Just bought a pre-owned Mercedes 300E. Drove it Home 30-miles washed it then drove it to work 30-miles. I pulled in to work and within 5 minutes looked out and it started steaming and antifreeze ran out from under the car. Opened the hood and saw a tiny pin hole on the drivers side in the plastic looking part thats runs verticle down the side of the radiator. It's the part that the hoses connect to. Question: Is the whole radiator shot or is this part replacable? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Chris

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Chris Rogers

Check your local yellow pages for radiator shops.then call to see if they service Behr radiators. Most shops that service Behr radiators can replace the tank.

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Mercedes Benz Master Tech - Retired

Save yourself some headache and anguish, replace it. They are notorious for having a weak neck, and crack frequently. I just went thru this on mine. The newer Behr radiator has a reinforced neck, the part the "hooks" into the hose, and will hold up for much longer.

good luck
fq

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FAQ

W124
Sportline Swaybars
Bilstein HD Struts
16" E420 wheels

I second that.. just replace it. the replacement radiators (atleast the ones the dealer sells) have metal reinforcement in the neck. Replacing it isnt such a difficult job if you like to do it yourself. There used to be a post for the W124 replacement under DIY section on this site but i just checked and link is not working. I would say it's no more than 2 hours worth of work if you want to take your sweet time and do it all yourself. probably lot less if you've done it before. Oh and while you're at it. what color was the coolant that leaked on the ground ? green or white ? If it was green then the previous owner used aftermarket coolant. stick with it. if it wasn't green then the original merced3es coolat is used. make sure you buy the bottle from the dealer before you open up the radiator. or if you take it to a shop make sure you give them the MB coolant and make a point to tell them NOT to use the green stuff. if you mix them it's not a pretty site.
good luck !

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Whether you think you can or cannot, Either way you're right!. by Henry Ford.

I'd buy a new Behr radiator from the Fastlane...$184. I doubt you will get a shop to repair it for that.

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Steve

1992 300CE Sportline Sophie
1990 300E Emma - in the family
1979 240D Josephine - sold, but not forgotten
2004 Pacifica AWD

http://web.mac.com/dakota/Mercedes/Home.html

I appreciate all your help. My local Benz mechanic order me a new radiator for $180.00 and is going to install it for $90.00. I'm back in business. Thanks to all.

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Chris Rogers

carkahlua,

Just make sure your mechanic is ordering the Behr radaiator, not the Nissens. They both make virtualy identical looking radiators for your car. Only the Behr has the metal reinforcing sleeve in both the upper and lower hose necks. Without this, you'll be doing the same repair much sooner than otherwise.

While it's apart and the coolant drained, you might want to consider switching to Evans NPG+. It's a waterless propylene glycol coolant that will not freeze and the boiling point is 375 deg. f., so your system basically runs at 0 psi pressure, making it easier on all the other components. I've been using it for over 30k miles now in my '86 300E with great success. See their website at:

http://www.evanscooling.com/main31.htm

Make sure you don't confuse the NPG+ with the earlier product, NPG. The latter is a thick, viscous fluid intended for racing applications that requires changes to the entire cooling system. The NPG+ only requires that you get out most of the water-based coolant in the system (radiator, engine block, heater core and hoses). There are instructions that come with it that give details. The only drawback is the price, $25/gal, but it's intended to last for 300,000 to 500,000 miles, so it's pretty cost effective in the long run.

I believe in the stuff so much that any liquid-cooled vehicle I buy from now on will be immediately converted to NPG+.

If you saw the Discovery Channel documentary on the restoration of the P-38 that was buried in the ice since WWII, well, they also used Evans coolant in cooling system. You can imagine how demanding an aircraft restoration mechanic would be, especially when he knows that some pilot's life literally depends on his decisions. If you want more info on my personal experience with NPG+, please pm or email me.

Gary

Disclaimer: I have no connection with anyone who makes or sells Evans Cooling products. I'm just a very satisfied user who's happy to find a product that actually seems to live up to it's claims.

The goose neck on my radiator broke today on my 92 300E.

Luckily there was enough of it left to clamp the hose and drive home. The radiator guy is giving me $10 off so it will cost $177 with a lifetime warranty. Importec has them for $167, but I need it faster.

My uncle is a GM mechanic so he's gonna install it. Any install tips to be aware of?

Install tip #1: See my post above!

Make sure the radiator has the metal reinforcing tube in both necks. I think you'll only find this in the Behr, and to the best of my knowledge they don't offer a lifetime warranty.

A lifetime warranty isn't going to do you much good when your stuck on the side of the road and everyone's closed and all your car's life blood is running down the gutter and your 100 miles away from home and your cell phone battery just died. (See Murphy's Law)

It's really not worth saving $10 or $20 dollars to get a 2nd rate radiator, especially when you're having it installed at a bargain basement price.

My $.02 worth for free, and free advice is worth every penny you pay for it!

Gary

The radiator that's already in the car is a Behr and the one I'm getting is a Behr too.

In that case.....never mind.

Gary

I started this post several days ago and I've learned a lot from these post. I'm a 4 day old Mercedes Benz owner and I think I have made a great friend in a Benz Technician. Like I said my radiator had sprung a leak, my Benz Tech got me a new Behr radiator for $177 and put it in for $80. He went ahead and did a full checkup on the car and explained everything I might expect from my 1993 Mercedes Benz 300E. Thanks to all for the participation. Chris

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Chris Rogers

Sounds like you got a great deal.

I just replaced the radiator in my '95 E320 and the Mercedes dealer charged us $196 for the part because hubs gets a discount there (the mechanic said it would cost $389) but the mechanic charged $178 to install it and replace the coolant.

I think I was way over-charged by the mechanic. He first said $130 but when he found out he wasn't making anything on the part...he upped the labor.

Marilyn

My uncle put my radiator in this morning. It took him 1/2 hour.

He said the hardest part was getting the bottom of the fan shroud to line up.