OM642 Oil cooler seals DIY guide and timelapse! 

By popular request, the swirl flap delete resistor is at 25:50 in the video. i DON'T show the physical delete of the swirl flaps, i didn't have my camera with me when that was done.

Awesome - I did this job and it is a real bugger. It will take a couple of days for the best shade tree mechanic. Who ever designed this piece crap should be pilloried in the centre of town. My one tip is to take a piece of styrofoam and a sharpie and make a diagram of the engine and as you remove bolts stick them into the foam the spot you removed them. Mercedes has a bad habit of using specific bolts all over the place.when they could have easily used a couple of different sizes. Use anti seize and loctite where suggested.

Excellent job with the video, I pulled the wiper and cowl when I did mine in the W164 and it expedited the process by nearly an hour, none of the fussing you're discussing with the heat shield. The wiper came off in 10 minutes, the rest of the cowl was instant. World of difference. Also, discovered the fastener that holds the linkage to the swirl flaps motor was loose! Boy did the engine run smoother and torquier after the repair.

Just got my E280 CDI. Videos like these are so inspiring, makes it seem like even a "catastrophic" fault isn't impossible to fix on these engines.

good job goot info i want to mention when you start the engine you dont to crank so much, just turn the key to on possition and live it for a min. or so and it bleed by itself

Thank you for posting. Even the factory manual doesn't explain these details. R320 CDI the toughest benz to work on

Impressive video - and one of the reasons why I still love my OM648.

Thank you for the video, I own a 2012 GL with the OM642 engine, the seals were replaced within 6 weeks of ownership from new by the dealer under warranty (They were the Viton seals). I have just done the seals a second time at 163,000Km, just out of warranty. The job for most part is quite easy with a lot of patience, the worst part is the swirl motor arm connections. To do these the easy way the swirl motor should be installed when both manifolds are on a work surface. I did mine after the manifolds were in place and I'm now in the process of doing them again, one of the clips broke. The only solution is a very small dab of superglue to hold the clips together while they are pressed back into place, the only issue is glue spreading into the sphere and reducing the friction around the ball. If my current attempt fails I will buy 8 clips and try again next weekend. Next up, the dreaded timing chain, which I am not going to challenge.

Great video. One thing to mention is the replacement of the PCV tube and Batwing to Turbo silicone seal replacement. I noticed the PCV seal was smooth. It should have 3 small ribs to assist sealing to the Batwing tube. Otherwise an awesome video. extremely helpful. Tackling mine this weekend.

This is one of the best how-to's I've seen in a long time. Well done sir! Subscribed :)

A couple comments. My car is a 2011, E350 Blu Tec now as of May 2020 has 35,000 miles. The oil is changed every 5K or so. At 25,000 miles I started using the Turbo Maxx oil additive 1/2 oz per quart of engine oil, Mobile ESP 0-30w, I think this should improve the carbon and the wear problems on the timing chain. I also use the Turbo Maxx c-4 fuel additive 1cc per 3 gallons. The use of the oil additive increased mileage from 32 mpg to 36 mpg. The use of the fuel additive increased this to 38-43 mpg. Mr. Ellison has accurately predicted the improvements. I was surprised, so I will keep using. I am hoping the cleaning ability of the oil additive helps with the coking problem. I plan some bore scope investigation during the summer. The EGR system does not seem overly dirty though I did clean the EGR valve for maintenance at 25,000 miles. I note by 25,000 miles the turbo housing to inlet horn (red) gasket had failed due to combination of compression set and vibration wear. I replaced the small red PCV hose seal also. I will note the inlet horn and the mass flow air sensors needed replacing due to imbalance of calibration (shows as EGR flow issue) as the ecu calculates the EGR flow from the MAF sensors, due to contamination of sensors. Do not ever try to remove or clean the sensors for routine maintenance as that will put out of calibration... or attempt to clean (already tried those solutions). Learned about the calibration sensitivity issue was the real issue, by carefully checking the data coming from the sensors during a driving cycle. If you get a code from this it shows as a EGR flow issue not as a MAF sensor reading... you have to look into the MAF sensor real time data. After some investigation of the PCV system I believe it has some design issues which could be improved to minimize oil carryover. System is designed just too lazy to install. I believe that the problem is both a long term efficiency problem with the centrifugal air-oil separator, the separator being marginal in design capacity, and the system experiences too high crankcase pressure during certain parts of operation. I think a catch can solution would be inadequate, and a more robust solution attempted. I will not most vehicles have much better air oil separation designed in the valve cover baffle sheet metal attached to underside to the inside of the engine (no catch can is going to work better). It appears the crank case pressure increase under certain loadings and speeds of engine. This is a small increase of a few inches of water column pressure but I think that is where the issue is. So far other than some electrical connections becoming brittle things are doing well. I will replace some of these connectors this summer.

