unknown oil leak on c220

[anyweb]

hi guys, i'm new to the forums and also not a car mechanic by any means

i am capable of changing the brake discs/brake pads/handbrake cables and some other stuff but thats about the limit of my experience so far. I do want to learn so i'm hoping you guys can advise,

i took my mercedes c220 (a 1995 model with 170km on the clock) to the road worthiness test and it passed on everything with a 'warning' that must be fixed before next years test.

The warning was that i must fix the oil leak under the engine, i saw that their was apparently a lot of oil on the underside of the engine but to be honest ive never noticed any oil deposits on the ground where i park the car at home.

So, how do i go about finding the source of the leak ? and then how would i fix it,

i don't have access to a garage to jack the car up (unless i pay money per half hour to do so) so what should i be looking for to locate the leak ? and is it really leaking or could someone (the previous owner) have spilled oil ? or is this a common problem on mercedes c220

thanks in advance for any replies

cheers

anyweb
http://anyweb.kicks-ass.net/personal/me/mycar/

 

[paulcallender]

Firstly, MoT tests only issue "fail" or "advisory" information (or obviously, the item passes), so what was the nature of the warning? I assume they simply noticed a suspected oil leak and advised you of this, even though it doesn't come under the scope of the MoT. Or are you in a different country than the UK?

The standard way to find an oil leak is to observe the dripping oil, as the engine is running. To achieve this, you'd have to thoroughly clean (perhaps steam clean) the entire underside and other engine areas, then run the car a little (or maybe for a week or so, depending on how severe the leak is), then look at it while its running. Obviously, if there is an under-engine tray, this will have to come off for both the cleaning and the observing. You're really going to struggle without being able to adequately raise the front of the car.

 

[Myros]

could be

either a drain plug or sump leak, or dribbling down from the cylinder head or from the crankshaft pulley seal, or even from the filter housing. You will need to get the car up sufficiently to get underneath and inspect.
You can tighten the oil drain plug , and the sump retaining bolts if you can get underneath.

 

[anyweb]

well they said that if i dont find and fix the leak then the next years test will fail. So i do have to fix it sometime before june 2006. I can rent a space to jack the car up but i dont know if they have steam cleaners there... i'll have to check it out,

is there anything else i can do, i have those car stands to hold the car up when i've jacked it up, but that doesnt give much room under the car to investigate. I used those stands when i replaced the handbrake cable on my old merc 190d and there was very little room to move around.

thanks for the reply and i look forward to more advice in solving this problem

cheers

anyweb

 

[paulcallender]

is there anything else i can do

How about ramps?

 

[anyweb]

do you mean buying them ? if so what brand/type would you recommend and any links so i can see what they are like ?

cheers

anyweb

 

[paulcallender]

I don't actually own a pair of ramps, I've always tended to use axle stands and a big trolley jack. Everyone's going to say I'm doing it wrong, but these days I don't use the axle stands that often (for the reason you've identified, they get in the way while crawling underneath the car from the side). I just use the trolley jack. But I make sure I don't have my legs or arms under the tyres, and I make a check to see what would get squished if the car did drop.

I was just suggesting, if you need to access the sides, then ramps (perhaps reversed) under the tyres would leave the sides free. If you're spotting an oil leak, you'd be accessing from the front, though, so axle stands wouldn't be an issue??? In fact you'd want them there, so you can remove the trolley jack and leave the car raised?

 

[c13tay]

Ive got an oil leak on my c180 - took it to my local independant on saturday to try to find it.

They think it is coming from the timing chain cover and suggest replacing the gasket (£130 quoted)

They didnt charge me for the time it took to find it.