The oil cooler of doom (1992 W124 300TE 24).

Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Location
Wiltshire
Your Mercedes
Various!
Hi folks! It's me again.

There's an oil cooler living (or rather dying!) in front of the near side front wheel of my old 300TE 24, tucked in behind the front bumper.

It's leaking quite badly.

Has anyone got any tips or advice on how to replace this item?

Are there any gotchas..? :???:

I can't find any reference to it in my Haynes manual.

Thanks for your time.
 

Pontoneer

Banned
Joined
Aug 19, 2002
Messages
685
Reaction score
0
It 'should' just be a matter of undoing the unions connecting the flexible pipes to the cooler then swapping it out . Probably wise to drain the sump first and perform an oil change at the same time , just to avoid undue spillages .

I know the unit you mean - I removed it complete with the engine from my 300TE-24 when the car was written off - as far as I remember , my 12V 300TE never had it , so I suspect it might only be the M104 engined models that had it - hence Haynes not mentioning it ( although they do show 24V engines in their manual ) .

Has yours had a stone through it or similar ? Hard to imagine why else it would leak .
 

kth286

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2002
Messages
3,067
Reaction score
3
Your Mercedes
E320 Coupe 95
the 320 24v 104 does not have it either.

it has a water cooled oil filter assembly instead.
 
OP
T
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Location
Wiltshire
Your Mercedes
Various!
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #4
Thanks for your replies chaps.

Well, I've drained the oil and 'oiked the cooler out into the cold light of day and its definatley very poorly. There's oil coming out of somewhere in the middle of the matrix and it's all over the place.

There's an alarmingly large percentage of the matrix full of crap. It can't have been doing it's job very well in that condition. I guess that fixing all the other leaks on the system forced the escapologist 10W40 to find the path of least resistance and that turned out to be a damaged area of the cooler.

Further investigation has revealed that the front of the car has at some time had an intimate meeting with something rather hard. A high kerb perhaps, or something of that sort. There's a bent rod or bar underneath the radiator mountings and the plastic cover for the oil cooler is shattered at its fixing points. Bit of a mess really!

I shall probe deeper tomorrow, think I need a beer now. Bet that cooler won't be cheap..!

I bought this car knowing it would be a bit of a project. I had no idea just how much of a project it would turn out to be!

Oh well, you pays your money etc... :|

I'll keep you all posted as I go. Hopefully this will help someone in the future.
 

grober

Senior Member
Joined
May 15, 2002
Messages
2,947
Reaction score
27
Location
Scotland
Your Mercedes
W204 C200cdi estate
As far as I know the separate gearbox fluid cooler was found on the 4 speed auto-gearbox cars and not on the 5 speed which had the [integrated in main engine coolant radiator] setup. Chances are unless you are towing anything you would get away with a replumbed later 5 speed box main engine radiator.
 
OP
T
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Location
Wiltshire
Your Mercedes
Various!
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
Is your car silver with a black leather 7-seat interior and a 5-speed auto box?

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

I wish!

No, mines red with a 5 speed manual box and a collection of oil leaks! :rolleyes:

Off to get a quote for the oil cooler today. Here's hoping!

Cheers guys, have a good Monday.
 

kth286

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2002
Messages
3,067
Reaction score
3
Your Mercedes
E320 Coupe 95
As far as I know the separate gearbox fluid cooler was found on the 4 speed auto-gearbox cars and not on the 5 speed which had the [integrated in main engine coolant radiator] setup. Chances are unless you are towing anything you would get away with a replumbed later 5 speed box main engine radiator.

It is the engine oil cooler we are discussing here, not gearbox.
 

Bolide

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2002
Messages
3,294
Reaction score
4
Website
www.w124.co.uk
Your Mercedes
BMW 525 Diesel Touring
I've only ever seen one car with the cooler in the wheelarch. It was an ex-Arrows F1 team car so I assume it was driven at high speed on motorways / peage / autobahn

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk
 

dieselman

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2001
Messages
6,017
Reaction score
12
Your Mercedes
A diesel
I've only ever seen one car with the cooler in the wheelarch. It was an ex-Arrows F1 team car so I assume it was driven at high speed on motorways / peage / autobahn

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

I was only joking Nick, but just for interest all W210 £00TD have a cooler mounted under there.

Maybe they're for driving fast down the 'bhan as well. I'll lend it to ST4 for a trial...
 

Bolide

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2002
Messages
3,294
Reaction score
4
Website
www.w124.co.uk
Your Mercedes
BMW 525 Diesel Touring
I was only joking Nick, but just for interest all W210 £00TD have a cooler mounted under there

Interesting. A turbo engine does generate more heat so I suppose it's a good idea

Does the W210 still have the water/oil heat exchanger in the side of the sump?

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk
 
OP
T
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Location
Wiltshire
Your Mercedes
Various!
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #15
... and that was the wrong one! :confused:

The correct one was £366.00.

I'll have to sell something!
 

FIBAMAN

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
343
Reaction score
1
Location
TYNESIDE
Your Mercedes
C180,C180,E300TURBO DIESEL
I was only joking Nick, but just for interest all W210 £00TD have a cooler mounted under there.

Maybe they're for driving fast down the 'bhan as well. I'll lend it to ST4 for a trial...

Yep, it is true, and in good engineering practice the allow cooler head is connected to steel pipes which is a recipe for trouble with corrosion. Mine could not be undone at the cooler union so I had to fit new pipes as well as a new cooler.
 
OP
T
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Location
Wiltshire
Your Mercedes
Various!
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #17
Rigtho. All replaced now and seems to be working fine. No leaks. Pretty straightforward job really. Nothing that wasn't obvious, thanks for the tip about emptying the sump.

Some of the mounting screws where rusted into oblivion so I replaced those and some clips, speednut type of things.

Now onto the next job...

Cheers.
 


www.W140.co.uk&www.r129.co
Specialist in parts for W140 and R129 Mercedes-Benz models.
Top Bottom