From what I understand the bulk of the job is removing the turn on top and the two intake manifolds. Supposedly removing the turbo can be the hardest of all. I just got a 2008 Sprinter with 235k miles and it's leaking oil like crazy, convinced it's the oil cooler seal rings. I've changed my oil on my other sprinter which is 2006 (t1n model) and done small repairs on that. Very tempted to do this on my newly purchased 2008 sprinter. Great video!

Nice video of the V6 OM642.

Fantastic video and fantastic job. I heard so many people saying that this is a major disassembly and now I really believe that this is a major disassemble. I have this car and I ask myself:" why Mercedes Benz installed an oil cooler in a place so hard to have access" ? A part of the car that obviously will need to have seals replaced someday. Is this why many mechanics cal as "infamous oil cooler"? Thanks for this fantastic video.

Good video. You put a resistor in a connector near the turbo and taped it up. I missed what it had been connected to and what that was about (swirl actuator motor in the intake?). I have never worked on a diesel or turbocharged engine before and this is really helpful in getting my confidence up, but there are a lot of bolts, tubes, hoses and wires to test my memory and ability to organize the removed bits and bolts.

At last a proper mechanic 😎

Just done this job on my 2009 ML280, with help from this fantastic guide. Invaluable, thank you!

Absolutely awesome!! Great job! This tutorial will be running when I do my oil cooler seal repair very soon on my GL350! Thanks again.

Absolute gold!!!! Great video. I had already done the job when i found this but great great video. Thank you for the time and effort. First time commenting and I felt this deserved the praise. Well done Sir

@MBDieselFreak Thank you VERY MUCH for making this video and the one on replacing the turbo core. They helped me complete both repairs and with them I saved thousands and lots of grief. Details in your video, like the indexing of the turbo exhaust gasket made it possible for me to tackle this repair. If you're contemplating doing this job two things that cost me lots of time and frustration were the reassembly of the turbo exhaust pipe and the air cooler piping; both seem trivial but if you torque everything up and try to reconnect these, their (ever so slight) misalignment may make it impossible to put them back together, so thread every bolt, then hand tighten, THEN torque wrench them down. Specifically, on the turbo: thread the 4 bolts that hold the turbo down, the two that hold the egr line to the turbo, and the exhaust clamp, then begin tightening all 7 bolts. Also, print out CourtneyW's 21 pdfs on MBWorld.org and take notes as you tick off each step. Those pdfs, this video, careful documentation of which bolts go where and a little determination will help you save a lot of money and frustration. mbworld.org/forums/m-class-w164/742069-instructions-replacing-oil-cooler-seals.html

Thank you for your video. Really excellent job. Concerning the swirl flap delete? How did you do that? Can you post a short DIY-Manual?

This job I am currently doing sucks ass! The bolts are froze and rescue the bolt buster induction heater. Tonight I am watching this video and drinking some Jim Beam whiskey

This is the single most helpful video on RU-vid. Thank you. My turbo just went and im going to do the oil cooler seals while im at it.

thanks, wish i watched this before dismantling, i didn't remove the firewall, is was a pain in the ass to get the turbo off....

Good job man, doing that right now on a Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0

I could have done with this a couple of years back, would have attempted myself and saved probably £600

Some basic common sense love it🤣😂big job done many already common on the 3.0 crd

thank you for the video, well done fantastic work, a true gentleman

thank you for the details. Really helped me with this job.

Excellent Video very helpful I am going to tackle this summer.

