87 300D Transmission cooler lines ... sudden leaking - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

BodhiBenz1987 · #1 12-29-2009, 11:13 AM

Bodhi has a nosebleed! I put the 300D in the garage so I could do the brakes after I got home from work last night, and when I got home (at 2 a.m.), I noticed two oily spots on the garage floor at the very front of the car ... I looked with a flashlight and there's ATF coming out the cooler lines on BOTH sides of the radiator. I haven't driven the car in over a week because 1) it needed brake pads and 2) it got buried in 20 inches of snow which prevented my from doing the brakes. Two questions:
-I have (I think) some transmission cooler lines from a 1988 300E in my shed ... are they interchangeable? Can used lines be trusted or should I go for new ones?
-I'm a little worried at why this leak started so suddenly. I don't see leaks anywhere so this just started when I moved it into the garage. I'm wondering if it being in a snowbank maybe brought this on (i.e., the lines were on the way out, and being dead frozen and wet just did them in). If so I'm also worried that may have caused other damage. The car started, ran and shifted fine for me to move it around the driveway and into the garage. Is it normal for this kind of leak to pop up on both sides of the lines? Or is there some greater cause I need to worry about?

On top of it all, we're in a huge windstorm here, freezing cold, and lost power at my house, so I can't do much about this, or the squealing issue on my 240D. I'm effectively Benzless.

Edit: To clarify, when I say it was in a snowbank, I mean a snowbank formed around the parked car ... I didn't run it into anything.

BodhiBenz1987 · #2 12-29-2009, 12:40 PM

OH NO! Now it's leaking coolant too.

It looks like from the thermostat housing. I'm getting really sad now ... it's too cold to work on it right now. I have no problem toughing it, but if you can't grip a wrench, it's just not a good idea. Why is my car leaking everything everywhere?

amosfella · #3 12-29-2009, 12:44 PM

Most likely, it's the aluminum and the steel from the clamps expanding at a different rate... Most likely nothing serious....warm the vehicle up in a garage for a day, and see if it still leaks. Then tighten you clamps a bit...
Don't tighten clamps on plastic while the plastic is still cold. The plastic in my experience can shatter...

BodhiBenz1987 · #4 12-29-2009, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amosfella

Most likely, it's the aluminum and the steel from the clamps expanding at a different rate... Most likely nothing serious....warm the vehicle up in a garage for a day, and see if it still leaks. Then tighten you clamps a bit...
Don't tighten clamps on plastic while the plastic is still cold. The plastic in my experience can shatter...

Thanks. I'll give it a try. One side (driver's) is leaking much more than the other. It's not losing enough ATF to the point where I'd worry about being low on fluid ... but enough to worry in general. My dad is trying to convince me not to go out and tinker with the car today on account of the weather ... I just hate it when something needs fixing and it just has to sit there. DIY Disease.
Now I'm worried the coolant is coming from the water pump. I need to stop worrying so much. Whatever's wrong, I can fix it. Eventually.

amosfella · #5 12-29-2009, 01:02 PM

Probably the bolts expanded faster than the pump to keep the seal... Let the whole car warm up to about room temp for a day or 2 and then see if it still leaks.... Once it warms up to that temp, put some oil absorber under the leaking spots, and then clean it all away. Make sure the oil absorber has taken away everything. While you have it down there, clean the afflicted areas with brake cleaner to get rid of all of the residual oil and coolant, and then sweep it away. Then put down some newspapers overnight and see if it still leaks...
Pretty sure you know where to get newspaper....