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W210 Oil Leaks
98 E320 4Matic Wagon 100K miles...
I (and my indy mechanic) have been chasing oil leaks. There is an engine oil leak from the left (driver's side) front of the engine. Oil runs down and drips off the left front corner of the oil pan when the car is at rest. And the trans pan is leaking. So far we seem to be throwing parts at it. Replaced so far: ------------------------------- O-rings behind the oil filter housing where it attaches to the timing chain cover near the oil pressure sending unit. Oil filter cap. Transmission pan gasket. -------------------------------- I am stumped about the engine oil leak and am tired of throwing part$ at it. My question: is this a common leak "area" and what part commonly leaks from this corner of the engine? My indy mechanic says about the continued trans pan leak: the pan itself could be warped and we might need to replace the entire pan. I'm no MB expert but a warped pan seems a little far fetched to me. The mech says he's seen it before but I'm beginning to think he botched the gasket replacement... Or maybe never did it in the first place... Any suggestions from this gallery? Thanks -Mike
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1998 E320 4-Matic Wagon |
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The P/S pump could be leaking. When it does, it drips down on oil pan and a/c compressor. Front crank seal
could be leaking, oil will drip off where you stated. I would suggest putting UV dye in the oil and then testing a few hundered miles later with UV light. You should be able to get the "Tracerlite Leakfinder kit" at any auto tool vendor for around $60. The trans pan could be bashed from any number of reasons. The gasket could be pinched or cheap, The tech may have been a bonehead and screwed up, or the Trans electrical connector could be leaking and oozing down on the pan gasket area. You can diagnose trans leak with uv dye as well. Regards, Dr.D
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Dr.Diesel - Shop Foreman Master Guild Mercedes-Benz Technician. Think the dealer is expensive? Do you know how much it costs to train a dealer tech? Or buy the required MB special tools to have on hand? |
#3
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Thanks Dr. D. That makes sense about the engine oil leak.
I've been under the car and there is no damage to the trans pan. It looks like new but still is dripping (slowly) from the corners. I'm suspecting the gasket was pinched... bummer! Now I have to convince the mech that he needs to re-do the gasket replacement.
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1998 E320 4-Matic Wagon Last edited by aviaator; 11-16-2005 at 05:40 PM. |
#4
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finding leak
If you don't have access to the UV dye & light Dr D recommended then clean all the oil off that section of the engine transmission. Start it up and let it run to see if you can see the fresh leak.
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#5
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Clean the area, then spray powder in the area(spray foot powder works great).
Then drive until some OIL appears again, you should be able to see exactly where the oil is comming from!
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MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES) ASE Master Technician Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times) 44 years foreign automotive repair 27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer) MB technical information Specialist (15 years) 190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold) 1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold) Retired Moderator |
#6
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Quote:
Hi Aviaator - The trans leak on that car most often comes from the connector housing on the right front side of the trans. The plastic housing and o-rings are easily replaced, have changed several million of them, myself. ( IT feels like that many, anyway.) Also, on the engine oil leak, did the harmonic balancer ( front crankshaft pulley ) ever come apart and damage the front cover / oil pan ? If not, the other place to check is the oil pressure test cover on the front of the engine cover just to the left of the oil filter housing. It has 2 bolts that hold it on, and has a round plug in the middle of it. The seal behind that cover leaks with age / mileage. Hope this helps. |
#7
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...so that's what it called - "oil pressure test cover"! Thanks, Paul.
That's what appears to be leaking on my E320. Here's my recent thread about it. '98 E320 W210/M112 What's leaking? (pic) I haven't replaced it yet. I've been hoping to get some advice on replacing the gasket before I just try taking things apart. Do I need to drain the oil first? Do I just unscrew the torx screws, pull the cover off, replace the gasket and then screw the cover back on? Do I need to do anything with the plug?
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1998 E320 120K mi 1991 Miata 80K mi 2001 Ranger 109K mi |
#8
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Quote:
MB Doc: great idea with the spray powder -- I'm gonna try that!
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1998 E320 4-Matic Wagon Last edited by aviaator; 11-18-2005 at 08:28 AM. |
#9
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Update since going to the shop again today:
The mech agrees that the connector housing might be leaking but he says that to get to it you have to drop the pan... True/False? Also, the PS pump appears to be the culprit of what I thought was leaking engine oil. -Mike
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1998 E320 4-Matic Wagon |
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