Quote: "Any ideas if this looks like the modified gasket?"

I really can't tell from the shot. If you could get a close up of the rear pass side corner I could tell better. The modified gasket has the troublesome oil hole/water hole separated and surrounded by a line of the red rubber beading which is not the case on some of the other Reinz gaskets I got.

From the light grey color though, I suspect that this is not the modified gasket, which is darker and if I recall the logo was not repeated on a diagonal like that either. But I don't know if those criteria are really definitive for this determination.

That is the best image I have....Here is a higher res version. Maybe that will indicate. I just looked at the place I originally purchased the GH from and interestingly enough, the image they show is a much darker version! Maybe I got sent an old inventory version?



If you look here on peachparts, the Victor-Reinz gasket is the darker one also:



EDIT: Ah wait hold on that image shows the underside of the gasket....Shoot. Can't tell for sure now.

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2003 Gray Mercedes ML350 - 122k

Actually, the better photo does seem to show the extra bead around the oil port (I think the smaller one is for oil).

The gasket set shown clearly has the extra bead around the hole as well as the darker (and perhaps improved?) gasket material.

I think I still have an Elring gasket set that I kept, I'll look at it tomorrow and see how it compares. I may even have one of the extra Reinz gaskets without the mod. Unfortunately I finally threw out the old gasket that came out of my car about 2 weeks ago.

I looked at the Elring gasket set I kept, unfortunately I guess I didn't keep any of the other Reinz gaskets I had gotten.

So to re-cap what my experience was:

1. Elring is the factory gasket (or at least what my local Benz dealer sells and is also the brand of the first replacement gasket that went on my M103 that was done by the dealer in 2001).

2. The Elring gasket put on my car in 2001 did not have an extra sealing bead around the oil hole. The Elring gasket in the set I got in 2009 also did not have the extra bead either.

3. Some Victor-Reinz gaskets I got had the modification (the extra sealing bead around the oil hole) and some didn't (old stock still on parts shelves?).

4. The Reinz gaskets [that I recieved] that did have the modification were also made from a darker gasket material. However, Ps2cho's photo shows a Reinz gasket with the mod in the lighter grey material.

5. I was informed by a few sources (including the Benz dealer) that they could no longer get individual head gaskets, only gasket sets (Elring or Reinz).

6. I have no knowledge whether the extra sealing bead around the oil hole is actually an intended improvement by the maker, and if it is, I do not know whether it does indeed improve the life or performance of the job. The same comment applies to the darker gasket material.

I can't recall with any certainty what was commented in my conversation with the gasket designer at Reinz (actually now owned by Dana corp I think). I thought I had posted about that conversation or made some notes but I can't seem to find them. Anyway, I seem to recall that he had no info or knowledge about the mentioned "modification" or the darker gasket material but he was able to ascertain (I think by some numbers I gave him) that the lighter grey colored gaskets without the mod were made in the US or Canada and the darker ones with the mod were made in Germany. I remind that this info is loosely recalled.

That's about all I can contribute except to say, that considering the notoriety of the M103 head gasket failure, when I saw the small modification in the first gasket I got, the impression in my mind that it represented an improvement in durability was strong enough (perhaps actually so, perhaps not) that at that point I would not settle for any other gasket. So even though I slightly damaged that first gasket (in an innocuous spot), I tried very hard to get another such gasket, and not being able to get one, elected to repair the damaged one rather than use one without the "modification".

In retrospect, I'd probably try to get a gasket with the mod, but I'm not sure I'd be that anal again.

Good luck

One last thing, the intake gasket in the Victor-Reinz set was smooth and somewhat hard. The Elring intake gasket had a rubberized coating(?) with a criss-cross pattern in it that looked like it would give a much better seal, so I elected to get an Elring intake gasket at the dealer rather than use one in the Victor-Reinz gasket set.

Just a couple coments that might be useful:

A brand new valve cover gasket can leak, due to wear on the valve cover bolt stand-off. This allows the gasket to get over-compressed when it is tightened to normal torque. You can check this by examining the underside of the VC bolt bosses, and by laying the VC on the head without the gasket and see if it rocks up/down on some of the stand-off bosses.
A VC leak can certainly disguise itself as a head gasket leak; but probably not in your case since you checked from underneath, and you have some coolant leaking also (a dead giveaway of a head gasket).

A mechanic told me years back, that a critical factor to good head gasket life was a very smooth surface on the planed head. The aluminum head expands differently than the iron block, and is constantly sliding along the head gasket during heat/cool cycles. If the head surface is rough, it will abrade the gasket and eventually cause the leak in the rear.
Again, yours failed really soon, so maybe not the culprit.

Just a couple of points to consider.

