I can atest to the fact that this is a common failure. I don't agree that the coolant is the culprit, although I have no good theory of my own. I have seen the necks break off with the metal sleeve inside the neck. i also don't believe it really has anything to do with the clamp width or torque. If I were to guess, I would say it is heat and age related. Another common failure of this type on the 102 and 103 engines is the plastic thermostat housing covers will break off like this. In this case, however, MB has only metal thermostat housing covers available. Guess it shows how long a guy has been working on MB, if you can remember when the plastic ones were still sold as spare parts, you must have been around "for a little while", anyways.....Gilly
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