Bad case of the Benz.

[Pip]

I mentioned the other day in TOSAT that I found a Mercedes Benz in my driveway... well... here it is.

1992 Mercedes Benz 190E 2.6




M103 2.6L Straight Six...


Hard wearing and easy to clean MB-Tex interior with Zebrano wood accents.




DTM inspired Bosch Monowiper. Makes an "M" pattern as it sweeps the windshield.
Coolest. Part. EVER. Stock, too.

All of this for $1,300.

Only problem right now is this...

That is what came out of the coolant passages.

[badgalbetty]

if that is oil...... it usually means you have a blown head gasket. Should not be too difficult to fix then flush out your cooling system.

[Pip]

if that is oil...... it usually means you have a blown head gasket. Should not be too difficult to fix then flush out your cooling system.

M103's are known for eating head gaskets... weird thing is this stuff smells like old differential fluid.

I'm gonna flush it with some PEAK super flush/cleaner tomorrow, and then try some Mercedes Benz recommended Sodium Citrate if that doesn't work. I put in some Royal Purple Super Cooler or whatever before I knew how awful that stuff is.  One of the guys on the benzworld forums did the same thing, and had the same gunk show up in his coolant. I'm just trying to catch it before it eats my radiator/gunks up my passages. It's got a new radcap, and the new lower temp thermostat will be in tomorrow after the flushings. Hopefully that'll stop this crazy overheating.

[r_ciao]

i had that model years ago.  great little car.  really good at running straight on the freeway at 90+ mph for hours.  if that is the only major issue, you got a good deal. 

[Howie]

Unless the gunk appeared after the Super Cooler was put in chances are good badgalbetty is right.  She still might be correct if you did this to try and correct for overheating.  Look for signs of coolant in the engine oil too.  If the oil looks like a chocolate milk shake you know the oil and water are mixing somehow.  The overheating may be due to the contaminated oil, but it could be from exhaust getting into the coolant.  An exhaust analyzer over the radiator cap will pick that up.  Hydrocarbons coming out of the radiator is bad.  While the head is off inspect around the valves for cracks.  Forget the lower temperature thermostat.  Thermostats only control minimum temperature.  A lower temp thermostat will only buy you a little more time before overheating if you don't fix the root cause.

From the photos that car looks well worth the work.  Good luck!

[Porsche Monkey]

Dood that's definitely oil in the water. You absolutely need to check the oil to see if it has water in it. If there is water mixed in with the oil and you keep driving it you can toast bearings in short order.

[Stella]

Looks like a nice ride Pimp!   

[sugarcrook]

Oil is a problem, but isn't the wrench a bigger issue?

[ducpainter]

Nice ride

Oil is a problem, but isn't the wrench a bigger issue?

[Pip]

Oil is a problem, but isn't the wrench a bigger issue?

Well played, sir.

Thanks for the suggestions and nice comments, y'all.
I've got a Mercedes part number for a factory coolant system cleaner that utilizes a weak sodium citrate powder to eat the gunk without eating the radiator. I've flushed a majority of the gunk out, and will be using the MB recommended powder too see if it is in fact just the "Purple Ice" as I suspect. No coolant in the oil, (which is a beautiful transparent caramel color, thank God.) no white smoke from the exhaust, and no strange oil/coolant seepage anywhere. I'll be doing a compression test as soon as I can lay hands on some gauges.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

(P.S. I think this thing needs a supercharger... nothing fancy, just a little more pressure.  )

[Le Pirate]

very pretty car. I've always loved those.





nice shape too...

[spolic]

Oil in the water? huh

I though that it was Guiness.