W124 Coolant leak

[RiceBurner]

Pretty sure I've got a coolant leak on my 1995 230TE.

Have filled the resevoir up once a week and the car doesn't do that much milage.

Water temps have been remaining static at around 80 during all driving.

Does anyone know of, or have access to a "coolant flow diagram" so that I can trace where the coolant goes in the engine, and associated external bits (rad/pump etc) and attempt to find the leak?

I've a funny feeling it's dripping onto the fanbelt - there's some "spray" on components that would be in the right place to be flung off the belt. Also - one or two of the coolant pipes were recently replaced (by the previous owner, personally, no proper records) - so this could be the cause.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated!

 

[Bolide]

Water pumps and radiators are the usual suspects on W124s. I'd suspect the pump

Nick Froome

 

[Gazzaj]

Mine was leaking through the front, and spraying on the aux belts from the pump as it had seen its day. Also I know that some, not all but some thermostat housings are plastic, and can crack, check that too at temperature, as mine leaked from there too.

 

[television]

It will be the water pump, put your finger under it (engine off) and I bet its wet

 

[RiceBurner]

Hmm - didn't have a chance to do anything about this and now (after a 500 mile run) I've got a little more than a weep....

it's now a constant "drip drip drip" and it's draining the whole system.

I've done some looking (without removing anything) and it looks to me like it's coming from the pump - IF Haynes is right and the pump on the 4-cyl 2.3 is the unit on the same shaft as the radiator fan and driven by the main belt?

Given that the pump is metal bodied (as far as I can tell), I assume that what's actually gone is the gasket??
ie - When someone says "the pumps gone", is the gasket the main suspect?? Or will the pump itself have broken??

What sort of repair costs am I looking at?? Car is going into AroundTheBenz at Ford tomorrow for a compression check and quote.

Given that the belt/radiator/alternator/and bits all needs to come out - am I looking at 5-8hours (a guess) labour charges "just" for a gasket* ??

I currently don't have time to do the job myself (if I could?) and I need the car next week for a trip to Holland!



*assuming it IS the gasket - in my experience they do occasionally go and are usually a simple, if time-consuming fix - my experience is with motorcycle engines btw - not cars.

 

[Number_Cruncher]

It will be the pump itself, not the gasket - although, of course, you will need to fit a new gasket with the new pump.

 

[RiceBurner]

It will be the pump itself, not the gasket - although, of course, you will need to fit a new gasket with the new pump.

ouch - I take it these aren't cheap.


How do they fail?? is it an internal seal (if it's internal, how does the water get outside the pump?) or something?

 

[television]

As number cruncher,, should be no more that 1½ hours for a new pump, you do not need any other test

 

[RiceBurner]

As number cruncher,, should be no more that 1½ hours for a new pump, you do not need any other test

Will the garage spot this on first inspection then, without doing the test? I won't be there in person to show the mechanic what I've observed.

Any ideas on what a pump would cost?

 

[television]

Will the garage spot this on first inspection then, without doing the test? I won't be there in person to show the mechanic what I've observed.

Any ideas on what a pump would cost?

From GSF or euro about £87 I think, it is a very common fault and it happened to me when the car was 2 years old, if the water is coming out under the pump that is all that needs doing

 

[RiceBurner]

From GSF or euro about £87 I think, it is a very common fault and it happened to me when the car was 2 years old, if the water is coming out under the pump that is all that needs doing

I know that AroundTheBenz only use OE parts (and I'd be happy to have a genuine Mercedes part used tbh), so even if it's twice the price that's good news to me.

I was worrying about a £500+ bill.... (which would be more than the cost of the ferry tickets to Holland and back!!)