Head Gasket and A/C for W-124
 

I just took my '91 300E in this morning to have it looked at for an oil drip that I noticed on my garage floor and my air-conditioning has stopped blowing cold air. The mechanic gave me estimates of $1600 to do the head gasket and $1200 to replace the compressor. does anyone had advice for me? My car has 225,000 miles and that seems a lot to spend.

:D Yeah, fork over the money.... guess you didn't read about those two problems b4 buying your car :rolleyes: ?

Let me preface all the answer you will get in one sentence .... "brantley , those are normal maintainance items for these cars, just look at how much car you will have for xxx,xxx more miles, much better spending that money than buying a Jap car that's crap........... better than making montly payments, that's just one time.... lots of labor b/c you have to remove the whole dash.."

LOL, sorry to hear about that, but as I have read on here many times, common problems of that unit, although great model / engine by what I read....

good luck:(

those estimates seem a little high, I've heard people get quotes for the M103 head gasket of around $800.
Do you have a leak at the front of the engine? Does the car use more than a quart of oil per 1000 miles and is there oil in the coolant? Any clackety clack valve noise?

Not sure on the A/C tho. The climate control on these cars are a right pain in the arse I've heard. I'm not looking forward to summer arriving and hoping the air-con will turn on. I'll pobably just sit it out in shorts and open all the windows and sunroof up instead! I'm used to European summers though, when a/c is usually a luxury not a neccesity.

Your mechanic's estimates are higher than the dealer.

The head gasket on an M103 engine should be less than $1,000.

An a/c compressor, if that is your problem, should cost about 1/3 of what his quote is.

How far are you from MB Autowerks? The owners of MB Autowerks also own and operate this forum. There is a link on the homepage.

The car does not use more than a quart per thousand, it uses about a quart per 2500-3000. Really the only problem seems to be that the leak fouls the plugs and makes a rough idle.

:eek: wait, its the compressor not the evaporator, no dash to remove, lol... my bad

So you are leaking oil externally ( based on your first post ), which either means you have a leak at the head gasket and / or at the timing chain cover seal.

You also have an internal leak, as described above, which means that you either need valve guides and / or valve seals.

Sounds like you need a head gasket and valve guides / seals.

It still shouldn't cost most than a $1,000, though....

Get a second opinion from another mechanic.
 

You may save some $!

With the problems you are facing, prepare to fork out at least 2 thousand to an indy. Anything less than that would be pure luck.