Folks, Just a note regarding a coolant leak I discovered on my E320. There's a plastic & rubber Y hose next to the fire wall on the drivers side. This hose connects the heater hose from the rear of the cylinder head to the metal line leading to the heater core. There is a branch line ( not visible at first glance ) of about a foot or so which connects to a hard line that transverses the engine and supplies heated coolant to the windshield washer reservoir coil set-up.
The plastic neck connection to the engine hose section partially disintegrated on my car causing the leak. The neck is not reinforced with a metal ring so I'm guessing 27 years of the engine getting hot and then cooling off did it in. Not sure if this issue has been discussed previous. Might want to check if there's any coolant residue on the plastic section of this hose.
Replacement on my M104 engine is a pain. The branch line runs next to the firewall and under the large A/C line. The connection point with the hard line sits on a tray and the hose routes UNDER 3 or 4 wire bundles. It has to be installed the same way. Access is very limited. I disconnected a few vacuum lines and got a strap under the wire bundles so I could lift them a few inches out of the way. Luckily I managed to get my hand down there to push the hose onto the hard line. If you've big hands you can forget about that method. I'm not familiar with the E500E hose location.... hope its not like the M104.
Regards,
Peter Weissman
The plastic neck connection to the engine hose section partially disintegrated on my car causing the leak. The neck is not reinforced with a metal ring so I'm guessing 27 years of the engine getting hot and then cooling off did it in. Not sure if this issue has been discussed previous. Might want to check if there's any coolant residue on the plastic section of this hose.
Replacement on my M104 engine is a pain. The branch line runs next to the firewall and under the large A/C line. The connection point with the hard line sits on a tray and the hose routes UNDER 3 or 4 wire bundles. It has to be installed the same way. Access is very limited. I disconnected a few vacuum lines and got a strap under the wire bundles so I could lift them a few inches out of the way. Luckily I managed to get my hand down there to push the hose onto the hard line. If you've big hands you can forget about that method. I'm not familiar with the E500E hose location.... hope its not like the M104.
Regards,
Peter Weissman
