teffy98ml320
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Date registered: Aug 2008
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Posts: 4
| Elusive Antifreeze Leak - caused by oil overfill?
Our 1998 ML-320 has 98,000 miles on it. Ever since we bought it (new), we had trouble with the oil idiot light. It seemed to come on randomly, even immediately after the dealer had changed the oil and after we had checked the oil level. Various dealers claimed that the light came on because we were actually 2 liters low - we knew that to be false. Over the years, we managed the problem by checking the oil level about once a week.
Recently, our trusted independent mechanic changed the oil as part of a B-type service. He said that he put in 8.5 quarts according to the manufacturer’s recommendation. That brought the oil level to the top of the red “rabbit ears” on the dip stick. He said that the dip stick length was off (apparently too short), so we began keeping the oil at the higher level.
About two weeks later, we noticed a little oil and enough antifreeze to trickle to the nearby floor drain. We took it in to our mechanic. He saw some oil splatter just in back of the radiator. He cleaned the splattered area, ran the engine for about 30 minutes, and checked for leaks in the radiator. He found none.
As an experiment, he lowered the oil level to the full line on the dip stick. The antifreeze leak is less now, but we still find some most days on newspaper covering the floor about 18” fore and aft of the front axle.
Our mechanic thought that the observed oil splatter might be from over-filling or a leaking gasket (inaccessible without removing the engine). Thus, the much less expensive lowering of the oil level described earlier. He also theorized that the oil splatter caused the belt near the radiator to slip. The slipping belt produced heat which convected to the radiator, causing the hot antifreeze to burp through a weephole.
What are your thoughts on the problem and solution? |
