PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

indybenz · #5 02-22-2023, 07:49 AM

Pulled head because oil in coolant. That's pretty much what 99% of research shows to be blown head gasket.

Engine is still in the car.

This is my first 'take an engine apart' rodeo so some accommodation for my situation is appreciated.

I assumed when I bought the car (February 2021) that it had coolant in it. Any water I added was minimal although I don't know how many ounces/liters.

Living in Scotland where it rarely froze much led me to think water was ok, but perhaps I'm a dumb dumb for thinking that. Fair dos.

VW Nate you're following this car on my swap thread linked in the first post up above.

What pictures would you like? I have loads but didn't want to blow up this thread.

I still don't know why there is so much oil in the coolant chambers. Could a 'blown' head gasket do this?

The rest of the car is fair. Lots of the usual rust, and needs gaskets, rust repair, bushings, etc etc, but it's what was available in Scotland at the time for what I could get away with 'on the sly'. It's not my first old W123 and I've rebuild/refreshed the front suspension and braking system so it goes straight and stops...key for bopping up and down the road.

My partner was exceedingly unhappy with the purchase but there you go. £2600 for what seemed to be a decent example...but it's quite rusty in the usual spaces and also the not-so usual spaces. It had a respray and was not done well, so there are wee rusty bits all over the paint.

A compression check showed (can't remember exactly) around 350psi on all 4 cylinders when I got it and I ran injection pump cleaner through it. It did not excessively smoke, although the oil cap dances pretty good indicating some amount of blow by.

This is a project car for me, the goal to build the only (that I know of) RHD W123 superturbodiesel with an OM605, mechanical pump w 7.7mm elements and 5 speed manual in North America. It's not to be a show car, but a project I can be proud of, warts and all, with very limited resources of time, money and energy. All the work is done between raising a family, working several part time jobs, taking care of the house, blah blah American dream blah ;-)

Anyway it sounds like I won't be able to test the block while it's in-situ and I have no desire to pull it and pay to have it tested just to put it back in, when the next engine going back in is the 605. The point of this post was to ask whether the block can be tested in situ and whether a head gasket replacement ($65) will buy me more time/miles while I'm preparing for the swap.

Thanks for reading and over the past decade I've enjoyed this forum!