Mack,

Uh-oh - that's not good. Is the car still parked? Are you going to swap heads on it? BTW, it's very wise to stop driving the car when it begins to "burn" coolant. I have heard of more than one incident where the owner kept driving it, and when the head was finally removed, the block surface was steam damaged (pitted, corroded) from the leak, and required a new short block!! (Usually a used engine is installed, but you get the idea - the block was toast.) While this is not terribly common, it's something to keep in mind - when coolant is vanishing with NO signs of external leakage on a 603, it's time to park the car and yank the head.

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Dave, thanks for the input. The first time it used a bit of coolant, (I would guess about two quarts) I pulled the R/H inner fender liner and checked the coolant resevoir, just so I knew that I had a full system. A week or so later I found it low on coolant again, not sure what it took that time, about the same or more, but as this confrimed it was fubar, I then parked it straight away. So hopefully no damage was done.

I am looking for a used head at present, but I am not having much luck, so far every time I find one, it turns out it the yard has not updated their computers for some time, or they just sold it. I still hope to swap out the head, but to tell you the truth, if I could I would just dump the car as is......... I love the way these cars drive, but after looking at a higher cost in unscheduled maintenace in my first year of Mercedes Benz ownership, then in my previous 12 years of Toyota ownership, I will find a way to deal with a ubiquitious tupperware ownership, and just save the enthusiast focus for my motorcycles. The car has excellant service records from the previous owner, so it's well worth doing the head, vacum pump, and climate control pods, but my heart just isn't in it anymore.

If I could tow my motorcycles behind my 84 190D, I would keep it, but I need something that can tow. I may see what I think of the 95 E300D's, but this is material for a another thread.


Happy Holidays, Mack