Many head gaskets were replaced under warranty. I believe very few were replaced under the original 3-year factory warranty, but a lot were changed out under either the Starmark Warranty or as a "goodwill" warranty if the gasket failed outside of either of the two warranties.

Without the records or a VMI, Vehicle Master Inquiry, I have no idea how you could tell.

The throttle actuator is a part that replaces three separate parts in M103 and other engines. It functions as the: EA (electronic accelerator), CC (cruise control), and ISC (idle speed control). Actuators go bad eventually in all engines that have them: M104, M119, even the newer engines (M112, M113) have them. They haven't generally failed yet on the newer engines because not enough time has gone by yet. It is heat that generally kills them. Throttle actuators also fail on '93-'95 cars because the wiring harness on the actuator goes bad.

Sooooooooo, in addition to looking for head gaset leaks (at the right rear corner of the head, passenger side), look and see if it has had the engine wiring harness replaced. They are defective on all 1993-1995 Mercedes vehicles.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".