Chirag
Member
Hi All,
I have a question about my beloved CLK 270 cdi (2005).
Mileage 227k careful miles. I purchased the car in 2005 with 160K on the clock
As with a lot of people I've been getting very little usage out of the car over the last year ~ 800 miles from MOT to MOT, as I have been out of work for a year. I do tend to take it for a weekly ride of about 15 miles to keep the battery ticking over. The car has been driving fine.
A week ago, I was prepping the car for the MOT, wash, Clay, Polish, Wax. Passed fine. I then noted the next day that there was a puddle my garage floor, right underneath the driver's side tire (rear of the engine bay). I was hoping the fluid was water from my washing it the previous day, however, on closer inspection it was motor fluid of some sort. It doesn't seem like oil. Given that the garage floor would have all sorts of fluid on it over the years I can't be sure what it is...it did wash off my fingers very easily and without any soap.
I then moved the car out of the garage and about an hour later popped the bonnet and saw that the culprit would logically be the coolant tank. I had hoped it would have been windscreen wash, knowing full well that it's on the other side of the engine!
On opening the cap...lots of pressure released and bubbling and overflow of a tan coloured, frothy coffee type consistency fluid. I tightened it back up and cleaned up the mess, luckily it collects around the tank, but I could see dripping in the same area that would correspond to the spot on my garage floor.
Left it another hour and then opened up the cap and this time, no overflow and bubbling, and noted right away that the tan coloured fluid (which was green last time I saw it) was in the tank, and that my coolant cap had the rubber O ring/gasket that goes around the inside of the cap was split in two!
The car has been ok in terms of overheating etc...but I am purely going by my gauge in the car. If anything, I have noticed that once it's up to temp at 90 degrees, if I start driving in town, it will go down to 85 and then down to 80, but no lower. I had never seen this before, but I also don't pay much attention to the gauge once it is up to temp at 90 degrees - as pre Covid I drove 25 miles of motorway for my work commute. I assumed that my shorter drives may be to blame.
Sorry for the ramble...so in summary:
Any ideas please, or anyone had this themselves? I've read about and seen suggestions of anything from the stat to HG
Thanks
Chirag
I have a question about my beloved CLK 270 cdi (2005).
Mileage 227k careful miles. I purchased the car in 2005 with 160K on the clock
As with a lot of people I've been getting very little usage out of the car over the last year ~ 800 miles from MOT to MOT, as I have been out of work for a year. I do tend to take it for a weekly ride of about 15 miles to keep the battery ticking over. The car has been driving fine.
A week ago, I was prepping the car for the MOT, wash, Clay, Polish, Wax. Passed fine. I then noted the next day that there was a puddle my garage floor, right underneath the driver's side tire (rear of the engine bay). I was hoping the fluid was water from my washing it the previous day, however, on closer inspection it was motor fluid of some sort. It doesn't seem like oil. Given that the garage floor would have all sorts of fluid on it over the years I can't be sure what it is...it did wash off my fingers very easily and without any soap.
I then moved the car out of the garage and about an hour later popped the bonnet and saw that the culprit would logically be the coolant tank. I had hoped it would have been windscreen wash, knowing full well that it's on the other side of the engine!
On opening the cap...lots of pressure released and bubbling and overflow of a tan coloured, frothy coffee type consistency fluid. I tightened it back up and cleaned up the mess, luckily it collects around the tank, but I could see dripping in the same area that would correspond to the spot on my garage floor.
Left it another hour and then opened up the cap and this time, no overflow and bubbling, and noted right away that the tan coloured fluid (which was green last time I saw it) was in the tank, and that my coolant cap had the rubber O ring/gasket that goes around the inside of the cap was split in two!
The car has been ok in terms of overheating etc...but I am purely going by my gauge in the car. If anything, I have noticed that once it's up to temp at 90 degrees, if I start driving in town, it will go down to 85 and then down to 80, but no lower. I had never seen this before, but I also don't pay much attention to the gauge once it is up to temp at 90 degrees - as pre Covid I drove 25 miles of motorway for my work commute. I assumed that my shorter drives may be to blame.
Sorry for the ramble...so in summary:
- Car not used much
- Leak probably from coolant tank - Coolant flush performed 08/2015 by Merc Indie
- On opening the coolant cap, overflow of a tan coloured liquid that looks like a frothy coffee.
- Rubber around the coolant cap broken in 2 pieces (New part ordered as it costs under £10)
- Temp gauge fluctuates once 90 degrees is reached, goes down to 80 in town driving. (Thermostat replaced by Merc Indie 05/2016).
Any ideas please, or anyone had this themselves? I've read about and seen suggestions of anything from the stat to HG
Thanks
Chirag
