Fluid leaking near gas pedal 190E
 

Hello again. Now in know why to beware of 15 year old cars. I purchased a 190E last week. For the first 400 miles, it was a gem. Today I noticed a pool of fluid (not red, but more like motor oil) that collected by the gas pedal. Could this be power steering fluid? If so, why it is leaking within the car? I also noticed that the odometer stopped working today; right at 107901. The trip odometer did not work at purchase. Approximately 400 miles into my ownership, the odometer failed. After about fifty miles, the milage limped on to 107902. My concern is that the milage was not accurate to begin with. Is there a way I could check this out? Can the odometer worked intermittingly? It seems as though it wants to work. The hundred digit is halfway down and you can spot the "9" and a "0". The ten digit is about 1/3 of the way down. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

john

Might be oil from you oil pressure sending unit hose...

It has a hose from the engine bay that connects to the instrument cluster... that MIGHT be it... (broke loose some how...)

Kinda sounds like the previous owner pulled the cluster, messed with the odometer and forgot to connect the oil pressure hose correctly.... :D

Sorry, I just pulled a CSI Moment on you...

I believe the 190e has an electric oil pressure gauge, therefore there is no oil line going into the interior of the car.

More likely it's either oil being sucked in by a leaky vacuum line, A/C oil from a leaky evaporator, or perhaps brake fluid from a leaky master cylinder.

As far as the odometer is concerned, it is mechanical, so anything is possible. They can break or wear out. I'd check the spedo cable first though.

The fluid is most likely transmission fluid that travelled up the speedometer cable. Don't ask me how that happens, it just does. Pull the instrument cluster and you will probably see cable is wet with the same fluid. And as another poster said, oil pressure sending unit is electrical, not the mechanical kind with an actual tube with oil going to the gauge (which could spew hot oil on you in a wreck, which is why they don't use them).

Pre-85 W201's had a "live" oil pressure line to the gauge. In '85 it became electrical. I would pull the driver's side carpet and pad to get down to the floor pan and have a look at what's dripping/collecting. On the other side of the firewall is the master cylinder and brake booster. To the right of the gas pedal is the heater core in the center console, which might be leaking, but shouldn't be oily.

As seen in the picture, there is a hydraulic line that runs just behind the pedals.

Pedals

If it is the transmission fluid, shouldn't it be reddish in color? Also, if it is transmission fluid, does that mean there is something wrong with the transmission? Could this also cause the odometer to malfunction? (wet cable)

thanks,

John

ATF does have a reddish tint and smells worse than motor oil. Re: the odometer, that failure is common to the point of being inevitable in these cars and may or may not have anything to do with fluid leak.