380 SEL high temp, low oil pressure
 

Hello all good folk,

Firstly thanks for letting me join the forum from Australia! I have bought two beaut mercs 380SEL, one 1983, and one 1985 (W126). They have been a pleasure to drive and shunt everyone around in style :)

In January went for a long trip (2000km there and back, 1000 miles or so) for a holiday. I was careful to check all fluids (oil, coolant, rear suspension, brake..) during the trip. Just today I noticed these symptoms:

- smoke coming out of the coolant return chamber
- dry coolant return chamber
- appears to be a coolant leak 'stripe' on the ground in line with the radiator
- oil level ok
- temperature was high (greater than 80oC, less than 120oC)
- drops to 1 (bar?) reading on the oil guage at idle / peak hour :)
- engine has ok pickup still but a little rattly on acceleration

Any ideas? engine trouble or loss of coolant from a hose?

Thanks a lot everyone, it would be great to hear from you all. BTW - as an aside, where is a good place to get old service and repair manuals for these bad boys?

Thanks !

Regards
Steve

Steve, coolant could be leaking from various sources ... hoses, loose hose connection, water pump weep hole, radiator, etc. It's best to do a pressure test to identify the source. Refill the system with coolant before doing anything. You want to avoid trashing your engine.

hi steve,where are you in australia?i grew up there in sth aust[elizabeth] and moved here in 78.sounds like you may have a leaking water pump on that car.if you look at the pump shaft you will see a hole behind pulley that leads to pump shaft.there is another on the bottom and if you use a mirror to see it if leaking it will be wet.good luck.

thanks all!

I grew up in sth aust too!! very small world. Living in sydney now.

thanks I will check out the hoses pump etc.

Cheers all and thanks again

S

Hi Steve
John here from Berrara near Nowra.NSW
I enjoy the forum also .happy to hear from you
I have 84 380 SEL 124K
Phone 0244412500

resolved!
 

Hi All,

The thermostat was playing up and the radiator needed replacing, so a flush etc and it runs good as new and doesn't get hot.
Thanks everyone!

Cheers
Steve