Been following this thread, and I can give you a little history on the M130 engine. The 68 and 69 year model engines were fairly bullet proof. The head was redesigned in 70 to reduce the flame front quench area and reduce emissions. There was some casting problem with the 70 and 71 heads, because the water jackets broke through in the 4th, 5th, or 6th cyl. When the problem first reared it's ugly head everyone sent the heads out to be welded and remachined, because new heads were pricy. It seemed like a good idea at the time until the heads broke through in another location and poured steam out the exhaust again. A new head was the only answer. In 72 the head was redesigned again, because MB went to low compression in the sixes and V/8s. All those engines were designed to run on regular. I don't know how many times I had to tell owners that their big honkin 4.5 liter engines did not require supreme. The 72 M130 engine faired better in the head failure department than the two previous years, but some did fail. I suggest carefully monitoring water consumption. You could buy one of those block check testers and check for hudrocarbons in the coolant, but I don't think you'll find any. There may be one other possibility. I think I have a couple of old M130 heads kicking around ( I never throw anything away ). I'll check to see if the ball bolts screw into the exhaust or intake port. One could be leaking oil.



Peter

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