oil film around the ignition coil packs
 

It seems there is a small leakage on the passenger side valve cover. I moved aside the air intake duct, there is a cover approx. 3-4" wide and 8" or so long secured by 2 torx screws and 2 external torx bolts. This thing sits on top of the valve cover. I believe the hot oil fume is coming through there as oil is most abundent around this area. However, upon looking at the ML part list, I couldn't find the name of this cover. Or is this an integral part of the valve cover? I can see there is rubber in between. Anyone knows what this part number would be? Thanks.
steve
p.s.: this is for a 98 ML with a Sept 97 production date.

Just take the cover off, get some benz black sealant in a tube or equivielent and reattach the cover. It's not a big deal, they do eventually have a small weepage on some of the 112/113 engines.

Thank you Alex. As I suspect the back stuff that got squeezed out is the broken sealant and that there is no gasket part number for that little cover.
Any chance you know how much torque to apply for those screws/bolts. I tried to use a beam type torque wrench to loosen it so as to see how much torque it was used to tighten the screws. It seems to be very low, I can't even get a reliable reading out of it. It seems to be around 15-20 Nm. Does this number make sense?

steve

torque specs.
coils-8 nm
cylinder head cover-10 nm

For those oil collectors (the part being discussed here) I'd use 20nm and reseal with Loctite 5900 (the MB approved stuff).

Gilly

Thank you all. It seems I got all the info and ingradient I need to tackle this resealling project. The local MB dealer sells this stuff cheaper than fastlane's price, the parts guy was extremely helpful. Thanks again to solve my puzzle.

steve

Well, everything went well for the resealling of the oil collector cover. The painstaking part was the removal of the old rubber seal. As I was crossing the finish line, torquing all the screws/bolts to 15 Nm, the unexpected happened. One of the torx screw sheared off, left 2/3 of the shaft inside the socket., @$#@$#@*#%#*%#. I allowed the sealant to cure overnight and drove the vehicle for 30 miles or so today. No leak, that was a relieve. Now, what should I do with the broken screw? Should I drill it out? or just leave it alone? I bought a set of the drill out/bolt out bits from Sears, and pondering whether I should do it. What to do what to do?

I'd just leave it. Recheck it for leaks every week for a few weeks until you're sure it's not leaking. I doubt it will leak, that sealant is pretty good and that cover isn't under much stress.

If it does leak then you'll need to do something about it, but I don't think it will. :D

Well, I got a set of easy-out from sears and drilled out the broken screw bit. Even though I didn't have enough clearance to set the drill straight onto the screw, it started backing out as soon as the easyout had some bite into the broken screw. I took a closer look at the broken piece after it was out and guess what, the screw is made of aluminum. This explains why it couldn't even handle 20Nm of torque. I purchased a set of replacement from MB and the replacements are steel. It kind of puzzles me why MB chose aluminum screws.

I think it should only be 8Nm.

If you're worried about replacing a few bolts then imagine repair cost on the new 7 speed auto.......It has coated aluminium bolts to preventt corrosion in the magnesium housing.....They MUST be replaced every time they are removed. Yes, that includes the oil pan bolts too :eek:

It doesn't make for a cheap repair job! :mad:

I have exactly the same problem happening now on the driver’s side. There are 2 extra rubber pipe connected to the cover, anything I should watch for when disconnecting them?

Another question is where the EGR valves? I also have a rough idle problem and I am thinking a clogged EGR valve. And because the clogged EGR valve, there are too much pressure under the valve cover, hence the oil leak. Does it sound right?

Just disconnect the rubber hoses. I believe they are vacuum hoses and give them a few twists they will slide off. I haven't done one for the EGR valves but you do a search on EGR and can find a lot of info on that topic. Those little torx screws are very fragile, don't over tighten them.

Thanks for the information. Just bought the MB sealant, costs me $20. Will fix it when a new CEL is addressed :(