Leak on top of Radiator - 1990 300 SEL
 

When I opened my hood after driving today, water was shooting out of my radiator. There seems to be a small pin hole on the black part of the radiator where the top hose connects to the radiator on the drivers side of the radiator.

Can this be fixed? Is that black part metal or some sort of plastic? Or do I have I have to buy a new one? Are they hard to replace?

Radiator Leaking
 

1984 300d Turbo 144,000
New Rebuilt Engine And Trans
Replace The Radiator, Diy 2 Hrs And Upper And Lower Water Hose

Most likely the plastic 90 degress elbow. Will post a URL that hopefully will bring up pic. Part available from this sites BuyParts.

http://catalog.worldpac.com/mercedesshop/sophio/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&clientid=catalog.mercedesshop&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&cookieid=25M0TU21925M0TU7PO&year=1990&make=MB&model=300-SEL-006&category=G&part=Radiator+Fitting

Thanks Mike.

So the elbow just snaps in and out? Easy to replace?

I am looking at the elbow now and it does not seem obvious.

By the way, in the attached picture, the pin hole is where the arrow is. Is that the 90 degree elbow?

Just quickly, I loosened up the hose and brought it over the pin hole as much as I could but it still leaks a little bit, especially when the water temp gets above 100F with the a/c on at idle.

The elbow is in that vicinity.

I have never replaced the part. It's been talked about a hundred times here. I suspect someone will chime in with installation instructions.

anybody out there know how to replace the 90 deg. elbow?

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/42912-need-help-removing-radiator-fitting.html?highlight=degree+elbow

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/7494-broken-radiator-piece-where-overflow-line-fits.html?highlight=elbow

thanks mike. by the way, it's not the elbow, it's the radiator. i ordered a new one.

i looked at it and i think i can do it myself. does not look too bad. the hardest part looks like the one fitting at the bottom of the radiator.

The left side plastic tank can be replaced by a radiator shop.
It takes a special crimping tool, so it can't effectively be done at home.
I had one done at a shop in Tulsa several years ago - lasted another 5-6 years before the radiator gave out. If your radiator is not in perfect shape, or is original, then probably not worth it. However, the replacement Behr I bought is like a piece or tinfoil compared to the robust original Behr. but, it's working okay.
Yeah, replacing it is really easy.

DG

it is the neck on the top of the radiator that connect to the upper hose. in the last couple days it cracked really bad - really undrivable now.

the radiator i have now is a replacement Behr. It lasted around 5-7 years (around 120,000 miles) so I guess I cannot complain. The one before that was the original. That one lasted around 180,000 miles. Before this happened, around a couple months ago, I noticed that the car was running hotter than normal with the a/c on, like 150C-175C and 100C with no a/c. Normally it would run at 100C with a/c and 85C without a/c.

So maybe something was going inside the radiator before it happened and pressure was building up. I bought a radiator on eBay for $125. It will come from CA by ground. The guy said it was manufactured by "Eastern". Never heard of it, but I thought I would give a chance. The replacement Behr is $280 and I was never really that impressed with it. If the cheap radiator lasts me 3-4 years, I'll be happy. Has anyone tried these cheaper aftermarket brands, like Wolverine and Eastern?

Don't use the "green stuff' only the gold as the green coolant will eat up a plastic radiator, see "Pildenski"'s web site.

He has a great, great web site and will help when asked!

John1

Hey John, excuse me, but what are you talking about? Don't use green coolant? All coolant is green...


By the way, does anyone know the coolant capacity (gallons) on a 1990 300sel?

Match:

Use the Zerox G-05 as it is gold color as well as the Mercedes factory coolant.

The "green" coolant will eat the plastic radiator at the tops,

Again, c-Pildenski site, he has all the info.

The "green" has the wrong PH for the Mercedes radiators.

John1

Well, I learned something new today. I thought all coolant was green, too. This place is the best!