OM617 oil filter housing leak - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

destroy · #16 03-11-2014, 01:05 AM

Guess what?

I got 'em all out. I bought a set of pullers like the ones mach4 posted (not knowing there already was some in my house

) and pounded it onto the one I could get to... then pulled it out. The other one I ended up taking a cut off allen bit and using some BlueMagic QuikSteel steel reinforced epoxy. It was cheaper than JB Weld and claimed to work a little better in wider conditions. I also put the heat gun to it for a few minutes to make sure it set up real well, left it for a couple hours... pulled on it hard with a wrench and all in one smooth motion it started to creak, a little snap-crack, then the epoxy kinda just fell apart, and it broke free!

Only thing is now... (well, two things!) when I was starting it off in haste and maybe a few other negative emotions, I tore the vacuum lines apart wrecklessly and as soon as they started coming undone I thought to myself "really shoulda taken a photo of that". Looking for a good diagram online right now to use... anyone wanna snap a photo and post it?

That and my top oil cooler line is kinda kinked by me being reckless and frusturated trying to get at it in the pouring rain. I'm gonna try and bend it back a little with a pipe wrench tomorrow now that it's on, hopefully it doesn't start to tear the metal and break. It still has enough room to flow, but should I be concerned with leaving it or should I do as planned and try to straight it out?

mach4 · #17 03-11-2014, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroy

Guess what? I got 'em all out.

Congratulations! Tenacity pays off. The vacuum is no big deal, that can be sorted out. The oil lines on the other hand might be another matter. Post some pictures so we can see how bad it is. Worst case source a new one at the junk yard.

destroy · #18 03-11-2014, 02:04 AM

Tenacity is right! I probably would have given up without how calm y'all are. I had pretty much had it with the car. My parents were trying to convince me I should be car shopping for Japanese 4x4's...

Just had to have a rest and calm down, come at it again on a better day when I was feeling a little better about it. Tenacity is definitely it. I feel like I can't give up on this stuff as I'm trying to get into school in the fall and start an apprenticeship as a heavy duty mechanic. Sadly I'm definitely tiring of fixing all the stuff on this old car. I drive it hard, which doesn't help with all the things that go wrong with it. At this point I'd just like something that's already in great shape and won't be constantly needing to have something to be fixed because it's older than I am and is constantly decaying and suffering age-related issues. I just need something I can do regular maintenance on for a while, as I won't be able to afford to live somewhere with room to do wrenching. I've got the cash, and I'd really like something newer, and the CDI fits everything I want to a tee... just gotta find the right one, now. Looking for this to end.

This car stuff is killing me! I haven't been snowboarding in almost a month... my one joy in life! I've missed so many good snow days in Whistler because of this, I'm in serious withdrawl and I can feel the happy-chemicals in my brain slowly diminishing...

As for junk yards... easier said that done. There's hardly anything here with Benz stuff. I feel like maybe I just don't know the right people, but it seems like there's not much around here, and most of the time you're dealing with somebody who's got terrible English and questionable ethics...

mach4 · #19 03-11-2014, 11:43 AM

If you don't have a decent place to work and the right tools, these old cars can be a real problem...especially if it's your only means of transportation.

If it's transportation your after, you can't beat something like a Honda or Toyota. In most cases you'll be looking at simple stuff - oil, tires, belts, brakes, battery, filters, etc....normal maintenance stuff.

Mercedes can be pretty reliable, but there are lots of things that do wear out or fail with time, as you just experienced.

The best situation would be to have two cars where you're not stuck if a project takes longer than expected.

Anyway, glad you got the bolts out.

Now, be careful to get the genuine MB gasket - it's the one with the "waffle" texture. You don't want to be doing the job again anytime soon. Notice the difference compared to a cheap paper gasket.

Diesel911 · #20 03-11-2014, 02:49 PM

I have to agree with having another Car to drive along with the Mercedes. For about 4 Years the Merceds spent if you totaled the days at least one Month a Year sitting in the Driveway. Sometimes it was a whole solid Month.

It takes time to round up expertiese, Tools and parts (to get them at a decent price ans quality usually means a order from an Internet Seller).

uberwasser · #21 03-11-2014, 03:36 PM

So, how about two Mercedes?? Or do two wrongs not make a right in this case too?

destroy · #22 03-11-2014, 08:24 PM

Well, I did everything right. Even had the proper OEM gasket from the deal that I bought a couple weeks ago.

Guess I shoulda been a little less hasty in my diagnosis. Bad weather (up here in the rainiest place around, smack dab in the middle of the 9 month rain season...), no time and energy will do that to ya. Just didn't take the time when it started to check it out since it's so nasty under there... Fired it up today and oil started gushing out the rear of the engine all over the transmission. Sounds like rear main seal, eh? Ugh.

I'd love to have two Mercedes. My plan was to buy a CDI, put this car into storage while I work up north this summer, fix this car up, and hopefully register it as a collector so I can have the cheapo insurance on it

. How can this thing eat two engines in three and a half years, and in less than 100,000 km when it was pretty cherry when I bought it? I even did valve adjustments and changed the damn fluids regularly!

Ees godda few years... but ees a creempuff!

mach4 · #23 03-11-2014, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroy

Fired it up today and oil started gushing out the rear of the engine all over the transmission. Sounds like rear main seal, eh? Ugh.

How can this thing eat two engines in three and a half years, and in less than 100,000 km when it was pretty cherry when I bought it? I even did valve adjustments and changed the damn fluids regularly!

