Car D.I.Y.

[Bristolian]

Went out to check the Merc over this morning in preparation for heading off to the Netherlands for a couple of weeks to find the coolant expansion tank empty 😲 Uh Oh! having had head gasket issues a few months ago I'm starting to fear the worst but then I noticed that there's signs of water splash in a fairly well defined line from driver side to passenger side of the engine bay.

A few minutes of investigation shows coolant coming from behind the water pump and dripping down onto the crankshaft pulley. Must be the water pump bearing seal; remove the ancillary belt and sure enough I can feel some play. Rats!! Fortunately, a local parts emporium has a new pump in stock, not genuine Mercedes but an oem make so that will do.

What idiot thought it would be a good ideal to use safety Torx bolts to hold it on? And guess who doesn't have the right tool for the job? I've got the right size Torx bit but it doesn't have a hollowed out end ... well, it didn't have but it does now. Cheers to my neighbour that allowed me to use his pillar drill to modify the bit (and a few others for good measure ).

15 minutes later and the job is done No more leaks and we're ready for the off on Saturday (or will be when I've put some diesel in the tank ).

 

[Pinno718]

Went out to check the Merc over this morning in preparation for heading off to the Netherlands for a couple of weeks to find the coolant expansion tank empty 😲 Uh Oh! having had head gasket issues a few months ago I'm starting to fear the worst but then I noticed that there's signs of water splash in a fairly well defined line from driver side to passenger side of the engine bay.

A few minutes of investigation shows coolant coming from behind the water pump and dripping down onto the crankshaft pulley. Must be the water pump bearing seal; remove the ancillary belt and sure enough I can feel some play. Rats!! Fortunately, a local parts emporium has a new pump in stock, not genuine Mercedes but an oem make so that will do.

What idiot thought it would be a good ideal to use safety Torx bolts to hold it on? And guess who doesn't have the right tool for the job? I've got the right size Torx bit but it doesn't have a hollowed out end ... well, it didn't have but it does now. Cheers to my neighbour that allowed me to use his pillar drill to modify the bit (and a few others for good measure ).

15 minutes later and the job is done No more leaks and we're ready for the off on Saturday (or will be when I've put some diesel in the tank ).

What Merc? I've had 4. 2 good, 2 bad.