Hello, I have a 1995 e320 wagon with 150k mi on it. I have been having some strange cooling issues with it. I recently replaced the head gasket myself after having the infamous oil leak issue associated with the M104 engine. Additional symptoms before the replacement were a slight oil slick in the coolant tank, and occasionally smoke when accelerating to highway speeds (but never at idle or once fully warm
). After HG replacement, the smoke disappeared, as well as the oil leak. But unfortunately, the oil slick in the coolant tank increased after the replacement. I am kicking myself for not having done a coolant flush to clear out any residual oil from the HG replacement, so I’m not sure if it’s from that or from a new internal leak (but it does not seem to be increasing as I drive the car more). No milkshake in the oil dipstick, and the car does not overheat during normal driving. The exception is when I exit the highway and come to a complete stop, the temp gauge increases from 84c to 100c. Finally, it appears the car is not building coolant pressure. When I remove the coolant tank cap with the car warm I never get a pressure release...
Thermostat is new, the rest of the cooling system is unknown.
This car is a bit of a “winter beater” for me here in Michigan, so I don’t want to dump more time and money into it without a more informed diagnosis. Obviously there are some serious issues with the cooling system still but I’m not quite sure where to start. My thought is to get a proper coolant flush first and then pressure test the system to try and identify where it might be leaking. If oil shows up again after the flush then I obviously messed up the head gasket job, right? Or is there another way oil can get into the coolant that I should consider? I’m trying to do as much DIY but I also will take it to a shop for diagnosis if needed...
Thoughts?
03-02-2019, 04:38 PM
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