Possible Head Gasket Faliure Symptoms
 

1985 300D Turbo

Hello All,

I have encountered a situation which I believe might be head gasket failure. To start from the beginning. I took my car
for a test drive after changing the radiator hoses and flushing the coolant. The proper ratio of Mercedes coolant and water was used.
It was not the first time I had done this procedure. Approximately a mile into the drive the temperature gauge rose about 3/4 to
the top but not into the red zone. I headed back and turned on the heat hoping to reduce the engine temperature. It did not work.
Upon lifting the hood I noticed a small amount of oil bubbling up at the prechambers of cylinders 1 and 2 but not anywhere else.
I turned the car off and had it towed to my independent. My independent diagnosed radiator failure and replaced the radiator, water
pump and thermostat. The car drove fine for 500 miles but I noticed the coolant level dropping and a mysterious coolant drip at
the oil pan gasket. The drip is slow and appears overnight. I believe it is at the oil pan but it may be coming from higher up.


The symptoms:

Coolant vanishing
Unidentifiable coolant drip
Oil seems thinner than usual at operating temperature
Slight oil film at 1 and 2 prechambers after running for a long time - Was told minor leak at prechamber seals


No white smoke
No oil or bubbles in the expansion tank
No oil loss or fluid gain when checking level
No "milkshake" under oil filler cap
Very smooth running
No heater problems or smells anywhere


If a head gasket is suspected, how many hours of labor might I expect?

Where on the oil pan is the drip? How much coolant are you losing? I don't see any reason to suspect the headgasket yet.

Thanks for the speedy reply!
Passenger side near/below the turbo oil drain grommet. Appears to be coming from in the oil pan gasket but it is very hard to tell. I cannot change the oil at moment to confirm because I am not at home. Nowhere else.

Half way down within 10 days / 800 miles

Still some in expansion tank

Halfway down the radiator or expansion tank? could be the block heater leaking on that side.
This should be posted in the diesel discussion for a better set of answers.