Here you can see my experience:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/347663-my-om602-turbo-cooling-experience.html

Basically it over heated and now I am going through to see if I need to replace the head gasket.

Just ran a cooling system pressure test. Cooling system holds pressure to at least 30 psi. The cap opens too soon, but that isn't a huge deal.

Here is a youtube video of the bubbling system.

OM602 Cooling - YouTube

Is a compression test next?

Green coolant is going to cause you a lot of grief on this forum

That's not air bleeding out of the cooling system, that's very likely compression escaping through the head gasket. You can do a compression test for the heck of it but I expect Roy or John will tell you to pull the head. If it's not a head gasket, it's something worse.

Sixto
87 300D

That is temporary. It is mostly water anyways. In the previous thread it talks about how I had filled it with BLUE Mercedes coolant and it puked it all out the next days so I WALKED to a near by Advanced and got the ONLY coolant they had. Trust me, it will be replaced if/when I find out what I need to do.

Lets hope its not something worse. Since I don't own a compression tester... should I buy one and test it or just accept that her head is coming off?

Get a few more opinions but I think that head has to come off. You can bleed the cooling system by removing one of the sensors where the upper radiator hose attaches to the head. That's the high point of the cooling system. If coolant is up that high and there are still bubbles in the reservoir, it has to be a bad gasket or worse.

Sixto
87 300D

I got the injectors off to do a compression test. Everything looked fine

OM602 Photos by ichris93 | Photobucket

Cooling system pressure holding at 30 psi is a good sign, despite the seeming contradiction presented by the bubbling in the coolant reservoir. Is the coolant heating up very quickly after a cold start, or is the engine getting hotter than normal? Those would be symptoms that go hand and hand with exhaust pressurization of the cooling system. I'd get a test kit to verify the presence of exhaust in the coolant before pulling the head if this were my problem. A compression test won't hurt, but it also won't give a clear diagnosis, regardless of the results.

__________________
'79 240D

Why are the injectors so wet? You still have the plastic spline covers? Store them in a safe for when you restore your car to concours condition. They're NLA and MB says to go without them. There's an ill fitting spline socket available for $15 plus shipping.

Sixto
87 300D

It does not heat up quicker than I would think. There is no normal because I haven't had the car long enough.

What kit?

Okay... well I was about to run a compression test. Does the kit I bought not have an adapter for my injectors or am I stupid?

12 Piece Diesel Engine Compression Tester

The injectors are so wet because I was handling them with my very wet gloves from diesel.

Yes the plastic spline covers were there.

Spline socket for what?

To tighten the lock rings.

Sixto
87 300D

I have a spline socket. It was given to me when I bought the car. What loosens them? Tighten them before I put injectors back in?

Does it look like I need to remove the manifold so I can use the glow plug holes?

I'm mixing threads. Someone else had an issue with lock rings loosening when removing injectors.

Sixto
87 300D

There should be a list of engines in the box with the compression tester. If your engine is on the list, then use the attachments indicated.

Google "Lisle 75500". Pretty reliable tester for showing exhaust gases in the coolant. An acquaintance of mine, who supervises a fleet repair shop, swears by this kit. A positive result indicates a problem. A negative result indicates no exhaust gas leak with 90% accuracy.

Normal running temp should be 80-90C. If you get hotter than that just idling, then you are too hot. If you get up to 80 from dead cold in a minute or so, then you just might have a bad head gasket or worse.

__________________
'79 240D

Pulled the intake manifold and ran a compression test through the glow plug holes.

Cylinder 1 ~ 440
Cylinder 2 ~ 420
Cylinder 3 ~ 400
Cylinder 4 ~ 400
Cylinder 5 ~ 400

Pressures seem fine.

So do I put everything back together... or do I take her head off?

I suppose you can keep running it as is. Leave the reservoir pressure cap loose so it doesn't keep puking coolant. Something's going on that the pressure and compression tests didn't fix. Seeing as no one's going to recommend repairing a cracked or severely warped head, there isn't much to lose by driving it until the engine quits. Hopefully you have enough warning of impending doom that it doesn't leave you stranded.

Sixto
87 300D