So I drive home today after dropping the kids off for varsity tennis practice and I'm on the highway for one short exit. I then see a puff of smoke coming from the left front hood, so I'm thinking that maybe that's the diesel purge spillover being burnt off from y-day's work. Now I'm going 70 mph when I see the temp gauge pegged at 120!!! I quickly exit and pullover , must have been 1/4 mile, I pop the hood see the hose off at the right top radiator and turn off the car. Now y-day I tightened that radiator hose because it appeared loose. Well after looking more closely today, I noticed that I was crushing the hose down a bit BEFORE the plastic protrusion. So under speed, it popped out. I walk to and fro and dumped 2 gallons of antifreeze into the basin and start her up and the car cools down to 90 and I park home, relieved. Now I'll probably flush this weekend and use MB coolant. Now the BIG question, did I do irreparable harm to my baby? Apart from the puff or 2 or 3, when I opened the hood it was steaming but not scary-like. There were no leaks underneath the car and the oil pressure is fine. Thanks, guys.

__________________
85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

edge,

Sounds to me like you should send me the car, it is likely a total wreck and I can dispose of it for you without all that emotional stress you might experience being around it in its present condition. It is up to you.

How was that for a leathermang impersonation? In all likelihood, the car is just fine. Watch for oil in the water or water in the oil, but from your description I doubt you did much or any damage. If you damaged the car significantly, it would let you know and the first place overheating shows is usually the head gasket or head (rubber seals on the valve guides to valve stems might have lost some life).

Overall I would guess the car will last a day or two less than it would have before the head has to come off anyway. Enjoy the car and good luck. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

What these cars really need is a warning buzzer BEFORE you get to pegged redline temps. "Pull Over - Pull Over - Pull Over"


Hmm. An idea for the "Ken300D" line of aftermarket accesories.



Good thing this is an SD and not the 603-engine SDL.

I doubt if you did much damage. I had a GM product that had a sticky thermostat. It would not open until plenty hot, then everything was fine. A few times it approached the redline and you could smell the effects of heat. Finally got that old T-stat changed.

But no damage.

Ken300D

Change the oil pronto, too -- it was the only thing cooling the engine, and believe me, you cooked it, probably even if it was synthetic.

The worst you could possibly have done would be to have scored the cylinder walls, but if it idled OK when you pulled off, that isn't a problem (it would have stopped!). Otherwise, watch your oil consumption and check for excess blowby suddenly appearing. When you get them really hot, the oil control rings de-temper and loose their "spring", so they no longer wipe the oil off the cylinder walls. Oil consumption goes way up, but compression stays pretty much OK.

Most likely you didn't do any damage. I'd have let it cool without adding cold antifreeze, though, for fear of cracking the head. Not usually a problem on the 617, though.

The reason I think you are fine is that my sister (actually my nephew driving) cooked the head on their Volvo 740 turbo a couple years ago -- the check engine light came on on the interstate and they drove to the next exit (argh.....). Upper radiator hose nipple was blown off, head was warped all to hell, the oil stank, but a new head and gasket (plus the plastic timing belt cover, it melted!) and they are still driving it.

You might want to watch the thermostat, too -- it's on the head on the Volvo and was shot, along with both temp gauge senors.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

The SDL has a 105C switch to get the fan going and a 115C switch to cut the AC compressor before the engine overheats. I could use the ground signals as the basis of a two stage warning light and buzzer. I'll give you the credit, Ken

I think the SD only has a 100C switch to start the fan. That's a little low of a threshold, but if you're engine doesn't normally run that hot (my SD hasn't gotten to 100C yet) you might as well be alerted sooner rather than later. Is there a 105C switch in the SD?

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

I also think you should be ok. You should probably change your oil, just in case, as the oil temp probably got warmer then normal. That's one good thing about having an oil cooler to soak up the excess heat that the coolant didn't.

<>

Thanks, guys, I feel much better. It took me about 35 minutes to walk 1/4 mile, buy 3 gallons of coolant and walk back so it had cooled to 105 by the time I got back. I poured a half gallon down the hose into the engine and the rest of the gallon into the overflow basin which fools you into thinking that it is full. I turned on the car and after a couple of minutes, the temperature started to rise! So i turned off the car and spent another 10 minutes pouring another gallon into the basin waiting for it to gurgle down. This time when I started the car, the temperature started to go down to 90, which is a little high but I didn't mix coolant with water so it's less effective. I then returned the extra gallon and drove home 2 miles away, relieved. I will change the oil tommorrow. Thanks again.

__________________
85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

All I could think of was that I was glad my wife wasn't driving (it is her car and she is away) because the engine would have definitely been cooked, the temp gauge would mean nothing to her and no dummy lights goes on until the car stalls. By then it would be too late!

My wife drove a '91 Mazda MPV - 4 cyl till it stopped because of a blown out radiator. She said there was "smoke" coming out from under it but she was not stopping for s*^t). Burned that little sucker right up. Head job, bore and pistons/rings fixed it right up. This will be your "worst case" situation. Find a good machine shop if you are going to do it yourself.

My close call this week was TODAY. I changed the oil in the CRV Tuesday evening, ran it a little to check for leaks then put it in the garage for the wife to drive. I had a machine outage going on Wednesday and did not get home till midnight that evening. Anyway, when I got home this afternoon (Thursday) I noticed a couple puddles of Mobil 1 on the garage floor - oh s*^t. I left it there where the wife would be able to see what you don't want to see. Anyway, I loaded up the ramps, tool box and oil in the TD and hauled butt over to where the wife works which is 4 miles from the house. Thank goodness the level was ok. The problem was a loose oil drain plug which I snugged down with the 17 mm box end. What a close call - first time I have EVER left one loose. Thank goodness I ain't having to shop for a Honda engine on ebay right now. I guess I had my mind on Wednesday's outage moreso than the oil change. You can imagine I will be alot more careful checking behind myself from now on.

__________________
Jim

Well I changed the oil today and you guys were right. THe oil was cooked. It had NO viscosity and poured like water, much thinner than after a regular oil change and I had just changed it 200 miles before! I want to thank you all for your help, great forum and I am much obliged.

__________________
85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

The radiator hose became unstuck again. At closer inspection, I see that the radiator protrusion where the hose is attached has lost some of its material, so it's shorter and uneven. I think I have to put a PVC sleeve in there to give it more support. There's no other way around it, I guess. It compromises the radiator...arrrrgh!

Do you not think that at this point it might be wise to replace the radiator?

- Peter.

Well, an OEM Behr radiator is $300+ vs. a couple od dollars for PVC pipe.....

Somebody posted recently about a company that rebuilds these things and replaces the plastic. Run a seach for "plastic and radiator", although you'll probably get 9,000 hits.

__________________
Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

Look here:

http://www.**************.com/store/item.php?item=Radiator%20Neck%20Kit

Cheers,
R

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.