Endoscope camera inspection of OM642 oil cooler

[malcolm E53 AMG]

As the title suggests has anyone attempted to do this, the units are available for little money and it all depends on access there is so much plumbing sat in the vee is it possible to feed a 8mm endoscope through?

I had the 212 serviced yesterday and the garage observed a small oil leak at the back of the engine probably coming from the valley between the vee, obviously not bad enough to warrant more investigation at the moment but needless to say I’ll keep my eye on the engine oil level

I thought MB had cured the oil cooler problems with purple Viton seals but maybe not...

 

[Larkone]

They did solve the problem with the purple seals - the question is does yours have them? If it is leaking from where you say then you should be budgeting to have the seals replaced as the leak will only get worse - not better. MB changed the seals on new vehicles from 2010.

 

[Wighty]

As the title suggests has anyone attempted to do this, the units are available for little money and it all depends on access there is so much plumbing sat in the vee is it possible to feed a 8mm endoscope through?

I had the 212 serviced yesterday and the garage observed a small oil leak at the back of the engine probably coming from the valley between the vee, obviously not bad enough to warrant more investigation at the moment but needless to say I’ll keep my eye on the engine oil level

I thought MB had cured the oil cooler problems with purple Viton seals but maybe not...

Not sure if it's the same as my w211 (om642) , but the orange turbo inlet seal can drip oily sludge down into the V as well ??

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

The car is 2012 and looking at recent posts on the internet there are still problems even with the new purple seals. I’ll check the turbo seal for leaks but this tends to drip on the inlet port shut-off motor. The addition of a DPF increases heat unfortunately which adds to the problem. My opinion is that the location of the oil cooler was a neat concept by the engine design people but there is little or no air circulation and a lot of heat in that area between the vee compounded by the fact that the engine was continually uprated to achieve 265bhp, it’s interesting to note that the latest ADBLUE cars are rated slightly lower at 256bhp.

 

[inHen]

I have just done an endoscope inspection of my 68k '61 E 350 cdi after replacing the front and rear crank seals and still finding the dreaded oil spray all around the front of the engine bay. Almost immediately I could see reservoirs of oil sitting down in the castings of the V. So far I've managed to get the turbo out and the seals looked fine so the throttle body and fuel rails and manifolds are coming out tomorrow.

Soooooo much cleaning to do! Luckily I have a compressor and spray gun to apply degreaser but I'm sure there are many hours left to get it squeaky clean.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Ironically mine is the same mileage how did you know there was a leak?

 

[monkeh]

Aim for at least 6 cans of carb cleaner 3 for each side, and another 6 per manifold.
My orange seals were still holding strong at 128K.


Turbo removal was unnecessary to inspect under the manifolds. Took the swirl motor out and used a dental mirror and bright torch to see front and aft of cooler. Decided while I was in there to renew the cooler seals.
Give your cooler a good flushing. The solids that came out of mine was concerning.

 

[Wighty]

It always makes me wonder when we read the collection of horror stories on a certain model/seal , how many cars have never had the oil cooler seals fail . It would be interesting to see a percentage or at least hear an example of old w211's that have never had the cooler seals replaced .

 

[inHen]

Ironically mine is the same mileage how did you know there was a leak?

I noticed oil spots a couple of months ago on the road outside my house and soon after I spotted a streak of oil. I got it over the pit and removed the splash guards and the extent of the leak became immediately apparent. I consulted my local dealership (parts department obviously, not the chino and brogues David Dickinson esq former double glazing reps out front) and I was assured that my car had been recalled for crank seals but the work had not been done and as it was post 2010 it should have the new cooler seals.

Suffice it to say that after 2 hard days, mostly comprised of cleaning, the oil spots on the road had turned to 2 large patches over night! Much to the dismay of the parish council! Oink

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Seems like the oil cooler seals problem hasn’t been resolved by the Viton seals fitted post 2010 unfortunately. I only cover circa 4K miles a year so will keep a watchful eye on the dipstick and tell tale signs on the drive, annoying that a company like MB can’t resolve this problem it’s such basic engineering

 

[monkeh]

Seems like the oil cooler seals problem hasn’t been resolved by the Viton seals fitted post 2010 unfortunately. I only cover circa 4K miles a year so will keep a watchful eye on the dipstick and tell tale signs on the drive, annoying that a company like MB can’t resolve this problem it’s such basic engineering

You had the purple seals fitted and yet you've sprung a leak? Great... There's me thinking I've futureproofed my engine...

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

You had the purple seals fitted and yet you've sprung a leak? Great... There's me thinking I've futureproofed my engine...

I think you’ve future proofed the next 70k miles and mine may go a while longer. I haven’t seen the leak the garage mentioned it at the last service but were’nt jumping up and down about it saying it needed doing so it can’t be that bad at the moment

 

[Steve@Avantgarde]

You had the purple seals fitted and yet you've sprung a leak? Great... There's me thinking I've futureproofed my engine...

The actual coolers can leak as well. I was caught out on this once. Whenever I do them now I advise the cooler to be replaced. For £100 I don’t see the point of not doing it when you have it all apart. The seals come with the cooler as well.

 

[inHen]

So much for the post 2010 seals being the purple type.

 

[Wighty]

View attachment 40234 So much for the post 2010 seals being the purple type.

I thought it was 2012 that got the purple ones ?

 

[monkeh]

View attachment 40234 So much for the post 2010 seals being the purple type.

Wow... Sneaky.
I've noticed a few sellers on ebay still selling orange seals.
Had the car from new? Wonder if it's failed before.

 

[inHen]

I thought it was 2012 that got the purple ones ?

I’m not sure of the actual answer to that as I’ve not looked too far into it but the OM642 was upgraded from 2009 and I have read that the orange seals were not fitted after January 2010 but that was a US Mercedes forum.
I’ve read here that it was 2012 but the dealership told me that I should have purple seals and it was probably my driving style (factory Brabus D6s chipped ) and the lack of turbo cooling duct that possibly upset the very precise heat management parameters that were a big part of the upgrades to the engine. I’m sceptical about the last theory of course.

Wow... Sneaky.
I've noticed a few sellers on ebay still selling orange seals.
Had the car from new? Wonder if it's failed before.

I acquired the car last November ‘fully loaded’ () with 36k miles and a supposed full main dealer service history that turned out to be bogus. Long story short;- dealer disappeared from the face of the earth when I put it to him that the car was not ‘fully loaded’! And it turns out that to advertise as a trader on Autotrader you just have to buy a trader’s membership (ie several adverts at once for a reduced rate) and they provide no garauntee of the legitimacy of the traders’ adverts. Suffice it to say that I won’t be buying from a dealer again!

I have to admit that I didn’t get chance to have a proper inspection of the car until I came to service it and found that they had probably just reset the service schedule with the COMAND system as the oil and air filters were clogged like nothing I had seen before.

 

[Larkone]

So full service history doesn't mean they actually bothered to service it.

 

[Steve@Avantgarde]

And there is nothing in any service schedules to specifically check the cooler.

If you see an oil leak during a service, you may go on the hunt for it and let the customer know whats happened and where its coming from.