Help !! Head gasket failure - temporary solution??

[ric220]

Help!! My '94 Merc W124-series E220 estate's just been diagnosed with head gasket failure!! Had been losing water for a while but given it wasn't overheating and no emulsion I assumed it was a rad / hose leak. How naive! Anyway given my crunchy credit, 8-months-pregnant partner and Christmas being weeks away I'm not in a position to have it done anytime soon (I'm guessing c.£550 which is almost exactly the value of the car!). So, I'm looking for temporary solutions that might help. I've heard good and bad things about "wonder cure" additives - can anyone recommend a brand? Also, would having the head bolts tightened half a turn help? Would really appreciate any advice. Many thanks.

PS apparently the gas test was "inconclusive" so the diagnosis is based on significant coolant loss with no obvious leaks in the cooling system. That sound reasonable?

[TerryG]

I have used irontite in an 1800 k series with a blown head gasket, it lasted 8000 miles before going again.
It is a bodge at best but it should keep your car running long enough to get rid and find another.
Have a look on ebay and you will find people selling it.

[JPB]

Be aware that products of that type aren't suitable for any engine whose water pump bearings/seals are made from graphite.
This was discovered the hard way by the owner of a previously very original Stag who was quite surprised when the lower seal on his pump failed after using this bodge and then found that his sump was full of coolant. He wasn't a happy man that day.
Last time I was round by his, the car was in his garage, engine still awaiting its autopsy some three years after the day that the issue came to light. And to steam, lots of steam.

Now I'm not familiar with the engine in your modern Benz, but I do remember that the water pump in the '60s one that Dad owned for a while back in the 80s/90s had graphite pump bearings. Fortunately, he never had any trouble with it but that was most likely because he didn't pour a pint of small-gauge gravel into the cooling system.
ISTR that MB engines of the period had their pump on the front face of the block though and not on top of it like those Saab/Triumph slants and V8s, so if that were the source of your leak, you'd most likely see coolant down the front of the block and not have to suffer from the trauma of watching it drain into the sump.

[suffolkpete]

It is a bodge at best but it should keep your car running long enough to get rid and find another.

Tut, tut, you're not advocating bodging it and quickly unloading to another unsuspecting punter are you?
It's possible to have a head gasket go and not have water in the oil or oil in the water, I once had a Pug 104 that did just that, but if it is really consuming a lot of coolant, the large amounts of steam at the exhaust are a dead giveaway. I've tried one or two of these bodge solutions (but not as a means of getting rid of the car, honestly ) in the marginal motoring days of my long-past youth but they've always had some sort of undesirable side effect, usually by blocking the radiator or heater matrix. That coolant must be going somewhere, but if it's not in the sump or appearing as steam at the exhaust then you must have a leak. I'd have a much more thorough look, concentrating on the more unlikely places, like the heater matrix, water pump or core plugs. Maybe there's a water circulation problem or a late opening thermostat causing water to be expelled through the overflow as the engine warms up. Good luck cooling system problems are one of the most difficult to diagnose.

[megadethmaniac]

A work mate has a C200 and he had a similar problem. Turned out that the water pump gasket was failing and as a result he needed to top up every couple of days. He picked up a cheap replacement pump and fitted it in an afternoon without any problems... job done.

Are you sure that the gasket is going? As if there is no Mayo and there is no visible leak then water must be being pushed into the bores and down the pipe? If so the car should be well down on power I would have figured

[ajmin]

I am of an age where I remember an old fix, add some protein, a couple of egg whites into a cold leaky cooling system then warmed up! I am guessing it does the same as radweld etc fixes a multitude of anomolies, but long term dunno! don't shoot me just passing on the info. Never needed too or done it myself but I bet poached egg is a bitch to get out if you want to...no idea if your put vinegar in aswell!

[bnicho]

There is a product called Chemi-Weld that I have used a sucessfully a couple of times. I don't know it's available in the UK.

[mach1rob]

K-Seal is a good fix I've been told, never used it myself but a trusted friend has and said it worked well.

As for the egg trick, yes it works, I busted a rad on an old Moggy Minor, Sunday at a RWYB at Avon Park raceway with the Minor club,, and not one autojumbler there had a rad! A bit of body filler and a couple of egg whites (not yolks!) did the trick and got me the 150 miles home with no bother. Needless to say rad was changed and the block flushed but it got me out of a big hole.

[grumpy2]

The egg trick works as a get you home remedy but doing a proper job after is very very smelly. I have used KSeal twice with great success, once to fix a weaping rad and once to 'fix' a head gasket. Worked on both occasions although the engine temp did increase slightly as shown on the gauge. It's totally liquid and makes the coolant look like rusty water. I'd gladly use it again as a short term solution. In both cases the 'fix' lasted 4 -6 weeks until I was able to do a proper repair

Not much to invest to give it a go

G

[JPB]

.....Not much to invest to give it a go

G

...after establishing that your pump isn't one of the ones with graphite bearings of course. Replacing those costs around £170 from a specialist parts supplier, much more from a franchised Daimler-Benz parts counter.