Head Corrosion
 

After removing the head of my 1987 M102 I noticed it has a fair bit of corrosion in the 2" long channels that carry the coolant.

About 1/2 of thechannels are decayed to a depth of around 1/8 to 1/4" (particularly badaround the smallest holes).
It doesn't appear to do any harm as the aluminium is fairly thick in this area.

Two questions -
1. Is this common on Mercedes head that has had a full dealer service history and done 110k miles (I bought it off
the P.O. 4 years ago and the coolant was the correct Mercedes type back then).

2. With regular 2 year coolant changes will the decay in the Aluminium get any worse ?

3. The Head gasket holes matche the coolant holes in the block but not the larger coolant channels in the head. I assume this is normal ?

Doug McCutchan

Been there, done that!

I had a head corrode through due to lack of PO's lack of cooling system maintenance.

As long as it is not corroded through or corroded too thin, just stay with MB antifreeze and change it annually with a thorough flush.

Good luck,