Wretched POS! My wife came to pick me up at lunch, and just before she got there she called me saying there were banging noises coming from the car. She rolled up, and there was steam rising from the hood. I popped it and had a look, and washer tank was boiling. Weird! I'd guessed that the washer tank thermostat had failed open, and the car was boiling off the fluid. The engine was hotter than normal, but not in the danger zone. (Odd, in winter.) The radiator was cool to cold. We got in and went a block or so to lunch. (Evil intersection, hate it on foot.) The banging noises were coming from the console. While eating I thought about it, nothing added up. Afterwards I popped the hood and had another look. I opened the coolant reservoir, and what I thought was a visible level was just a stain in the tank, it was empty. 1.5 gallons of water into reservoir later and it's full. Low coolant! Where did it all go? Why did not the low coolant light come on?
Obviously the car lost its coolant, somehow, and gotten low to the point that radiator flow was disrupted. Enough was left to carry heat to the washer tank, which was boiling off, and coolant was boiling in the heater core. Very much not good. Perhaps the engine was not damaged, or perhaps it _was_ already damaged and that's what started this? At least the suspension was still OK. -- Jim _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
