oil problem, wait or too risky?

[ShollyC220]

Alright so I have an oil problem. I believe I have a leak in a hose at some point. (this may not be the problem, but it seems like it to me) If I park my car for a whole weekend and check under the car, there will be a small (about the diameter of a baseball) ammount of oil on the garage floor. This has been happening for about a month now, and today my (oragne/yellow?) oil light came on for about a second, then flickered off. It was not the temperature light, but the "oil can" light. Normally I would take the car into the stealership right away, but I have a major service coming up at 100k. The car is now sitting at 96.795k and I don't know whether to wait til 100k to get the problem fixed or to take it in now to prevent more problems. Anyone have an experience simialr to this or any ideas if I have a worse problem thank a leaky hose? Thanks alot-

-sholly

[Denlasoul]

Why dont you take you car in early for the 100K service?

[pnsji]

checking for oil leak would be a good idea.

[audiophile]

my bro had a similar problem with his slk230. he hardly ever drives the thing. took it to a mech. and opened up the some boot near the clutch(manual tranny) and sprayed some parts cleaner around the leak, never had a problem with since. he suggested that it might be a pcv valve or something like that, but mercedes doesn't have pcv valve for our cars , the part is called somethng different. i think it was called an oil spereator or oil something.:confused:

[ShollyC220]

Thanks for the help/suggestions guys. I think I'll just get the 100k service early- I don't want to risk this turning into a bigger problem.

-sholly

[jnenad16]

have you checked the dipstick o-ring( between the dipstick and the block)?

[detroit202]

Originally posted by jnenad16
have you checked the dipstick o-ring( between the dipstick and the block)?

holy shaitttttttttttt i never thought of that.

i have a leak i cant find comming from the bottom

i dident even know their was an o ring between the dipstick and block

does it just unscrew? its a threaded pipe?

[ShollyC220]

Holy crap, I never thought of that either. I'll get right to it.

-sholly

[jnenad16]

the dipstick tube is bolted down by one small bolt(5mm allen/hex) just below one of the intake manifold bolts, just undo that little bolt and wiggle out the dipstick tube, but make sure that you dont have too much oil in the pan cuz it will pour out(it might be a good idea to do this while you change your oil). It could also be your oil pan gasket thats leaking, or even the crank seal

nenad

[ShollyC220]

SO here is what I found out today. Two very expensive problems.

1) I need a new head gasket as is it leaking- $1,600 (w/stealership labor)
2) I need a new oil pan gasket- $800 (w/stealership labor)

First question is, is this a fair price for this job. I'll assume the answer is no since stealership prices are rarely fair. Secondly, I have three options (IMO) at the moment. Which does everyone think would be my best bet:

1) I can buy the parkets I need online and attempt to fix the problems with the help of my uncle, who is a GM Master Technician. (no MB experience)

2) I can try to sell the car to someone (and part out the aftermarket stuff) for much less than its worth because of the problem.

3) I can try to sell the car without telling someone about the problem, and hope they dont come and kill me when they find out whats wrong later.

thanks for any help-

-sholly

p.s.- i probably wouldnt try option 3, but I'm pretty desparate as of now...

[audiophile]

i would do option 1.
my mom has a 91' 300e, and those things are notorious for having head gasket problems. an mb mechanic told me that the most it would cost was 200$ and its a I-6, so buy the parts online and have your uncle help you. same thing for the oil pan. gasket aren't that expensive. parts would probably come out to no more than 100$. ;)

[kameraguy]

fcuk! Another hadgasket goes south. Sorry man, this is "one of those things" that happens to the M104 i guess. A lot of us had this prob too.

$1600 @ the stealership doesn't sound too bad....at least in terms of my experience. I had mine done at an independent shop and it cost $1530. I believe the local dealerships wanted close to $1800.

[ShollyC220]

Originally posted by kameraguy
fcuk! Another hadgasket goes south. Sorry man, this is "one of those things" that happens to the M104 i guess. A lot of us had this prob too.

$1600 @ the stealership doesn't sound too bad....at least in terms of my experience. I had mine done at an independent shop and it cost $1530. I believe the local dealerships wanted close to $1800.

Thanks for everyone's help- I am pretty sure I'm going to attempt this job with my uncle. His friend works for a Merc Dealership in NJ and he's going to get a manual from him. (and some advice)
I'll keep my fingers crossed-

Does anyone know of a good website that might carry a head gasket and an oil pan gasket? I checked German Star already, but they did not have one for my model listed on the website. Thanks-


-sholly

[jnenad16]

yeah, go with the option 1. as for the parts, try longmarch international, i dont have their phone right now, but they are very reasonable, also try shoreline imports from houston, tx. they are cheap too. the headgasket job is not that hard at all, it might take you a day or two(depending on experience), but its easily accomplished. the only drawback would be if there is surface warpage on the head or block.

[stox]

When you replace the head gasket, check the documentation carefully. It is my understanding that the new design head gasket needs to be re-torqued after 500 to 1000 miles.