Orlando 300E
Senior Member
Hello,
I need advice with my 91? 300E, 124 chassis fitted with an M103 engine.
The car has covered 250k miles, 230K with its only
former owner, with the last 20k over the past 12 months. Unfortunately when I purchased the car it had not been used regularly or maintained very well for 2 years (but I got it for a great price ).
I found after a month of driving that the entire coolant system was ?goosed?, the biggest problem was when the top hose popped of the cracked plastic
thermostat housing, drenching my entire engine bay in sticky coolant and baking the engine, all in less than two minutes.
After that excitement I proceeded to replace the entire coolant system ?including the thermostat housing, I was pleased to see they now come from MB in metal .
After much blood letting, swearing and even genuine Mercedes coolant all was well on my automotive world......or so I thought.
Two months latter during the summer, with the heat (even here in Scotland), road repairs and the inevitable traffic cues I found that my coolant was dropping. Not at an alarming rate (1 litre in 400 miles). There were no obvious signs of a leak or any drop in the usual good performance. Even the fuel consumption was unchanged. Not even engine roughness as a clue to a blown head gasket.
It wasn?t till two months passed, when the car was up on a ramp in a garage did I find the leak. It was coming from the head gasket joint hidden behind the exhaust manifold, adjacent to No.5 cylinder. My blood ran cold at the thought of more expense- forgot to mention the garage was a auto box specialist, but that?s another story!
Monitoring the leak has shown that the coolant only escapes in traffic, when the dash temp. gauge starts to rise. Otherwise there had been is no loss performance, increase in fuel guzzling or change in smoothness.
That is until now after 6 months of nursing, I have started to notice a drop in performance and fuel consumption has increased. The former could be just paranoia and the later because I have not had any good long runs only been stuck in the city.
What out of the following should I do?
1. Bearing in mind the mileage the engine has done, should I go for a new head gasket with inevitable head rebuild + find out that the bottom end is not in good shape either and also spend quite a while without my beloved Merc.
2. Find a new (to me) used engine, that won?t take so long being separated from her outdoors. If this is the best option, could any of you suggest a good second hand engine supplier, possibly with guarantee? Please don?t suggest ?The Garage? :twisted: or ?Dronsfields? :evil: already had bad dealings with both.
3. Any other suggestions?
Over to you guys, Please help!
I need advice with my 91? 300E, 124 chassis fitted with an M103 engine.
The car has covered 250k miles, 230K with its only
former owner, with the last 20k over the past 12 months. Unfortunately when I purchased the car it had not been used regularly or maintained very well for 2 years (but I got it for a great price ).I found after a month of driving that the entire coolant system was ?goosed?, the biggest problem was when the top hose popped of the cracked plastic
thermostat housing, drenching my entire engine bay in sticky coolant and baking the engine, all in less than two minutes.After that excitement I proceeded to replace the entire coolant system ?including the thermostat housing, I was pleased to see they now come from MB in metal
.After much blood letting, swearing and even genuine Mercedes coolant all was well on my automotive world......or so I thought.
Two months latter during the summer, with the heat (even here in Scotland), road repairs and the inevitable traffic cues I found that my coolant was dropping. Not at an alarming rate (1 litre in 400 miles). There were no obvious signs of a leak or any drop in the usual good performance. Even the fuel consumption was unchanged. Not even engine roughness as a clue to a blown head gasket.
It wasn?t till two months passed, when the car was up on a ramp in a garage did I find the leak. It was coming from the head gasket joint hidden behind the exhaust manifold, adjacent to No.5 cylinder. My blood ran cold at the thought of more expense- forgot to mention the garage was a auto box specialist, but that?s another story!
Monitoring the leak has shown that the coolant only escapes in traffic, when the dash temp. gauge starts to rise. Otherwise there had been is no loss performance, increase in fuel guzzling or change in smoothness.
That is until now after 6 months of nursing, I have started to notice a drop in performance and fuel consumption has increased. The former could be just paranoia and the later because I have not had any good long runs only been stuck in the city.
What out of the following should I do?
1. Bearing in mind the mileage the engine has done, should I go for a new head gasket with inevitable head rebuild + find out that the bottom end is not in good shape either and also spend quite a while without my beloved Merc.
2. Find a new (to me) used engine, that won?t take so long being separated from her outdoors. If this is the best option, could any of you suggest a good second hand engine supplier, possibly with guarantee? Please don?t suggest ?The Garage? :twisted: or ?Dronsfields? :evil: already had bad dealings with both.
3. Any other suggestions?
Over to you guys, Please help!
