My 1993 190 w/2.6 has oil in the cooling system. Lots of it. Have been seeing it coming for some time now. Dealer says 90% chance of its being a head gasket. Says to diagnose with a leakdown test. Can someone clue me as to what that is and how to do it perchance. Any other ideas, regardless of how far fetched they might be would be appreciated. What comprise the other 10% chance. Is this a relatively common problem with these cars. The car is approaching 150K and it continues to run well. No stuttering, coughing, etc. yet.

Is there a safe way to cut the oil out of the cooling system so that we might actually cool till we get the animal to the doctor?

Thanks ever so much.

Terry

 

At 150k I'll up the chances of it being the head gasket to 98%.

Oil in the water shouldn't affect the cooling. Oil is used as a coolant to cool the engine anyway.
I suspect that your overheating is due to another problem which also points to the head gasket.

Leak test is what it suggests. A test to see if combustion pressure leaks into the cooling system. However the leak may be between the oil gallery and the water circuit rather than to the combustion chamber in which case this test may prove negative.

Stuart

 

You've probably got it licked by now!?
The tests were likely a waste of money given the [obvious/common to M103/4 engines] symptoms?
According to 'MB E-Class Owner's Bible' and/or 'Technical Companion'- it's neccesary to purge the entire cooling system from all traces of residual oil [as it softens the rubber hoses which leads to failure]. MB offers an agent for this purpose.