Hi all, the dipstick on my '97 S420 has developed a 2-inch long section of rust about halfway down it's length. I've removed it with a bit of sandpaper and some WD-40 but it keeps coming back.

I have checked the coolant & oil and they don't appear to have mixed, so I'm ruling out a head gasket at this point.

Has anyone experienced this before? What's the permanent fix?


Thanks!

__________________
"It's not about how fast you can go, but how well you can go fast."

Bob in Richmond

'97 S320 (LWB), Ruby Red Metallic, 73k miles
'97 S420V, Smoke Silver Metallic, 155k miles

Chinese saying "Lather lust on dipstick than dust on lipstick"

__________________
1996 E320 since 1/16/08, 171K miles as of Feb 2011

---------------------------------------------------------
1989 300CE - R.I.P. Dec 29 2007
Other MBs (sold): 1992 300E-24 - 1979 350SLC - 1984 230E - 1990 300CE

OK, Tex. That was funny.


Think I found the culprit. The little o-ring at the top of the dipstick was hard as a rock and basically crumbled to dust when I poked at it with a small screwdriver. I'm going to put on a replacement in the morning and I'm pretty sure that's going to fix the problem.

__________________
"It's not about how fast you can go, but how well you can go fast."

Bob in Richmond

'97 S320 (LWB), Ruby Red Metallic, 73k miles
'97 S420V, Smoke Silver Metallic, 155k miles