I spent the weekend taking the M103 motor apart because I was noticing huge amounts of oil loss and lots of oil appearing in my coolant tank.

When I drained the coolant from radiator/reservoir plug, brown milkshake was pouring out of the spout, but draining from block was clean coolant.

I finally took the head off, but the head gasket looked fine, there were no huge holes or tears anywhere. I did notice huge amounts of oil sitting around the head gasket/block/cyl head in the rear cylinders. Coincidentally, oil was leaking out of that area onto my exhaust and burning off into my vents while driving.

i did notice that my cyl head bolts did not have any washers on them (prev owner performed head gasket job already?) Maybe that is the reason for oil into coolant?

car in question is a 1993 190E 2.6.

I can take pictures of head gasket/block/cyl head if requested

I had the same problem with my '93 190E 2.3, oil in coolant. My factory head bolts did not have washers.

I didn't see the exact location on the old head gasket where the leak occurred, but a new head gasket solved the problem.

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1993 190E 2.3
2001 SLK230
1971 LS5 (454) Corvette Convertible

It's possible that without washers on the cylinder head bolts achieved the prescribed torque value before they were stretched properly and allowed oil leakage into the cylinders. Regardless you will need to purchase a new head gasket and cylinder head bolts before reassembling the engine.

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Fred Hoelzle

thanks guys, that makes sense, just wanted to hear some reassurance from others.

also wanted to make sure the problem wasnt somewhere else.

did some more searching on cylinder head bolts and washers and found out that the older factory bolts did not have any washers but had a flanged tip which acted as a washer for stretching?

I suppose I will just go through with the job and hope for the best with a new headgasket and see what happens.

Either seem to work... check this http://www.ps2cho.net/downloads/MB%20CD/W124/w124CD1/Program/Engine/103/01-4050.pdf

I am currently having the same problem on my 300TE. I did the head gasket 10k miles ago and I am currently losing oil at the back of the head. It is dripping onto my exhaust manifold and blowing smoke behind me...No oil in coolant though.

I purchased the updated bolts w/o the washers (M12x102 Version 'B' head bolts). Which head gasket did you purchase? Just curious. Maybe we both have a very similar issue?

This winter I will re-do my head again...Should I maybe go to the dealer this time in case the Victor-Reinz gasket I bought was of worse quality? Anybody know what the OE gasket manufacturer is? I followed torque specs on the head pretty perfect too...

Not sure why else it would be leaking so early?

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2016 Monsoon Gray Audi Allroad - 21k
2008 Black Mercedes E350 4Matic Sport - 131k
2014 Jeep Wranger Unlimited Sahara - 62k
2003 Gray Mercedes ML350 - 122k

I put a Victor Reinz gasket in my car 50,000 miles ago, and also used the updated style bolts with no washer. No signs of any leakage or cross contamination. The other 2 head jobs I helped out with were done with Reinz gaskets and both cars have done similar mileage to mine with no issues.

I would say either a bad gasket, or the gasket shifted or was damaged when lifting the head back onto the block.

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http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...-RESIZED-1.jpg
1991 300E - 212K and rising fast...

I am having the same problem troubleshooting right now. I have a recently purchased 1991 190e 2.6 with 88k miles. After driving it less than three hundred miles I discovered the coolant res was full of coolant and oil mixture. Again, clean coolant draining from the block, no overheating, engine runs very smooth, no white exhaust. I want to be sure there is no other possible cause for the cross contamination before goin ahead with the HG replacement.

Been a while since this thread started, but I had no more problems after redoing the headgasket. Headgasket looked ok, but I suppose it really wasn't.

Just noticed- my coolant/oil mixture has brass colored dust in it as well

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1978 Euro spec 280ce
1991 190e 2.6

Brass colored dust? Are you sure someone didn't add some of that copper stop leak or any other stop leak for radiators? What you should do is drain out all the coolant from block and flush it all out with a hose. Once only water is coming out clear, drain the system completely and only run distilled water. Now you should be able to identify if in fact your head gasket is leaking if your water begins to accumulate oil. It's also easier to identify the presence of oil in water vs coolant.

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1990 190E 3.0L

That's actually what I did last week.. Although it's a mixture of water and coolant because the nights here in NY still get below freezing temp.
It took 3-4 days of driving quite a bit, but the oil has returned the the top of the res.. the chocolate milk like substance. This last time I noticed metallic sparkles in the substance. Stays brass colored when it dries out on the rag. When I check the oil level I don't see any of said brass dust.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1978 Euro spec 280ce
1991 190e 2.6

Some kind of stop leak stuff in the cars history is a possibility. I've only had the car 6 months or so

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1978 Euro spec 280ce
1991 190e 2.6

It's a combination of bars stop leak pellets and either the aluminum or copper block seal. Metallic flakes are the block seal and the bars stop leak is the brown liquid. Smell it, it has a weird smell and does not smell like oil. It has a sort of a sweet burnt smell, but not like coolant

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1990 190E 3.0L