Hi all,

Well, I killed the battery in ol' "Cream Puff" after Christmas by leaving the lights on for like 10 days while I was out of town. I came back and tried to start her and she was dead as a doornail. I finally took the battery out a few days ago and had it trickle charged. It was resurrected which is miraculous given that temps dipped down into the single digits for several weeks.

So, I started her up and after a minute or two, decided to take her for a drive. Once out on the road the temperature steadily climbed up, up, up, and close to the red. I immediately pulled over, opened the hood and the radiator cap was cold to the touch. I slowly opened it and hot coolant shot out on my bare arm, which hurt a bit. I shut her down and have not started her since. I am worried the engine froze and the head gasket is blown, or something is cracked. Thing is, the cooling system was flushed in August, and I assumed the coolant was good, though I never checked the temp rating. The coolant now looks a bit rusty. I am upset at myself for not checking the rating before winter.

PS- It could be a stuck thermostat, but the temperature went up so quickly I worried combustion was entering the cooling system, superheating it since it did not seem long enough to get that hot.

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1977 Mercedes 300D- 124,xxx miles "Cream Puff"
2012 Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins- "The Silver Bullet"

The first and foremost thing you have to do is find oil in your coolant. That should be the main sign of a blown head gasket. If not, it might be something in the radiator or any components of the cooling system that have been affected by the low temperatures.

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[GONE] - 1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel - 130k miles - Smoke Silver (702) over Mushroom leather (265) - Bladder blasting, coast-to-coast work machine.

Well it doesn't sound like a blown head gasket to me (Yet! Based on the information given)

OK the needle rose to a place showing a reading that it is hotter than normal. The first thing to do is to check that that is the case. Have you got a thermometer?

The rusty coolant says one thing for sure though - that should be replaced.


Unless there's something you're not telling us I'd risk some new coolant - replace the coolant - and try again.

Simple - small - cheap steps first!


You can rush off and get coolant pressure testers and compression testers and leak down testers if you really want - but I'd only do that if you have the equipment to hand. Otherwise I'd risk the cost of new coolant - and make sure you have the correct amount in there!

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Sounds like a thermostat/coolant issue. Thermostat, gasket, flush, and fresh antifreeze.

Stretch-coolant here is the US is ~$3.50/L ($13ish per gallon) FYI

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

If the car was parked outdoors in single digits for a good period of time it is possible your anti-freeze is not up to snuff, and you have an ice blockage in one of the coolant hoses.

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96 E300d

Typical behaviour of a coolant frozen engine. Thaw it out and change coolant with enough low temperature protection. Then see if things are normal or not. Even in warm weather the coolant should be equal to the lowest winter temperatures. Specifically to get the corrosion protection and prevents what you seem to have experienced happening. From my limited experience a head gasket is not the typical problem that may happen from freezing up an engines coolant.

Because of the obvious rusty looking coolant you have not been maintaining the car properly it seems. Self maintenenace is the cheapest way to keep the car on the road in a reliable fashion. If you need to compound a list of things that should be periodically checked and done.

For example it is easier to flush the brake system and cheaper than having to replace components in the system by not doing so. I am guilty of not changing anti freeze out periodically myself.

The corrosive protection wears out over time. Hope you have not cracked anything with your freeze up. If it turn out nothing has I would never roll the dice in this fashion again.

Much may depend on what proportion of anti freeze was in the system.

I doubt the head gasket is blown. A freeze plug would pop before a head gasket let go. My guess is a stuck thermostat.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Thanks for the replies. First off, in response to barry12345, you may have overlooked my post where I said "the cooling system was flushed in August." I am properly maintaining my vehicle, as I do every piece of machinery I own, so please do not lump me into the category of those types of owners. The reason I was upset with myself is I did not physically test the coolant myself before winter as the previous owner's shop was the one who did the work. I like to check others' work as I only trust myself when it comes to repairs done correctly. I pride myself upon passing a vehicle on to the next owner in better condition than when I acquired it.

Moving on, I hauled the Mercedes into our shop today on a trailer. I have good news and bad news. The good news is that when I checked the coolant, it was good to -30 degrees, and the thermostat is indeed stuck closed and in need of replacement. The bad news is that after block testing the car, it has exhaust gasses in the cooling system. So, it's got a blown head gasket anyhow, which explains why it was always so quick to come up to temperature.

I am very disappointed. The car is in beautiful shape otherwise, but I do not know if I am going to spend the money to fix it. It has some blowby, so I don't know that I want to mess around with a head gasket repair. I've thought of maybe swapping in a turbocharged engine, should I find a good, low mileage example. The other alternative is to sell her off as is, after repairing the thermostat. Here she is:

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1977 Mercedes 300D- 124,xxx miles "Cream Puff"
2012 Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins- "The Silver Bullet"

What exactly does that mean?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

It means that combustion is entering the cooling system, pressurizing it.

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1977 Mercedes 300D- 124,xxx miles "Cream Puff"
2012 Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins- "The Silver Bullet"

You located in Nevada?


Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Hi Charlie,

Yes, northern NV.

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1977 Mercedes 300D- 124,xxx miles "Cream Puff"
2012 Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins- "The Silver Bullet"

My Mom lives in Carson City. We might be over there around the 14th.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I used a Napa block tester. You fill the tool with blue solution then fit it where the radiator cap goes. When the system pressurizes, it forces air through the liquid. When combustion gasses are present, the liquid turns from blue to green.

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1977 Mercedes 300D- 124,xxx miles "Cream Puff"
2012 Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins- "The Silver Bullet"

Boy that is sad, that was one nice looking 77. I just personally wonder if there was something else that could have been done to prevent this. It seems strange that it overheated and then the coolant was rust colored. To me it seems like the thermostat was frozen for some time and then it popped releasing rusty water or I wonder if the evil servo had something to do with it? I know my servo in my 78 was really messed up when I got it and the car had nice bright coolant but everything pass the servo was dark dark rust colored from the servo not opening right....oh yeh if you resale it....I hope you disclose the head gasket issue....

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