Possible Headgasket Leak??? 1990 190E 2.6L
 

Yesterday I opened up my coolant reservoir to my 190E and saw that there was what appeared to be oil in the water. I immediately opened the oil cap and checked the oil dipstick, but that was fine, not milky, no weird smell in crankshaft. I examined the engine and noticed a small amount of liquid (not sure if its coolant or oil) on the ledge of the engine right next to the oil filter. I have not noticed any running issues with the car, no misfires, no exhaust smoke, or rough idling. After smelling the coolant it actually smells like the Bar's Leak pellets I put in a while ago to stop a leaking hose when I was out of town. But whats the deal with the water on the side of the engine ledge? :eek:

Gasket is toast. Time to plan replacement. Buy Genuine MB head gasket, not victor-reinz.
Its typical for oil in coolant only, not usually vice versa.

Don't let it continue for too long or you will wear out your water pump.

As for the other, sounds separate issue.

I'm just gonna do the engine swap to a m103 3.0. The guy that did my tansmission said he would do the swap for me for $1600 even which includes everything plus a new fuel system. "im guessing the head job would cost somewhere around the same price more or less, so I may as well go with the upgrade, don't you think?

$1600 is reasonable. I paid 500 for the m103 3.0L thats in my car now. I had it put in for about $800 or so.

As far as I know all m103's will need head gaskets at some point in their lives, so you might be swapping in a good m103 and moving the problem down a few years. But at least you would be doing the future hg job on a worth while engine.

I think you will like the performance increase. I did.

If you added Barr's leaks pellets, you should expect oil in your coolant. The oil is there to lubricate the seal in the water pump. That must have been some very old stuff as Barrs Leaks is now sold in plastic bottles with the active ingredient dispersed and suspended. The pellets did not completely disperse and the new stuff is much better.

As to the liquid near your oil filter, it could be oil from a leaking valve cover gasket, or a leaking head gasket, or maybe from something else. It is unlikely to be coolant as the Barrs Leaks would have prevented that. I would run it until I was sure what is going on. Check the oil frequently so you know how much is leaking and to be sure you don't let it get low.

Yes! It was the pellets! They are brown and when they mix into the coolant they turn into a brown substance. I was not aware that the bar's contained oil in it. My oil level has not dropped. However the fluid on the side by the oil filter appears to be oil. I replaced my valve cover about a month or 2 ago. No signs of oil leaking from the vc. So I'm guessing head gasket??

You might do a water system flush and see what develops from there first.

Pretty rare to have a head gasket leaking oil on the driver side of the head.
The oil pressure passages are on the other side. I would suspect the valve cover gasket or the PCV hose. Or, of course, spilled oil from the last filter change.

DG

I stopped up a radiator with bar leaks.Its good for american radiator but not a overseas vehicle.The water passages are smaller in overseas cars

Ok so I drained my system and ran it with water only since oil and water doesn't mix, I figured I'd drive it for a few days to let the water circulate through the system and then drain it and see what I get. The results: I got something that looks like a vanilla iced coffee, but its definitely not oil as there is no separation of the oil and the water and there is not rainbow like drops or anything. It just smells like the Bar's Stop Leak product I used, not as strong though. Still haven't noticed any significant oil loss either other than the neglible amount that is leaking on the ledge by the oil filter. Here are a few photos of what came out of the radiator drain. So as of now, I'm inclined to believe it is just the Bar's product based on the fact that whatever it is, is water-soluable and not hydrophobic and also there is no change in performance nor significant oil loss and the oil crankcase itself is not contaminated. Does anyone else believe otherwise?

The problem with the old pellets is that they drop down into the radiator tanks and half disperse. It is nearly impossible to get all of the stop leak out, but there is nothing wrong with just leaving it there as it will mix into the coolant somewhat and protect against leaks, even head gasket leaks. I have the new Barrs Leaks stopping the head gasket water leak in my E 300 D. It has been working fine for a couple of years now.