Nope, maybe a few drops only.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

You were right, only a tiny amount of coolant was lost. The reason I asked was because I'm at work and didn't feel like stranding myself here if the coolant decided to dump out everywhere.

I noticed two things - The seal between the inner smaller pintle and the larger outer one was deteriorating pretty bad. The seal at the end appeared ok, but definitely old. The wire screen was badly clogged up with scale. Somebody must have put undistilled water in there.

I checked the coil and it seemed strong.

So, I'm going to replace the thing, but I'm wondering if the clogged screen wasn't partly to blame. I cleaned it out pretty good. We'll see. But probably best to just replace it anyway, since the seals aren't great.


Thanks for your help!!


-tp

There ya have it. Price is $50 or less, just gotta shop around. FL prolly sells them too.

The dead diaphragm is the big issue, I think the build up you're seeing is just lack of maintenance over the years.

You're not on green coolant are you?

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Yes,

I am on green coolant. Without starting a coolant thread, is there a good reason not to be? My experience with the red stuff from my '96 impala SS has left me with the impression that the red stuff is overrated and potentially even damaging. But that was a while ago, the stuff may have changes since then.


What should I be running?


thanks- tp

Dexcool is okay in GM, but don't believe the 100k mileage claims. I drain/flush every other year.

Xerex G05 or the OE MB stuff. Light yellow color, like when you have one too many beers after a night.

M103 is super easy to flush. Block drain is around the No 5 cylinder exhaust port. Check all your hoses, there's quite a few behind the main firewall. Good simple maintenance to keep you on the road and not stuck somewhere.



Verify your coolant temp senders are good in the head, usually the aux fan one is bad. Also, the M103 seems to run slightly higher coolant temps than a Diesel or V8, probably due to the smaller radiator which made no sense to me either.

Anyway, I have a new cooling system in mine and I see 82-97°C depending on the season, nothing higher than that while operating. I also dropped to the 79°C thermo from the 87°C and didn't notice much aside from the fan clutch not coming on all the damned time in the summer...

I have driven the car a few times since it cooled off and in the low 40°F temps the motor got up to 80°C+ easily, so the thermo is fine. Also my Turbo BMWs use the 79°C from the factory.



Probably more than you wanted to know.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Actually, that information is useful. Thanks!


At the moment, I am tracking down issues with temp sensors. I will shout back at ya if I get stumped.


Thanks!