine out. Don't worry it will not over heat in a few minutes of running from a cold start.
The reason for this procedure that is it may take you a while to get this job done and anti freeze is extremely corrosive to rings,bearings and other steel parts in the engine. The bearings are the most sensitive to this,so getting some clean oil into the engine and circulated will be a great benefit for the long run.
When engine is back in you will probably have to change the oil a few times before it is clean.
Jvakos..... just pull the engine. It is much easyer to do it that way and these engines come out in no time. But....
If it was mine I would {right now} drain the water from the engine and then change the oil and filter, use cheap oil, run it for a couple minutes with no water in it and than drain oil out again BEFORE you pull the engine out. Don't worry it will not over heat in a few minutes of running from a cold start.
The reason for this procedure that is it may take you a while to get this job done and anti freeze is extremely corrosive to rings,bearings and other steel parts in the engine. The bearings are the most sensitive to this,so getting some clean oil into the engine and circulated will be a great benefit for the long run.
When engine is back in you will probably have to change the oil a few times before it is clean.
I today just drained the oil and refilled it with 8 quarts of Mobile and will do as you said and drain it again without any coolant in it. It’s been 1 week now and I’m nervous having that coolant mixed with oil sitting in the engine. But I’m going to drain the coolant next and fill it again with new oil maybe 1-2 time more before I have it repaired.
My (other) Indy mechanic who has always done the work on my cars but is 40 miles away suggested the same of pulling the motor as the best approach and he’ll get the o-rings and several other seals and items done while the motor is out.
The car is a SL55 actually and I thought I bulletproof it once I put the coil overs in and remove the leaking ABC but not the case. I’ll be glad to get the engine out and replace all these items at 80k miles and hopefully have years of trouble free driving.
Just change it one time and use cheap oil. The oil will need heat to really "wash" everything down so one oil change is good at this point and you wont have to keep running it with no water.
Put a list together for all the seals you want replaced for your engine which should be EVERYTHING on the outside.
Have them do the trans service as well,pan gasket and front seal as trans does not need to come out of the car to do it.
This way when you're done,everything is new when you get it back !!
Don't forget...your flat bed towing it wherever it go's !!
I today just drained the oil and refilled it with 8 quarts of Mobile and will do as you said and drain it again without any coolant in it. It’s been 1 week now and I’m nervous having that coolant mixed with oil sitting in the engine. But I’m going to drain the coolant next and fill it again with new oil maybe 1-2 time more before I have it repaired.
My (other) Indy mechanic who has always done the work on my cars but is 40 miles away suggested the same of pulling the motor as the best approach and he’ll get the o-rings and several other seals and items done while the motor is out.
The car is a SL55 actually and I thought I bulletproof it once I put the coil overs in and remove the leaking ABC but not the case. I’ll be glad to get the engine out and replace all these items at 80k miles and hopefully have years of trouble free driving.
Super appreciate your input
Front and rear main seal, front cover orings, oil cooler seals, oil pump pickup oring , and valve stem seals, along with the oil pump check valve is what should be replaced. To do this correctly requires heads off and new head bolts and cam retainer bolts. At that point, I would consider replacing the chain guides at 20 years old if not the timing chain and guides. If this engine uses oil I would do a bore scope inspection before doing any of the above, as I have run into a few with bore issues.
04-28-2024, 09:56 PM
