Mercedes 190E 2.6 coolant loss

[Dermo123]

Hello folks

Just purchased a 1988 Merc 190E 2.6 with 79K miles. However I am having difficulty finding the reason why the coolant is disappearing at a rate of about a litre every 100miles. There seems to be no leaks from radiator, hoses, heater matrix, inside the car is dry. There is no water mixed in the oil or oil in the coolant and the cooling system does not seem to be pressurised. The temp indicator stays around the 80 degree mark and only rises slightly in traffic. The expansion tank filler cap was replaced to no avail. The car probably has not been used much given the milage etc. The engine is the straight six M103 for those in the know. Any ideas?

 

[daveenty]

1 litre per hundred miles seems a lot.

Have you tried parking it somewhere dry or on a board & letting it tick over for a while? (ideally when hot)

Should show a drip somewhere (possibly even a core plug?)

 

[Ultymate]

Have you had the system pressure tested? It's the only surefire way of testing for leaks, I must say it sounds like a head gasket issue, but get it pressure tested hot and cold and with the motor running as well

 

[television]

Have you had the system pressure tested? It's the only surefire way of testing for leaks, I must say it sounds like a head gasket issue, but get it pressure tested hot and cold and with the motor running as well

As the above,must be a slight leak in head. I understand that the sealer that you can buy does work well.

Malcolm

 

[ben12345]

I used 'Car-Go Seal up'. I was losing water with no cross contamination before I did my head gaskets, and I thought i'd try some easy fixes first.
It worked for a good few months, but as soon as I started to explore the potential of my engine again, it started to use water once more.

Alot of the metallic or glass sealers do require you to drain all of the coolant and do a couple of flushes with plain water before you use the product, otherwise clogging will occur. You then add the product, run at operating temp for 20 minutes or so, then drain the water and let it sit overnight. Afterwhich, coolant can be added again.

 

[Dermo123]

This coolant loss has not turned out so great. I got a good mechanic to check it out and he has told me that the leak is from the head gasket down the side of the engine and not into a cylinder, which now explains the symthoms.
So its a head off job which is expensive. Anyone ever try this themselves and would a Haynes manual be the best thing to use in these circumstances? I do all servicing myself on any car before but never something like this but if it took me a couple of weeks going at it in my spare time it might not be so bad. Or should I just pay a mechanic?

 

[television]

Many people do this themselve ,it depends on your tools and ability to do this work. There are many threads here on how to do it,j ust do a search on 124 heads.

Malcolm