Warning! Coolant reservoir leaked, car overheated, and part not available!

[jbach36]

Part NO LONGER AVAILABLE!!!

Whoooooaaaa! If you have a W124 300d, you might want to read this the whole way through......

(And if you know how to remove the expansion tank, let me know. I can't figure out how to get it out!)

Do note that someone else recently posted that they couldn't find an expansion tank, either. The 300e tanks are available but they DO NOT FIT INTO A 300d. After 3 hours of searching, I found someone who "had them" and "ordered one" on Friday, only to find out it was a mistake and the part is no longer available.

I was out driving around for about 30 minutes close to my home and was returning, when all of the sudden I had steam coming out from under my hood! Fortunately, I was about 60 seconds from being able to pull into a McDonald's parking spot and I shut the car down immediately.

I opened the hood, and there was steam coming from underneath the expansion tank. I grabbed a few egg, bacon, and cheese biscuits from McDonald's while I let the car cool down, then added about 1/2 gallon of water into the expansion tank and drove it back home.

When I got home, there was a LOT of water dripping from underneath the plastic coolant expansion tank. I didn't know yet if it was a hose or the tank, but I watched a video on YouTube by Kent Bergsma, and he said the tanks are now old on these cars, they yellow, and they can start leaking. He also suggests replacing the hoses and coolant level sensor.

So I started looking around for a replacement tank, only to find that THEY'RE NO LONGER AVAILABLE for the diesels!! You can get them for the 300e for $18, but not for the 300d. Can't find 'em anywhere! I even called the MB dealership, they don't have any, but said they can get them.... from Germany (figure 2 to 3 weeks wait without a car) and for $130 for a plastic tank.

1991 300d, 211k