Please help....Mercedes leaking Oil and HOW do I get rid of oil marks on pavement?? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

lindajane · #1 10-30-2003, 05:09 PM

Hello,

I recently bought a 1983D Mercedes...a beautiful car...I've been parking in my landlords driveway and discovered its been leaking oil!....Should I be very cocerned...I'm completely broke and hope this doesn't mean major damage...
Also Please...any suggestions for getting the oil off the pavement, My landlord is furious and making my life hell.....
thanks,
LindaJane

leathermang · #2 10-30-2003, 05:22 PM

If you do a search on this site you will find this has been discussed pretty well...
My favorite is a box of Trisodium Phosphate from a store like Home Depot...
BUT be sure it is that on the ingredients..
Because it used to be called TSP... and then many phosphates were taken out of regular laundry powder... and they don't clean as well as before...but they still sell " TSP" but it often does not have the NEEDED ingredient in it....
They did this due to towns letting it get into rivers and it is a fertilizer.. so it caused algae blooming and weed growing in the rivers...
But it will even clean gobs of grease off mechanic's rags... you put about a cup into a five gallon pail of hot water, let it sit overnight... then rinse and then wash in regular laundry detergent...
If you make up a " paste" of the actual TSP and use a ' GI" brush on the driveway where the oil is.. then spray warm water on it... it should clean it up completely...
Be wary of any solutions which have petroleum distallates in them because they may disolve the driveway....

As far as the car is concerned... you will have to identify the point under the car where the oil is leaking for any guesses to be made as to seriousness of the situation... at some point you will need to clean the engine so you can determine where it is leaking.. in the mean time... just watch the oil level with the dipstick and don't let it get lower than the MIN mark...

5banger · #3 10-30-2003, 05:29 PM

LJ,
Try this product--affordable in the smaller quantities, anyway. My neighborhood association harasses people whose cars leak oil, too. Cheers, Andrew Seidel.
http://www.properautocare.com/pournrestore.html

also, this guy sells a "diaper" kit for older MBZ
http://www.**************.com

rickg · #4 10-30-2003, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 5banger
LJ,
My neighborhood association harasses people whose cars leak oil, too.

You've GOT to be kidding?! Do they tell you what color you can paint your house too? I've heard of those kind of communities. No thanks!

D.Blake · #5 10-30-2003, 05:43 PM

LindaJane,
Typical leaks for the 617 5 cylinder engine are:
1. Front Crankcase seal - Not too expensive to replace.
2. Turbo Drain line seal - cheap parts but can be labor intensive to replace.
3. Oil Filter case seal to the block - Again cheap part but a pain to replace.
4. Oil cooler line fittings both at the oil Filter and oil cooler. - A little expensive to replace.

As suggested before, clean the engine and then determine where it is coming from (or have your mechanic look after your cleaning). Also - Switching to a synthetic engine oil such as Mobil 1 has been known to eventually seal some leaks. Hope this helps.

5banger · #6 10-30-2003, 05:58 PM

...to be fair, I get to choose between two colours for the trim

rickg · #7 10-30-2003, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by D.Blake
LindaJane,
Also - Switching to a synthetic engine oil such as Mobil 1 has been known to eventually seal some leaks..

Hmmm. I've heard just the opposite. Guys that switch to synth on older engines end up with more oil leaks. I'd suggest doing a little more research on this point.

"...to be fair, I get to choose between two colours for the trim"
Oh, ok. That's better!

kerry · #8 10-30-2003, 06:19 PM

Valve cover can also leak. It usually shows up at the back of the engine. I fixed my oil filter housing to block leak on a 617 by just tightening the bolts. If it is a concrete driveway, muriatic acid will also work but be careful with it. Dilute it according to the instructions and don't use a lot because it can eat away the concrete.

300SDog · #9 10-30-2003, 06:26 PM

I'd use kitty litter on the oil spots - liquids will just make the oil spots larger..... gotta steam clean the engine to find the leaks.

suginami · #10 10-30-2003, 06:41 PM

Ditto on the kittly litter.

You can also buy a can of WD-40 and spray it on the oil spill. It will help dissolve it so that you can wipe the bulk of it up with paper towels. Then you can spread kitty litter on it and let it soak up the rest of the residue for a week or so.

You can re-clean with WD-40 for final cleaning.

Joe Blowe · #11 10-30-2003, 07:14 PM

When I want to pull up one of the best oil/concrete threads in this forum, I just punch the following into the ShopForum search engine:

WIFE KILL CONCRETE

Wasuchi · #12 10-30-2003, 07:15 PM

Is the driveway asphault or concrete? Don't use any petroleum product including WD-40 on asphault unless you want it to get gooey. Also for the time being you can get a 4'X4' metal pan at Wal-Mart or some similar store that's made to catch oil leaks like this... I think they are less than $10. Should be in the automotive section near the oil or the drain pans.

Judge · #13 10-30-2003, 07:40 PM

kitty litter, grind it with your foot or heal, 12-24 hours later sweep it up.

#14 10-30-2003, 07:50 PM

You can always paint the driveway... Oil might stop the paint from sticking, but it could work. New oil is fine with me, it's the OLD dry oil thats a PIA to get up. Once I got most of it up, I just lay kitty litter where I park and swap it out every weekend. At $3 for 30 lbs, it's cheap insurance.

84300DT · #15 10-31-2003, 06:52 PM

for the tsp

it is the solution for cleaning oil off driveways.
gotta find and stop that oil leak from the engine though eventually. otherwise it will haunt you..