What do you mean by "gushing out the rear of the engine all over the transmission"? If it's leaking onto the transmission, that would seem to point to something up top. Maybe a failed valve gasket, or a hole in the turbo feed line, or maybe a cracked block? If it's coming out the rear seal, it would be leaking out the bottom of the transmission, I would think. If it originally looked like it was the oil filter gasket that was the source of the leak, that would seem to point to something other than the main seal. I could be wrong but I would expect a main seal to fail slowly, not blow out like I think you're suggesting. The seal is a pretty tough material that can get pretty hard, but again, I don't think it would blow. Do you possibly have some huge blow by and are building up huge pressure in the crankcase that is forcing the oil out?

Get a pressure washer and spray it down with some Gunk, let it soak and blast it. Then do it again, and if necessary, again. Do both top and bottom. Then run it and see exactly where the oil is coming from.

I wish you had the tools and space to pull the engine and get it completely cleaned off and then run in on the stand where you can really see what's going on.

Unless you've got maintenance history, you never know what maintenance has been done (or not done) and what's going to happen with an engine (or transmission or anything else for that matter).

If it is the main seal, the engine will need to come out. It's theoretically possible to do it in place...at least some have reported doing it, but really it's engine out situation.

I bought a 300D beater as a donor for my project and the engine has been bulletproof through 40k miles but the transmission failed at around 10k - this stuff just happens.

destroy · #24 03-11-2014, 11:54 PM

I used our pressure washer on it to clean the whole thing before I started, so it's pretty clear now. I just went outside and gave it one last look. Everything up top looks dry, and the valve cover gasket looks good. I just redid it a few months ago when I did my adjustment. Jacked it up, left the pan underneath to catch the bloodloss.

It's leaking exactly where it was before. Only it looks to be coming from the banjo bolt for the turbo. Steady flow from just above the pressure sensor dripping all the way down. Not sure where to go with that one! Doing some googling right now...

mach4 · #25 03-12-2014, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroy

I used our pressure washer on it to clean the whole thing before I started, so it's pretty clear now. I just went outside and gave it one last look. Everything up top looks dry, and the valve cover gasket looks good. I just redid it a few months ago when I did my adjustment. Jacked it up, left the pan underneath to catch the bloodloss.

It's leaking exactly where it was before. Only it looks to be coming from the banjo bolt for the turbo. Steady flow from just above the pressure sensor dripping all the way down. Not sure where to go with that one! Doing some googling right now...

Did you replace the crush washers on the turbo banjo? Might possibly be the oil line too. If it wasn't supported properly it could have developed a stress crack right at the banjo fitting due to vibration.

After what you've been through, this sounds like a relatively easy fix. I'd pull the line and inspect it very carefully. If it's cracked you can probably have it brazed although getting a new one would be preferable. There are tons of them in the junk yards here, but I understand your situation up there. Replace the crush washers when you reinstall it. I've reused them with success but they're really one time use. Now that you know where it's coming from you're almost home.

Good luck - you'll be on the slopes in no time.

destroy · #26 03-19-2014, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mach4

Did you replace the crush washers on the turbo banjo? Might possibly be the oil line too. If it wasn't supported properly it could have developed a stress crack right at the banjo fitting due to vibration.

After what you've been through, this sounds like a relatively easy fix. I'd pull the line and inspect it very carefully. If it's cracked you can probably have it brazed although getting a new one would be preferable. There are tons of them in the junk yards here, but I understand your situation up there. Replace the crush washers when you reinstall it. I've reused them with success but they're really one time use. Now that you know where it's coming from you're almost home.

Good luck - you'll be on the slopes in no time.

Definitely seems like it might be it. The bracket that supports the line is just swinging loose but the line looks okay. Upon inspection in the car it doesn't look damaged at all in any way that would be the cause of the leak, but I'll have to pull it from the car and check. Maybe I can clean it and just redo the braze and seal it up. Any idea on a source or where I'd get a part number for the crush washer? It's a different size than the oil pan ones and I looked on the EPC, and could find it in the diagram with a number beside it but not in the list.

Shoud be able to just pop down to the dealer and grab one, eh?

mach4 · #27 03-19-2014, 05:10 PM

I'm not near the car right now, but I'm thinking it might be the same size as the ones on the transmission. I found some replacements for those by going to an indy shop, bringing in the old ones and asking if they had any "of these".

destroy · #28 03-25-2014, 12:30 AM

Ended up putting in a new one and cranked it down real good.

Still leaking... it's definitely coming from there. I took the line off, cleaned it, and couldn't see where it would be leaking. I could possibly try and source another line and just throw that at the problem... but man... what a head scratcher.

mach4 · #29 03-25-2014, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroy

Ended up putting in a new one and cranked it down real good.

Still leaking... it's definitely coming from there. I took the line off, cleaned it, and couldn't see where it would be leaking. I could possibly try and source another line and just throw that at the problem... but man... what a head scratcher.

Are you sure it's coming from the crush washer and not a crack in the line or a failure of the braze? And just to double check the obvious, you have a crush washer on both sides of the banjo?

destroy · #30 03-25-2014, 09:28 PM

Yep. Everything done correct.

The line really didn't look like a leak could be coming from the joint or the line. I cleaned it and couldn't see any irregularities in the metal that looked like a leak could be coming from it. If I'm lucky I'm just gonna go by my parts guy tomorrow and see if he has a line in stock and just throw that at the problem. Otherwise this is just ridiculous!!!