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Hello experts,
A friend of mine is experiencing the problem as stated in the subject with his 97 Mercedes E320. A week ago, the Reservoir was overflowing this creamy/liquidy peanut-butter looking coolant, which I believe it is an indication that either Trans. Fluid or Engine Oil got mixed up with coolant, hence the color change and the overflow. This car does have the 2 Trans. Cooler lines that circulate through the Radiator. I removed as many component in the cooling system as possible , water pump, hoses, etc, to clean, I will do the flush after the diagnosis. Compression Test was performed beforehand and tested fine. I removed the Radiator and blew compressed air through the in and out cooler lines to check for leaks, none found, the air only escapes from the other opening, not from the upper or lower radiator hose terminals. I believe the radiator is the only place where the Trans. Fluid could leak into the coolant, correct me if I am wrong. Also, the car does not overheat, no cloudy smoke from the tail pipe, that’s why I did not bother running a leak down test. There is no sign of blown Head-gasket/cracked head as far as I can tell.What other places to check where oil/Trans fluid could mix? Also, is it possible that there a small leak in the radiator that the compressed air did not escape from? I was thinking about pouring liquid instead of forcing air but does it have to be pressurized? I do not want to crack the radiator open to physically inspect the internal line unless required. Any info on this issue would be greatly appreciated!!!
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Yes it is possible that there is a small leak that you weren’t able to notice when blowing compressed air through. In fact, unless the inlet and outlet lines were sealed while you were blowing air through it, it is not likely you would notice a leak. Leaks such as these are small and when the radiator isn’t pressurized, all the air is just going to want to come out the other end and not much will go thorough the small leak.
The radiator is the only place where coolant and transmission fluid meet. Pressure testing the radiator with the transmission lines disconnected would be the best test I think.
Thanks guys for the replies.
The test that I ran with compressed air was done with the cooler lines disconnected. I also disconnected all the rubber hoses. I am going to pressure test it and post back the result
I did check the Engine oil which looks very clean, it’s a bit low, did he lose oil? We don’t know what was the level of oil and fluid before his car turned into a peanut-butter machine, and it is sweet, you don’t even have to add jelly. The Trans. fluid does not look clean but it’s not very low. If green coolant were to flow back the Transmission, what would the fluid look like, especially color wise?
Here is my next approach besides pressure testing the radiator. I was thinking about flushing the coolant system, put everything back together except the Trans. cooler lines, I will find something to block both inlet and outlet in the radiator so I don’t lose coolant, fire up the engine and see if the mixing occurs. I will be running the risk of having to redo the flush if I experience the same issue but at least I would know that it’s coming from the engine. What do you guys think?
Rather than doing that I suggest first pulling the radiator and taking it to a radiator shop. Have them pressure test it while submerged in water.
BTW, I’ve seen some crazy stuff with radiators. I once had one that would leak only when warm. Hot or cold it was tight. But having it pressure tested in a tank will show 99% of the leaks. You don’t want antifreeze in the transmission.
Ladies and gentlemen I believe what we have is a bad radiator leaking internally ! If its a chocolate milkshake check the motor, if its peanuts butter your transmission met coolant in the radiator =) time to buy a new radiator
Either I’m missing something or I’m losing it but usually if trans fluid is mixing with the coolant, it has a pinkish appearance to it unless the trans fluid is brown.
I would say it’s more likely motor oil. Does the engine have a water to oil engine oil cooler?
[quote=”barneyb” post=83610] I once had one that would leak only when warm. Hot or cold it was tight. But having it pressure tested in a tank will show 99% of the leaks. You don’t want antifreeze in the transmission.[/quote]
I am curious to know what are the the cooler lines inside radiator made of, plastic? I will pressure test the radiator and post back, thanks.
[quote=”RogueTeddy” post=83620]Ladies and gentlemen I believe what we have is a bad radiator leaking internally ! If its a chocolate milkshake check the motor, if its peanuts butter your transmission met coolant in the radiator =) time to buy a new radiator[/quote]
The owner already bought a new radiator but we did not want to install just yet it as we need to make sure that it’s 100% the radiator. We will find out soon and we’re hoping that it is the radiator as you mentioned 🙂
[quote=”wysetech” post=83644]Does the engine have a water to oil engine oil cooler?[/quote]
Can you elaborate on that? I have searched in AllData and did find that it has oil cooler and pulled the instructions (attached). The problem is the Engine Oil is very clean, so I am unsure where oil and coolant could possibly meet unless it’s a cracked head or blown head-gasket, though I don’t see any signs of either.
[quote=”Marigh” post=83813][quote=”wysetech” post=83644]Does the engine have a water to oil engine oil cooler?[/quote]
Can you elaborate on that? I have searched in AllData and did find that it has oil cooler and pulled the instructions (attached). The problem is the Engine Oil is very clean, so I am unsure where oil and coolant could possibly meet unless it’s a cracked head or blown head-gasket, though I don’t see any signs of either.[/quote]
The problem is where that cooler is means the oil pressure is much higher than the cooling system pressure. When you have 40psi-60psi vs 14psi-15 psi, the transfer will always be from the area with higher pressure to the area with lower pressure.
Used to see that allot on the Ford IDI diesels when the coolant/oil coolers start to fail it is normally oil in the coolant and then when the thing gets real bad you start to see coolant in the oil.
The oil cooler is just another place where oil is on one side of thin metal and coolant is on the other.
Hi guys, sorry it took so long, I waited to see if the problem was resolved before posting back the results.
It was hard to find the leak in the radiator, when it was cold, it was completely sealed but when we put hot water in it there seemed to be a tiny leak, hardly noticeable. Just like barneyb described from his experience. We went ahead and replaced it as the owner had already purchased one, flushed the cooling system, and the car ran fine, no overheating, no fluid/oil and coolant mix-up, till today when we tried to change the engine oil and behold, peanut-butter in the crankcase. Correct me if I am wrong but this is an obvious sign that the headgasket is blown or cracked/warped head. I can see why there is no cloudy smoke from the tailpipe because the coolant found its way to the crankcase instead of taking other routes, right? But there is no overheating, is it because the the coolant is still somewhat effective even though it’s mixed with oil? Also, can you explain why the dipstick is super clean? I attached a couple of pictures, you can see the nasty stuff al over the valve train.
So what are your thoughts?
Again, thank you for your responses.
To determine weather it is a head or valley gasket get the engine warm and give it a hard rev. Check the dipstick if it’s chocolate milk you’ve done a head gasket if not it’s a valley gasket 🙂
[quote=”RogueTeddy” post=85893]To determine weather it is a head or valley gasket get the engine warm and give it a hard rev. Check the dipstick if it’s chocolate milk you’ve done a head gasket if not it’s a valley gasket :-)[/quote]
Valley gasket = Lower Intake Manifold gasket?
This is a 6-Cylinder Inline .
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