Hello All!

I am in the process of restoring a 1990 500SL with the M119 V8. It looks like one of the freeze or expansion plugs has rusted out and is letting coolant leak out of the cylinder head on the passenger side of the engine (LHD model)

These plugs are extremely cheap, ($1-$5) depending on where you go, but it looks like accessibility to replace it is an issue.

There is not a lot of information on this topic in the Search, so maybe it rarely happens.

Has anyone done this job on an M119 recently? If so, what was your approach to replace your plug? (Trying to avoid a $1000+ bill to replace a $1 part.)

Thank you!

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2006 BMW M5 "Heidi" @ 109,000 miles
2005 MBZ C55 AMG "Lorelai" @ 165,000 miles
1991 MBZ 300E "Benzachino II" @ 165,000 miles
1990 MBZ 500SL "Shoshanna" @ 118,000 miles

(On the hunt for a good used M103 engine as of 6/10/23, PM me if you have one to sell!)

How hard it is to get to? I used the expandable rubber plugs on an old tractor before, without issue, until I could remove the fuel injector pump to get access?

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

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