Reading and researching, My new to me 560DEL is emitting white smoke
after running a while. I know usually it means a cracked head, or at
least a gasket...
I check the oil and water resevoir after running her up to 80 degrees,
It does not overheat, and starts right up. Put a tray with white
papertowel to catch the exhauset drips. clear drips. No water in
oil, no oil in water. Check engine light comes on eventually, but it
comes on later and later as I run it.
Next I will pull the plugs, any other tips or advice? Appreciate all
the Tiger help as usual.
I do have two questions, (waiting on an owners manual) what the ceter
console swith with three circular arrows for? And how does one
activate the headligh washers?
Car has 118k on it. Its a keeper to be brought back to its past
glory. Timing chain is geoing to be replaced. I would like to rule
out any cyl head issues before that job gets started.
Thanks in advance.
Rob

A good mechanic would have coolant CO detector kit. All he has to do is test
the coolant for any evidence of CO...which is a byproduct of exhaust... if
present, you got a leak.

Another way to test is use coolant pressure tester... should be able to rent
this free at autozone... You pump up the system to 15PSI... if losing
pressure and no external leak, then probably head gasket leaking... warped
head...

Another test with the same tester above is keep it on and start up the
car... if pressure keep going up like 20psi and higher... you definitely got
a leak as engine is pumping pressure into the coolant system. System will
fluctuate in pressure but it will stabilize at certain temp since fluid
expands when heated up... but if system pressure keeps going up... you got a
problem.

On Apr 26, 1:39 pm, rich... (AT) news (DOT) vrx.net (Richard Sexton) wrote:
Will take a pic of it. And thanks. You and the Tiger are extremely
helpful. I have searched a while on the white smoke and the 560 cyl
heads. Read that some mech said he tightens down to head bolts and it
is a perm fix 90% of the time. I've checked into a complete engine
from a wrecking yard, suprised at around $1200 for a good warrantied
complete engine. So I prob will pull the heads. And if i find a
block issue, I also have a plan. I paid $3k
and its got a nice interior, no bodywork, orig paint, great heat and
AC.
I took my 240D out to a good alignment shop today. The guy who runs
the machine called his younger guys over by yelling "Now this is the
way cars should be made" . He liked the adjustability of the front
end.
She tracks straight and I can do and drama strop and the car stops
absolutely straight now!
Once again, thanks guys!
Rob
83 240D 70k
82 300SD 115k
91 560SEL 118k
74 VG bug Vert 90k
87 BMW 535i 127k

In article <f0tm21$as2$1 (AT) news (DOT) datemas.de>,
Richard Sexton <See http://rs79.vrx.net for address> wrote:
couldn't get over the silver plated connector pins/sockets. Even when
corrosion sets it, silver oxide is still a decent conductor. Never have
had the plethora of electrical problems due to corroded stuff like on other
cars family have had

cheers, guenter

Guenter Scholz wrote:
Hm, I remember the early Lexus Ads saying something about *their*
connectors being gold plated.

But then, to me, they just seem to lack that 'something' that would make
one love them so...

Cheers,
ws

"Richard Sexton" <richard (AT) news (DOT) vrx.net> wrote


What you should properly do is pull the heads, have them magnafluxed to check for cracks then
replace the head gaskets. Of course it'd help to have the valves done at this point.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I would love to find a shop that could magicly magnaflux aluminum heads......

Yeah, right..... magnetic aluminum. Must be a Mercedes exclusive!

The Lexus ad did tout their gold plated contacts. Although, they were
only bragging about how it is used on the airbag activation switch
contacts in the bumper. I can't imagine that being more than a few
pennies worth of gold since you can make a very very thin layer of it.
I think it was more on the side of clever marketing than clever
engineering.

On Apr 30, 6:33 am, "weelli... (AT) gmail (DOT) com" <weelli... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
Hi all!
Found the prob. After doing compresssion test, all cylinders read
between 165-170. the NGK plugs were the foulest I have ever seen. It
was prob running on 5 cylinders. One NGK had crud about the size of
a pencil eraser on it. Put in new Bosch platinums, a few ozs of
Seafoam to the gas, and took her for a spin. Incredible! Smooth and
responsive. Almost as much mid range punch as my C5! And a hell of a
lot more solid!
Now this issue is resolved, the normal fluid changes, belts, and hoses
come next, then the cosmetics. Driver's carpet is trashed, Do I have
to buy that from the dealer?

Mmm... an Air Force Pilot equates 560SEL to the monsterous C5 transport...
finny. Does it steer like the C5 too or is it a bit more nimble?

As for the carpet, there are plenty of online MB OEM part supplier who will
sell you the carpets at a discount.

Engine are in great shape... I am wondering if it is just the wrong plug or
you got a valve seal problem.

On May 6, 2:14 pm, "Tiger" <tiger0... (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:
I was referring to a fifth generation LS1 powered Corvette...any
recommendations for suppliers?
It has an aftermarket blaupunkt CD changer and Orlando head unit, the
sound in fantastic. Was the factory system that good or should I
suspect aftermarket speakers? I'll be busy changing hoses, belts ,
and trans fluid/filter this week.