My 1987 190E lost power with smoke noticable behind the vehicle. My wife was driving the vehicle at the time, and she cannot verify the color of the smoke. Massive oil loss was also noticed on the ground below the engine. Assuming a head gasket, I proceeded to drain the oil and antifreeze in preparation to remove the head to replace the head gasket. No mixing of these fluids was noticed. Following head removal, the head gasket LOOKS intact. No compression test was done prior to head removal! Before I continue, what are the possible causes for these symptoms, and what repair/diagnosis steps would be indicated? Also, since the engine used a little oil prior to this failure, is a ring job fairly easy at this point of repair?

More than likely it was the head gasket. With the head off though and the exhaust manifold off and disconnected from the down pipes you should see the Pre-Cats if you have a NA model Benz. Not sure where you are or what model engine you have so this is kind of a guess. But the cat or pre-cats if clogged will make a very obvious drop in power output. You can see the pre-cats with the exhaust manifold out of the car. Also could be your intake boot is shot as well. That goes between the Air Flow Meter and the throttle body on these cars. It is a rubber boot on the bottom of the AFM. If it cracks it will suck in air and not pull the AFM plate down enough for proper fuel flow. Next could be bad plug wire, distributor cap and rotor as well. Then last but not least would be vacuum leaks. Check all vacuum connections.

I would start by looking at the Pre-Cats first. Then of course put the head back on and everything all together. Since you most likely have the AFM off to do the headgasket you can check the intake boot on the bottom from cracks. Re-Assemble everything and test. When my gasket went I have severe loss of power and could not get over 4000 RPM to save my life. Just happened one day. I checked the coolant tank to find a little oil in it, not very much, so I did the gasket over that weekend. Ordered the gasket set on Friday when I noticed and got it on Monday when I put everything back together. I had cleared my pre-cats out before finishing. But once all assembled again it still did not have power. So I replaced fuel injectors, not the problem though. So I disconnected my exhaust and the engine rev'ed just fine. So my cat was clogged. All great now. But do it in steps as to not have to buy new injectors like me and waste your money!

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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.....