I put some UV dye into my 240D and took it to my trusted mechanic to see where oil was leaking from. It turns out oil is leaking from the head gasket. Should I go ahead and replace it? I do notice that my coolant is a little low every now and then - no visible leaks. I've never seen coolant in the oil or vice versa. I know there are further tests to determine whether your head gasket is bad BUT, based on the fact that the UV dye indicated it's leaking, should I go ahead and replace it?

Thanks,

Scott

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Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

I want some more info here! Are you sure it is not the [U]valve cover gasket[U] that is leaking? The head gasket would possibly be bad if you really overheated the engine and on a 240D, the valve guides tend to drop a little holding the valves open slightly so the engine doesn't build compression and continue running. I bought mine with this problem and even running on 3 cylinders, the head gasket STILL wasn't leaking. Something just doesn't feel right here! How does it run otherwise?

Oil is leaking out of the head gasket. I'm just wondering if this will lead to a greater problem down the road that I can nip in the bud now.

Scott

__________________
Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

If that is definitely your problem, I would not continue driving it like that if it were mine because yes, this will not do anything but get worse! Take the head to a machine shop to check for a warped deck. while your at it, have them look it over and make any necessary repairs, valve job ....etc.

I did a cylinder head overhaul on mine when it was removed including a valve job and now it runs great! One thing I was told to do which is not always clear or in the book is to recheck the head bolt torque after 1000 miles of driving. Follow the same pattern depicted in the directions and you should be fine.

I would NOT jump in and have the head gasket done just yet. thats not a common problem with the 616 engine so I would get a second opinion from a shop that is familiar with MBs.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

The oil leaking out of the head gasket was detected by a factory trained MB tech. There is no doubt that it's leaking. The question is whether I should do something about it....

Scott

__________________
Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

Do you have any reference to any requirement for this procedure in the FSM?

If not, I'll ask you to delete the post to prevent misleading others.

I'm not aware of any requirement to recheck these bolts on the 617. Furthermore they are torqued to an angle, and, by definition, do not have a torque value for a secondary check.

A uniform application of that policy should cut the forum archives by 90 per cent.

How much is leaking and where?

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Don't delete anything yet....
I have my manual out...

Ok.. will type this up better later...

AT ONE POINT IN TIME retorqueing of the head bolts was called for .. at 1000-1500 Km...or after repairs at 100-150 km...

With the newer head bolts and the improved head gasket that requirement has been eliminated...

ONLY the later head socket bolts are tightened first to a torque unit THEN added rotation added... which can be determined by the style of the bolt head...

Earlier head bolts were only torqued to specified values.. ( no added rotation ).
which called for doing it in two steps and waiting 10 minutes until the final torque was applied...

Hexagon socket-type head bolts must be retightened after 300 - 600 miles except for U.S. models from 1977 on. (Source - Haynes manual)

Scott

__________________
Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

Now that we've gotten sidetracked a bit, what do you other guys think I should do? Don't know how much is leaking or where. I didn't follow up with that question after it was checked though I should have... It doesn't otherwise appear to be real noticeable - just wondering if I should do something before it does...

Thanks,

Scott

__________________
Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

I say drive it until it exibits enough of a leak to be a problem, or additional symptoms. IMO it is not an indicator of an impending catastrophic failure.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I guess it depends on what head bolts you have. If you have the retorqueable ones, it might be worth considering retorquing them. I think it also depends on where it is leaking and how much and how long it has been leaking. If it is only a small leak and is occurring between the oil gallery and the outside of the head, then I don't see it as a big problem if it's not contaminating your coolant. If it's been happening for 50k miles with no other problems that would also influence me to leave it alone. On the other hand, if it's also leaking into a cylinder, then I think a repair might be necessary. I don't know if a borescope examination of a cylinder would tell if if oil is entering it or not.

What made you do the dye test to begin with? Were oil leaks not visible without the test? Were you losing enough oil that the test was imperative?

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13