Last dinner date, but we didnt know 2019
 

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So this christmas season was exhausting...... lots to get done and did it.

Wife was on it and didnt skip a beat or drop the ball.... all good.

I tell the wife I wanted to say thank you and take her out to dinner...... before we go take the old Mercedes C230 out to get a wash and looking good.

All went well for the night (Saturday night)

Sunday morning....... outside cleaning up after stuff in garage and decide to kinda clean up under the hood...... decide to check coolant level and top off.

Open up radiator..................... and I see it.

BROWN THICK UGLY ARSE SLUDGE.... HEAVY HEAVY SLUDGE.

Game-over. RIP.

We didnt know it was going to be our last date, it is and it was.

Dont want to, but gotta let it go after 260K.

SAD.

We owned her from mile one.... to very last mile on Saturday night.

Time to say goodbye

are they known to have head gasket issues?

These supercharged engines didnt have the best reputations getting past 80K......

I've known this after the 1st few years. Kept up with factory suggested up keep-really well over the years.

I knew I was on borrowed time after 100K..... I have NOOOOO COMPLAINTS on this car, NONE.

Loyal, trustworthy, solid build, little issues, looks EXACTLY like the picture as it sits in my garage today...........

My wrench is a Merc wrench... he couldn't believe its lasted as long as it has/did.

Sad.

260,000 miles and it blows a gasket!! Jeez, sounds like a recall is in order. Pretty darn good, I'd say.

Nah, just drop an LS motor in it! :)

LS.... dang those things are going into everything these days.....

saw one go into a Mini recently..... not a bad idea. :)

I wish I could make that happen.........

She looks to be in great condition. Must be like a family member by now. Maybe you could get her fixed? :)

Yes it has been almost 15 years and lots of miles and memories. That's going to be the plan if I can find a person to do the repair and it makes sense then I will keep the car as a spare car

I'm not quite sure how much a blown head gasket repair would be, that is if it's a blown head gasket and not a cracked block. I guess I will have to have it's officially diagnosed and go from there. I feel like I'm putting a pet down.

Yeah, well your title sounded far more ominous. Glad it is just a car.

Hold a ceremony or something, and say good bye. Fixing it now seems like the start of a downhill slide. It usually turns out to be more than you think, then more after that. That kind of takes the fun out of the relationship.

I had the same thing happen to my wife's 2003 BMW 325 CI convertible....a beautiful day in October coming home from work, and barely made it into the driveway before it stalled for good. I had trouble keeping it running for the last 2 miles...believe it is also a head gasket at 245,000 miles. It is sitting next to my barn waiting for warmer weather to diagnose.

You are my spirit animal!

I have already thought of this on my wife's 325.

It doesn't have a liquid cooled oil cooler, does it? That's what always happened to all the 944's. Oil cooler seals failed and you got the mix. Seals were relatively simple...cleaning out the cooling system with Shout was messy and time consuming. Nice looking car, it'd be a shame to give it up.

In a New York minute...

I would buy a good/used wrecking yard motor if available. Car looks super clean.

No wisdom here other than respect for the past 260K+ miles and best wishes for the future. Cheers!

What would you let it go for?

Could just be from condensation.... drive it much???
Mostly short trips?

on my gti, i had oil in my rad, but no coolant in my oil.
it was the oil cooler gasket. basically, they run an oil pipe trough the rad to cool the oil.
had to flush the rad 4 times after the gasket got replaced.

sooooooo I may have jumped the gun a bit...... I called my wrench (Factory Merc Mech) he is the only guy that has worked in the car since the factory warranty expired.

Turns out these DO have a liquid cooled oil cooler (or something like that) and those seals may have failed. He asked me if it was running like crap on the drive home..... it was NOT driving like crap and was as smooth as always... that lead him to believe it was not a head issue.

Towed it to his house and told him to take his time to evaluate. The plan is to repair enough to get back on the road and keep it as a 3 rd if possible.

In the meantime...... the wife wants an Escalade.......

sooooooo I may have jumped the gun a bit...... I called my wrench (Factory Merc Mech) he is the only guy that has worked in the car since the factory warranty expired.

