190 coolant

[john493]

Hi,
I'm looking at buying a 190E, 2 litre 1992. The car has only done 78,000 miles and drives & runs well.

Looking in the coolant header tank, it looks very slightly oily. There's no sign of water in the oil or any other head gasket problems.
(I seem to remember on a 200E I had a few years back, the coolant looked a bit oily but I never needed to change the head gasket & it ran perfectly)

Is this likely to be an imminent problem on the 190 or is it likely to run for years like it ?

Many thanks,
John

 

[tom7035]

Hi,
I'm looking at buying a 190E, 2 litre 1992. The car has only done 78,000 miles and drives & runs well.

Looking in the coolant header tank, it looks very slightly oily. There's no sign of water in the oil or any other head gasket problems.
(I seem to remember on a 200E I had a few years back, the coolant looked a bit oily but I never needed to change the head gasket & it ran perfectly)

Is this likely to be an imminent problem on the 190 or is it likely to run for years like it ?

Many thanks,
John

This would require further investigation. The oil in the coolant has to come from somewhere and this is either from the engine via the head gasket or from the gearbox via a leak in the oil cooler (assuming of course it is an automatic) which is integral with the radiator. I'd be very careful.