mercedes E240 V6 head gasket replace cost

v240gltse

hi

changing my oil this morning on my 1999 Merced E240 ( v6) and noticed lots of mayonnaise on the dip stick and cap :mad::mad::mad: I had only checked it last week and all was its usually shiny self.

I then went and checked the coolant which was also very low so in the space of a week it looks like I have a head gasket failure with no warning.

I changed the oil+ filter and refilled the coolant and ran the engine and there is a smell of not normal exhaust gases but rather a strange smell which i can only presume is burning coolant from the exhaust.

so that looks like there are the 3 classic indicators of a head gasket leak and my next question is does anyone know how much this is likely to cost :(:(?

thanks in advance

brendan

JP 1800

unfortunately for you it is head gaskets as it is a v6 engine, a sniff test or pressure check will confirm the state of the gaskets.

Nissan doctor

I would certainly make sure to get a cylinder leakage test(sniff test) done to be sure.

It would be very unusual for a previously fine head gasket to suddenly fail without any other cooling issues.

If the 240 has an oil cooler(I would suspect it does although I'm not sure off the top of my head) then I would be suspecting that as a likely culprit of the oil and water mixing so suddenly. Depending on access, you could remove the coolant pipes from the cooler and bypass it. If the coolant doesn't drop any more or any oil leaks from the coolant inlet/outlet pipes of the oil cooler then you know that's your problem.

You should certainly hope it isn't the head gaskets as changing them is listed as over 11 hours in labour alone, not to mention requiring numerous engine specific timing and fitting tools.

v240gltse

thanks nissan doctor.

Yes there is an oil cooler attached to the side of the oil filler system so I will investigate/replace that 1st as its only 85e+vat compared to the cost of replacing the HG which very sadly is way beyond the value of the car .

would there be any potential problem with running the cooler bypassed for a couple of days until i get my hands on a cooler ( only for very short trips ) ??

thanks once again

enumbers

bypassing in current temps is not going to cause any issues once the car is not going to be driven at constant high loads.