Turns out these DO have a liquid cooled oil cooler (or something like that) and those seals may have failed. He asked me if it was running like crap on the drive home..... it was NOT driving like crap and was as smooth as always... that lead him to believe it was not a head issue.

Towed it to his house and told him to take his time to evaluate. The plan is to repair enough to get back on the road and keep it as a 3 rd if possible.

In the meantime...... the wife wants an Escalade.......

Decision time/ DONE.
 

So with the C230 getting diagnosed/fixed.... i needed to pull the trigger on another car.....

:) the wife was all-in on an Escalade, the fancy one, NOT a reasonable 2005 Yukon (hahahahahahahaha)

we did alot of research, we saw and test drove a lot of full size SUV's and she even said, lets be "practical" and get nice suburban or yukon..... but i know she had her heart set on the Escalade.......

soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo............... ..........................


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1580756552.jpg

the look on her face was 100% worth it........

SAVED the old girl !!!!!!
 

Soooooo turns out the head gasket was NOT blown, the block was NOT cracked!

Seems as though the seal to the transmission fluid seal failed and that found its way to the cooling system......... wasnt a cheap fix but it wasnt unreasonable!!!!!

While my wrench was in there" I had him go through it and do a complete service and get her back to the condition she has always been in.... back on the road!

Then of course I'm feeling pretty happy........... and i think if the bumper and the pitting, and the 3 grills and the beating that they have taken, god it just didnt look right and seemed to be not right..... soooooooooooooooooooooooooo i fixed it. and it turned out pretty good, i think.

Painted the bumper
Removed and straightened the grills
Painted and installed the grills

Looks pretty good for a car that has 260,000 miles on it.



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BUT wait.... there's MORE! (not in a good way!)
 

Soooooo Saturday night I took the wife out to eat a nice dinner... all went well, good meal, happy night.....

Walk back to the Escalade that we've had LESS THAN A MONTH........

Just to find a nice note on my windshield !!!!!!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583177168.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583177168.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583177168.jpg

So.............does your Mercedes have an alibi?

93nav,

Wholly Sheet !................... NOW THAT.... was funny.

Took me a second to process it, wait what? alibi? mercedes? then the coffee shot out!

Made my day !

I like your old Merc, but then I am biased.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583189041.jpg

Best
Les

Bummmmmmeeddddddd
 

So I ended up trying to restore my headlights since i repainted the bumper and the headlight lenses needed some attention
i got really close!

until i applied the clear! then the job went to the birds and i am bummed............

sanded with 800
sanded with 1000
sanded with 1200

polished with compound

looked AWESOME!

cleaned off with rubbing alcho

applied clear

AND RUINED THE JOB!

i am not a painter (clearly) but i got close to a nice headlight....

any have any insight as to why the clear dried like that? kinda looks cracked.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583542475.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583542475.jpg

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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583542475.jpg

Not sure - but looks like a chemical residue contaminated with the clear finish. Was it recommended to use rubbing alcohol as a cleaner?

Well not really "recommended" but I was watching a few youtube videos and they all used alcohol so I used it too. I didnt even think twice about using it.

Anyone know how long I would need to wait before sanding down that new clear and re-doing it?

Please find more enjoyment in cooking at home.

Love,
-Your vehicles

Stick a LS in it and keep grinning.

Soooooooooooooooooooooo...........

Sssssoooooooooooooooooooooooo
 

(Hey Milt)

sooooo after restoring the Passnger side WITHOUT the clear and it looking great......... i wondered if i could restore the headlights on the X5.....

after eating a nice home cooked meal and thinking......

i ended up restoring the headlights on my X5 and they came out GREAT..... no clear-coat... (yet)

now i am going to wait for this weeks rain to pass then i am going to re-do the driver side of the benz that got jacked with the clear coat.

[img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads26
/Rocco_Passenger_side_PRIOR_to_restore_March_202015 83775219.jpg[/img]

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583775219.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583775219.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583775219.jpg

it was a fun little project that cost very very very little

a little elbow grease

and got a nice smirk at the end.......

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583775381.jpg

this is how BOTH sides started...... yuckala.