

Your best bet is to have the engine compression tested (or leak down tested, a slightly different process but essentially checks for similar things) and only if this test (quick and cheap to do) confirms that the engine is healthy should you proceed with spending money changing things like the oil cooler. That said, oil in the coolant is usually an indication of a failed cylinder head gasket which is quite an involved and potentially expensive job to replace. If this is corroded it can allow the oil and water to mix inside it. This takes in oil under pressure from the oil pump and feeds it back into the oil system, on it's coolant side, it takes coolant in from the water pump and feeds it back into the cooling system. I'm not familiar with this specific vehicle but many engines employ an oil cooler which uses engine coolant to cool the oil. Check these troubleshooting and repair guides for more help on your Mercedes-Benz.I suspect the part that the mechanic may have been referring to was the Oil Cooler. We hope you find the Mercedes-Benz Engine Oil Mixing with Coolant Looks White guide helpful. This problem may affect any Mercedes-Benz vehicle, including Sprinters equipped with a diesel engine. Otherwise, reduced lubrication and cooling could cause additional damage to your engine and other drivetrain components. Whatever is causing the issue, you should fix it without further delay. Coolant is also meant to prevent overheating, but not in the same way, and not in the same system. It provides proper lubricant to reduce friction and wear and, to a lesser extent, it helps remove heat.
Motor oil in coolant reservoir cracked#
Other possibilities include leaking head gaskets and cracked cylinder heads, which may happen if the engine overheats. Oil is essential to keeping your engine running. In most gasoline Mercedes-Benz cars, this will most likely be caused by a leak within the oil cooler. ConclusionĪs we have explained, light-brown sludge inside a coolant tank is a sign of oil mixing with coolant. This is because such a mixture will not cool down the engine under high loads. And even if this happens another way around, allowing the oil to leak into the coolant, it can still be damaging. This reduces its ability to lubricate moving components and causes extensive mechanical wear. If the coolant leaks into the engine, it dilutes the oil inside. You should check for a blown head gasket if the oil is white or milky. You can perform an oil change to confirm the problem is not a blown head gasket. Wipe off the bottom of the oil cap and take longer trips, making the moisture evaporate. This is usually caused by condensation inside the engine, which is common if the vehicle is used for short trips. To fix the issue, owners will have to replace the whole radiator. If that happens, the transmission fluid will mix with coolant. Here are the three possible causes to your issue. Their weak point seemed to be the plastic Intake Manifold. In most cases, this cooler is an integral part of a radiator, where it may develop a crack. The 3.8 Natural Aspirated Engine was a rather solid design and were rarely known to blow head gaskets. RadiatorĪn engine oil cooler is not the only such component, as cars with automatic transmissions have one for the gearbox. Luckily, most Mercedes-Benz engines are not prone to these failures, although they still can happen. And to make things worse, not all workshops can determine if the head is faulty, as this can only be done using specialized testing equipment. This is, by far, the most expensive and complicated failure to repair, as cracked heads need to be replaced with new ones.

Motor oil in coolant reservoir crack#
Like head gaskets, the cylinder head itself may crack if overheated. This is where mixing these liquids may happen, as the head gasket can crack if the engine overheats. It also has a lot of holes that serve as channels through which oil and coolant flow. Its job is to ensure an air-tight seal between these components that is strong enough to cope with the combustion process. Blow Head Gasketĭespite their differences in design and configuration, all engines have a head gasket between a cylinder head and an engine block. On most Mercedes-Benz models, replacing this component is a relatively easy job. And among all possible causes that would cause such symptoms, a leaking oil cooler is the most likely one. In some cases, the metal core of a cooler may crack, allowing the oil and coolant to mix when the engine is running.