DG

Ps2cho's head was lightly skimmed when we did the head recondition, and the surface was pretty slick. I know Ps2cho posted pics of it at the time.
I was also thinking that the oil leak was from the VC, and have done my very best to isolate the area that is leaking, visually, but you just cant see back there. I tried using my HF Borascope which is a great tool, but I just cant get a good view due to the focal length of the camera and clearances.
As it is leaking so profusely(palm size oil patch every time its parked, and smelly burning oil when you drive) I wiped the back of the VC/head junction with a clean paper towel, and can see no fresh oil on it, just dirt.

I was hoping that someone would have a M103 head in their garage so we could see a rear view, in case there is a gallery plug on the back of the head that is leaking.

I would love to think we will not have to pull the head again over the holidays, but I am increasing sure its the headgasket for whatever reason.

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I'm pretty sure there is a gallery plug at one end or the other. If you don't see one on the front, then it must be on the back. I think I recall the Machine shop opened mine when they cleaned the head and re-plugged it.

Maybe call the machine shop and ask if they recall doing that.

I've scoured the entire google image search and I cannot find a photo that shows the rear-side of the 103 head....What a PIA...

Going to get my parts I need together ready for my removal in 2 weeks time.
So I know what I am looking for when I head to the dealer, is this (best photo I could find) the Elring OE gasket? Is that the updated one? I cannot see the same water jacket section at the back corner like the one on the VR gasket. I'm guessing the one shown in the below photo is the older style?


Does the updated gasket have a specific part # different to the older style? I'm assuming it does... Part #103 016 09 20?

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2016 Monsoon Gray Audi Allroad - 21k
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Got the new gasket....Same one as I ordered last time, but definitely different!!

Hopefully I got a better design? Both Victor-Reinz



As you can see, it is the darker one like you mentioned earlier.

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2016 Monsoon Gray Audi Allroad - 21k
2008 Black Mercedes E350 4Matic Sport - 131k
2014 Jeep Wranger Unlimited Sahara - 62k
2003 Gray Mercedes ML350 - 122k

The Elring gasket you picture seems to be a typical Elring head gasket. Same as the one in the last head set I got (2009) and the same as the Elring gasket that was put on my car in 2001. It does not have the extra bead of separation between the oil/water holes, but it may be a few mils thicker (not certain about that).

The Reinz gasket you show in the second picture appears to be the same gasket I got, with the modification (extra bead around the oil hole) and yes, the darker material. I'd iterate here that I have no knowledge or opinion if these features do indeed qualify as "improvements" but I'd be inclined to think they are at least intended to be as they apparently represent some conscious departure in design, manufacture and composition from the previous Victor-Reinz M103 gaskets.

One observation however, and not to make your choice harder or anything, but I like the wider/thicker sealing bead on the Erling gasket! (but I think the extra separation between the oil/water holes on the Reinz job is more desirable).

Edited to add: Regarding a photo of the rear of the head to see if there's a plug. If the leak is from a gallery plug, you'll have to pull the head to fix it anyway, same job, essentially.

Was just browsing back through my photos I took when doing my transmission removal...and I noticed this on the back of the head!

note: It was leaking before the removal....do those 3 trails look like oil to you?

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2016 Monsoon Gray Audi Allroad - 21k
2008 Black Mercedes E350 4Matic Sport - 131k
2014 Jeep Wranger Unlimited Sahara - 62k
2003 Gray Mercedes ML350 - 122k

I cant say what the gasket looked like as its been too long now but I do know when I did my last head gasket on the M104 in the C I used the Reinz gasket and new bolts. The OEM gasket lasted to 75K miles, after replacing it, it lasted another 45K miles. (120K total). At that time I used the Reinz gasket which lasted until about 220K miles (about 100K) but it now needs it again. The Reinz did last longer for me.

I've also read in places that if you run the M104 engine 1/2 Quart less of oil than the book calls for it helps. I cant attest to that one way or the other and it doesn't make much sense to me based on oil at the top is coming from the pump and the oil pressure isn't going to change on the head if the oil is lower in the pan. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

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UPDATE:

With valve cover removed, I confirmed it IS the head gasket. The gallery plug is dry.
Well....another hour and the head will be off.

This time around it seems possible to leave the belt tensioner, radiator, fan clutch completely alone!!

Stopped for lunch break then the chain sprocket is removed and head is up up and away!





Does that ignition rotor look a little worn? It has about 25k on it...

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2016 Monsoon Gray Audi Allroad - 21k
2008 Black Mercedes E350 4Matic Sport - 131k
2014 Jeep Wranger Unlimited Sahara - 62k
2003 Gray Mercedes ML350 - 122k

ps2cho, the rotor shows signs of arcing. To the best of my knowledge the rotor doesn't contact the distributor cap terminals so there is no mechanical wear. Either lightly file the rotor smooth or replace it. Same for the distributor cap. Spark plugs should be changed every 30,000 miles.

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