I have a 1989 300TE that was bought a few weeks ago, my wife drove it to work a few times and said it was overheating (i won't give the whole explanation she gave) I am more inclined it is just the fact that she is driving it and then sitting in traffic and noticing the rise in temperature before the fans kick on because I let it run in the driveway and took it for a drive around the neighborhood for a while and noticed nothing out of the ordinary (definitely not the close to 120 reading my wife told me about), I also pulled the top hose on the radiator and emptied it in to a glass and what I found was the green antifreeze (I know and I am getting going to the dealership to get the right stuff tomorrow) but the antifreeze has a brown hue to it, it does not look or smell like oil and I had my neighbor double check and he agrees, so if this is not oil what is it?

the next thing is that while standing in front of the car looking at it there is an oil leak on the front left side of the engine, it looks as if it is coming from the valve cover near the plastic cover at the front of the engine, my question is, is it ok to spray the engine down with engine bright and rinse it off so I can get a better idea of where it is coming from? and the next thing is, are the any spots that a particularly vulnerable while spraying down the engine? I have had a few cars (a Saab 99 is definitely one that comes to mind) that you had to be very careful while cleaning the engine and compartment.


any info and ideas would be appreciated


thanks,
dan