Weird Oil... 190e 2.0

[JamieD]

I've just started stripping my 190e (engine), am replacing the head gasket and whatever else I find to be knackered on the way... have removed the top valve cover, to find that the underneath (and some bits around the cams) is coated with hard black oil like goo... i changed the oil myself about 500 miles ago, and when drained it was lovely and amber...

the car also has a major power loss - could this black gunk be blocking air from escaping through the breather hoses?

any advice would be appreciated as I'm stumped, never seen oil this thick before! its like tar!

 

[Blobcat]

Likely to be from old oil. If you changed the oil only 500 miles ago, what has happened which has made you pull the enginer apart?
Do you know the engines history and how often the oil has been changed?

 

[JamieD]

I bought the car and MOT'd it last November after it had been parked up for 2 years following a front end accident (wing / bumper / rad / slam panel - no engine parts replaced)

It had a slow engine problem (compression good but very very slow below 4500 rpm) - changed all the filters and oil at that point as i had no history for the car (only shows 67,000 miles - have a few old MOTs that seem to back that up).

It still runs slow and now its started leaving oily deposits in the water (I think it was doing that when I got it)... head gasket has gone i think. its loosing a small amount of oil from the outside also.

i've worked on older cars before and seem some gloopy deposits, but this is caked on there like nothing I've seen before - is this a common 190e thing?

 

[tom7035]

Might the engine have been 'roasted' just prior to being laid up? You do say there's a head gasket fault present.

 

[JamieD]

it had oil escaping in to the water, but the car was not overheating or anything... it was left standing for a coupe of years - being moved once every 2 months or so... I was going to steam clean the cover and the cylinder head when I have them removed - anyone know of a good was to clean out cylinder heads when removed?