Instead of an oil pan gasket, Mercedes calls for a bead of Loctite 5970. Interestingly, by ordering online and picking up at the dealer, the MB-branded tube can be in my hands today for two fewer dollars than Amazon who wants about 4 days to get it to me.
When I re-sealed the two piece oil pan on the R63 it had a leak. I had the dealer re-do in it because I didn't want to drop the subframe again at that point in my quest. The tech said that even when they do it by the book they get leaks and have to re-do it about 50% of the time. Something about applying the sealant by hand instead of the sealant robots in the factory? Anyway, good luck!
Berk Loctite, use Right Stuff.
For the steel oil sump to AL pan, use Permatex Ultra/Optimum Black. It's very oil resistant, for oil pans & such.
So remember when I was assembling the engine and said "does anybody else find the tork spec for the valve covers ludicrously low?"
It would seem my gut feeling was correct. Oil was creeping out of the VC, and the VC bolts could be observed pulsing & gradually pumping out oil. So I used the stubby ratchet or a small 8mm wrench to snug down all the VC bolts to what my calibrated wrist says is an adequate tork for a cam bearing cap & valve cover on a rattly-ass diesel engine. It's all reassembled as of last night, no visible leak or bolt pumping at idle. Will test drive today sometime to see if VC leak is gone.
The USPS still has not delivered the new auxiliary battery (ordered Friday, May 6th), but since the whole vehicle has been reassembled & trickle charging for a couple weeks, the "Aux battery failure" message has disappeared from the dash display. I'll still replace that battery because it is original from 2010.
In reply to FJ40Jim :
I wonder if the torque spec makes some assumptions about the specific sealant, sealant path, and bead width that is more precise than a normal human would expect.
Have fun getting that aux battery out. What a PITA that positioning is! That reminds me, though, that I need to get my second Battery Tender over to the shop and put it on the Merc so I don't hose the new battery.
Today is a crap sandwich, i.e. good-bad-good news.
Drove the car again yesterday. It runs out well, has noticeably more power now that the entire intake tract is not restricted with EGR sludge. Also noticed how nicely it drives. Not a sports car, but well damped & comfortable, unlike my Land Cruisers which are also 4 door, 4WD wagons.
Unfortunately, the oil leak persists on the RH valve cover in spite of re-torquing. Not as bad, but still bad enough that it has to be fixed. Also carefully inspected the steel sump and noticed oil is thinking about dripping off that gasket as well. 
The LH valve cover is still dry and now that it's been snugged down, the bolts adjacent to cam bearings don't show any oil pumping. Also, the 'bad auxiliary battery' message seems to be gone, not even showing up in a full CAN-bus scan.
Hoping to find a day this weekend to re-do the VC and go on another test drive.
In reply to FJ40Jim :
At least your bad news is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. WIS says the lower pan can R&R (mostly) in situ, and the head covers are a bit fiddly, but doable in an afternoon.
I was going to attempt to put some Right Stuff on the outside of the pan and try to squish it in there as a hail mary attempt to stop the leaking before I go ahead and drop the pan. A couple days ago I came out and drained the oil then scrubbed and cleaned the joint between the upper and lower pans. I stuck my head up under the car this morning to get ready to apply the sealant and... there's more oil there. I guess it's still draining down and landing in that spot. So I cleaned it up again and I guess I'll have to wait and see if it's finished yet.
I tried some Right Stuff to seal it from the outside. I don't have a lot of faith in it, so I also have the tube of official Mercedes Loctite. I'm going to put the oil back in and if it isn't leaking, try to start it. Here goes nothing!
The oil leak may or may not be fixed.
But the motherberkeleyer started.
In reply to wae :
wae said:The oil leak may or may not be fixed.
But the motherberkeleyer started.
Re-Quoted from Wawazat's thread, but you deserve it !
What a picture!!
Noice!!!!
Thank you!!
So some words: I refilled the oil and it started leaking again. This time it was to the immediate left of where I had gobbed the Right Stuff earlier today. I wasn't sure if I just missed a spot or if it was just going around my patch job but I figured it was worth dumping the oil and trying again. So I did. I didn't see any immediate oil dripping, so I added some power steering fluid and put the wheels back on.
It is at this point that I find it necessary to mention once again that lug bolts are the devil. Especially when you have 285 width 20" diameter tires. Anyway....
I turned the key to run, let the fuel pump gurgle, shut it back off, turned it to run, and repeated a couple times. Then I tried to start it and on the third attempt, I think it was, it fired! I know it's not very mercedes-like, but it sounds pretty good with the exhaust disconnected!
At any rate, I drove it around the lot a little bit and it's not totally smoothed out. It's missing some sensors and stuff since the dpf isn't attached but I didn't check the codes yet to see if there's anything else.
The Airmatic system made some interesting noises.... I either blew both rear air struts or I un-stuck them. There was a tremendous "POP" from the rear, but when I hit the buttons to raise the suspension, it still goes up and down. Something to worry about later.
I'm absolutely ecstatic at this point. There's still some work to be done, but the stupid thing will now officially move under its own power.
In reply to wae :
Awesome!
OH berkeley YES!!!
Sweet!
Amazing persistence pays off! Congrats!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Your timing was impeccable - I just finished my long-term (5 months +) rear subframe replacement (and a bunch of while I'm in there stuff) on my Rav4. I was trying to beat you to the first drive, and I think I made it by a few hours when I pulled it out of the garage yesterday. Thanks again for the inspiration, seeing you grinding through this and making progress gave me hope when my progress had stalled!
Good job Wae! There's still a lot of little details to tidy up, but when it will actually start & move under it's own power, finishing feels like a real accomplishment instead of drudgery.
My leaky engine has Schrodinger's valve cover. It is simultaneously leaking pretty badly, but glued tight to the cylinder head.
I had the airboxes, fuel lines & electrical out of the way pretty quickly, pulled out the 30 VC bolts, and... nothing. I've been cutting away at the seam, breaking several single edge razor blades. Pried on a few different spots where there was a pry lip on the VC, broke off a lip. Per the WIS, used a slide hammer attached to the few threaded holes in the VC that were accessible. Slap hammer did loosen one front corner, but can't spread the cut beyond that few inches.
It was quite difficult to free the covers when the engine was on the stand, but that was factory grade RTV that had cured for 10+ years. Was hoping that the 'wrong' RTV sealant having only been on there for a month or 2, would pop right off, but no joy. I'm gonna go back to it today with the nuclear option: a very sharp wood chisel & deadblow hammer.
You'll need to log in to post.
