Thanks for your intrest..
On the 96 E300D there is a definite water leak, not too bad yet, toward the back of the block and head. If I attempt to re-torque the head, am I asking for more leaking by causing the gasket to separate even more?
Matt Hemsley
So.CA

Matt:

If you have a leak between the cylinder head and engine block >> no amount of torqueing is going to "solve" the problem..

It's a major issue for your engine and best "solved" by replacing the head gasget.

To try to run the car with a blown head gasget risks engine overheat which usually results in warped head that necessitates having the head machined back to being perfectly flat... which usually changes the compression .... and usually things "just aren't the same anymore'..

I've done head gasget replacement on my BMW 2002's >> not the most fun job in the world... but doable

good luck

You should never try to re-torque "stretch" type torque to yield bolts!!

__________________
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Thanks for the replies, I'm not seeing any symptoms of a blown gasket other than the anti-freeze slowly dripping out. The car does not overheat, there's no oil in the water or vice versa. Are there any other places anti-freeze can escape besides from the gasket? It's coming from the area that has a half round bore into the head. I did take it to a indie yesterday who recommended I drive it until it gets really bad(lots of water coming out). Also, I'm not sure I know what "yield bolts" means. One last question, what are the most likely causes for this happening?
Thanks
Matt Hemsley
So.CA

Could be a leaky soft plug! But I am not sure where they all are!

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~Jamie
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2003 Pewter C230K SC C1, C4, C5, C7, heated seats, CD Changer, and 6 Speed. ContiExtremes on the C7's.

1986 190E 2.3 Black, Auto, Mods to come soon.....

When the bolt is torqued, it elongates and stretches. The torque and resulting stress stretches the metal to the 'yield' point. Once metal is stressed to the yield point, it will not return to the previous stressed length. It will stretch further with less torque and stress, and is thus weaker.

It is a predictable way to apply a known amount of force to hold a head, but it means that the bolt is good for a 'one shot' use.

Best Regards,
Jim

Jim,
I totally understand now about the "yield bolts", thanks for the easy to understand explanation. I am really interested in the "soft plugs" as to whether or not this may be the problem. Anybody familiar with these and where they are?
Thanks,
Matt Hemsely
So.CA