Has anyone done, or can anyone give me a rundown / opinions on Headgasket replacement on my 89 300 CE?.

I've built several ("domestic v-8's") in the past and have had quite a few blown head gaskets (on my track car) that I've done but don't have a lot of experience on the MB engines.

I've been getting a few droplets of oil in my coolant tank which has gotten a bit worse in the last few months. I understand that there is an updated head gasket. (this car has 164K "pretty flawless miles") with regular maintainence and timing chain being the only real "porblems".


I only drive the car in the Summer months and we've got a great local shop that I'm sure would do a fine job but I'm just wondering that since I take it off the road for the Winter months anyway, should I consider taking on the job myself or if I should just have it done??

The $$$ to have it done really is'nt a concern if I have it done by the shop. The concern I have is: If I do it myself and do something "wrong" and then have to have it done all over again.

Any opinions / horror stories to help me decide would be appreceiated.

If you can build an American V8 you will be fine with the cylinder head. Read all you can (books and on here using search at the top of the page), take you time and don't be scared of it.

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Jim

I had some help from a Shop Forum member but, it was not too bad. I do recommend getting the factory manuals. Good luck!

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J.H.
'86 300E

Ditto. It's all nuts and bolts. You'll need one special tool and that's the 12-pt torx bit for the head bolts. And if it's like my engine, it's recommended to leave the manifolds on the head and lift the whole assembly off the block. That's how I did it.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

Thanks for the info.

I just did'nt want to fool myself into thinking that "it's just a head gasket no big deal". I have a shop manual around here somewhere for the MB. I just like to be well informed before starting on something unfamiliar.

Having a 91 Jag XJS as well, talk about needing some "different / special tools". My wife calls me "the king of Snap-on". Everything from standard and metric to Inverted torx, posi-drive and even a few sets whitworth tools (darn brit's with there strange tools...). That V-12 is enough to make anyone want to stop working on cars all together!

Any other tips / tricks and opinions are welcome.

Yes, they are stretch bolts, but they CAN be reused. There's a spec for maximum length on the head bolts for reuse. I reused mine as they were well below the maximum stretch.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

Thanks again for the tips. I'm actually just sitting here now reading the shop manual.

I Also have one additional question. SInce I only drive the car from about May till about August or so, (mainly on weekends) I try to go over it pretty well before the Winter. As I mentioned, since about last year, I started to notice the Oil droplets and did a search on the board and read it was a pretty common occurence.

I noticed about 2 weeks ago that my coolant bottle had gone down a bit. (it had done this last year as well. ) I topped it off and just happend to notice today that it is also down again. Upon closer inspection, I can see a leak dripping off of the oil pan that originates from under the water pump. I'm sure the pump is original. It appears that it's leaking from the pump gasket "area"

It does'nt appear so from the shop manual but is there a possibility for a "coolant -to- oil" leak from the water pump or it's gaskets??

I'm looking at an exploded view of the water pump assembly and I'm just curious before I start the Head gasket.

Thanks again for all of the great info.

What are you calling the pump gasket... the pump-to-block mating surface or the shaft seal? I too can't imagine a coolant-to-oil leak at the water pump (no possible leak path). It seems that the water pump is going south and needs to be replaced. (Lucky for you that you're just about to retire the car for the season and can do everything needed to fix it without rushing!) Check Fastlane on the top of this page for replacement water pumps. Or since you have time, sometimes you can get a deal on eBay for a water pump. After 164K miles, you won't be wasting your money replacing the water pump, which is a consumable item.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

Thanks Kestas,

I agree. It's "way due" for a water pump. The gasket I'm referring to is the pump-to-block gasket. I could'nt imagine a "leak path" but you never know with MB. (at least I don't)

P.S. I notice the Cutlass in your sig. I had a 69 442 for about 5 years and currenlty have an 83 Hurst\Olds (33,000 miles) in storage. My father is an Olds Guy from way back. He traded his 2 year old 67 442 in and was proud to be a 69 H/O owner (Brand new). -That's one I wish I could get a hold of now, and one he wishes he never got rid of. I'd like to pick up another 69 at some point and do an H/O replica.

Your water pump is shot, it's leaking out the bottom weep hole, but the coolant runs down the body of the pump, down the block to the oil pan, and down the oil pan a couple bolts and then onto the ground.

Just replaced the water pump on the TE a couple weeks ago, slow coolant leak.

The occasional oil droplets can be from oil left in the cooling system from previous problems -- if you don't use something serious to get it out, it hangs around forever.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Just a new water pump!
Consider yourself lucky. Big difference in labor.

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J.H.
'86 300E

Water pump is about 6 hours start to finish.

You will have to work to get the rad full --squeeze the upper radiator hose, then use a pair of plier to clamp the overflow tank line shut and let the upper hose go. This will suck coolant down into the lower end. Repeat until only water goes through the overflow line when you squeeze the radiator hose.

If you just fill it til it won't take coolant by gravity, it will seriously overheat, I know, I nearly cooked the TE!

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Thanks PSfred, That's exactly what it's doing. Although I can't see a weep hole, I was guessing that one was there somewhere. Lucky I caught it in time. It was a slow leak and now as I add water to the coolant tank, you can see the drip begin underneath the car. Timing was good on this. It could have been a real mess.

J-Hildago: are you saying that the water pump could be my problem with the oil in the coolant?

I was'nt aware that a "coolant to oil" leak was possilbe from the water pump. I thought that the head gasket was the major culprit for this. I ran a search and am looking at a exploded diagram of the waterpump and the way it mounts to the block and could'nt imagine that that would be possible but that would certainly be a nice surprise if it was just the pump.

Do you (or anyone else) have info / experience on whether the water pump could cause this. I can't see that it would have a connection but I'm just not familiar enough with "this setup".

Thanks to everyone for all of the help. I've got my hoist ready to make things easier for the removal of the head/intake/exhaust as 1 unit, and figure that since I'm in no rush, I'll disassemble everything 1st, make a list of everything I want to replace, then place an order with fastlane and start the project.

(It would be great not to have to do the head gasket so If the W.P. could be my culprit, please "set me straight".

Brian

FWIW, here's a link to a previous post about leaking water pumps and a picture showing the weep hole where it typically leaks:

Finding a coolant leak M103

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And here's one showing a close-up of the o-ring seal that mates to the head. As bad as this one looks, it didn't leak a drop. As far as I can tell, it's been on there for about 16 years and 130k miles.

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