*NOTICE* for 2009+ bluetec owners, DO NOT attempt swirl flap delete on your cars, you have extra flap position sensors on yours that can't be deleted (to my knowledge), I don't want you getting any CEL's after permanently deleting those flaps.

brilliant video, well detailed, I have the same engine in my e class. I like how everything went back clean :-) thats how I like to work....... SUBSCRIBED

Everything is so clean 🤩

Just starting this.. Excellent video!

Congratulations u really know

what i need is the hoses to the egr and the one that goes to intake, that connects to fire wall.

Great video! Really helpful! Clean and nice job!

Hi MB, where can I get the torque volumes for this job?

Great video. I’m in the process of doing this job and decided to delete the swirl flaps. I have the 2 magnet sensors as mine is a 2014. Do you know if putting the wire in the 2 middle slots will still work for mine or is there an additional step I need to take. Thanks in advance.

Gutes Video, ausführlich.

Great information on this repair! When do you replace vs reuse the oil cooler? There’s 2 aftermarket coolers from China available and 1 Mercedes from Germany, what’s your thoughts? How do you cleanup those manifolds, they look new? Many thanks.

Excellent

Fantastic video, what time is needed for total change, disassembly and assembly

Nice beautiful video

Excellent video, now subscribed thanks again.

Habe die Rails verbaut gelassen, auch keine Stecker gezogen, habe dafür das Thermostat weggemacht, sonst haste keine Chance die Krümmer anzusetzen. :)

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! please everyone reading this comment remember to replace the O ring that sits on the EGR cooler under the manifold. I did this job with my ol' man and after a long time putting it all back together the engine coolant was pissing out the bottom so we had to start all over again from the beginning 😭😭😭 learn from our mistake and purchase that seal!!!

Fantastic video.

Smartest video ever.

Great job! Thanks alot!

great video thanks could you tell how the turbo output aluminium pipe comes off. mine seems real tight and i dont want to break it ?

Great video How can you tell if you have a leak I’m driving a 2008 GL 320 with 135 500 miles, just had the dealer change transmission fluid and nothing was said about an oil leak, I’m hoping they would say something if a problem was noticed..

Hello there, how did you know that those seals were bad and not something else instead? I am having big oil leak, already changed turbo intake seal, obviously was not from there. Before doing what you did I would like to be sure it's from there. The leak is exactly between the gearbox and engine. Can you help me please?, I can send you a video with the leak to have a look. Cheers

Isnt there one bolt missing right at the turbo housing bottom right corner next to the metal air line that runs direction intercooler...

Love your job very nice

I did the job started the car but forgot to tighten the 2 screws on the turbo top T40 or whatever it is and oil came out. Now the car will not start just cranks over do i need to take everything off and clean the mess then start again as it might have a sensor or something that detects a lot of oil in the general area preventing the car to start or it should start regardless? thanks

Very good video but I wish I knew if that is what’s wrong with mine, 2010 GL350 with 100k odo Smoking like crazy from the exhaust, can’t Regen because the amount of smoke and heavy smell near the dpf but no CEL.... replaced air cleaner box, o ring, turbo seal, crankcase valve, cleaned out all the oil from the IC and pipes but still no go :/

Thanks a million . Very useful. Saved me loads of time. One thing how did you blank of the swirl flaps?

@mbdieselfreak are there any gaskets or one use bolts that should/need to be replaced during this process? I'm going to attempt on 2011 MB Sprinter 2500, I've never done any engine work before but have done most other repairs. Will also be replacing timing chain, tensioner, and possibly guide rails + sprockets while I'm there.

At 14:54, what is the clamps that hold the connecting fuel line in place bolted with the fuel filter. These clamps are missing on my car.

Awesome video really helped me out on reassembling!! Can I ask why you took all the spill pipes off as i found there was ample room to leave then on?

hi,great vid,whats the reasoning behind swirl flap delete

Like a lesson thans fron Brazil

Great video

Do you have to drain the antifreeze???

Most useful, i have injectors to do that the seals are slightly chuffing on and a glow plug or 3 are down too. Any advice as this is a nearly 300k mile OM642 engine in a sprinter. I have new copper seals and bolts for the injectors. New Glow plugs, also got the tools for cleaning/refacing injector bores/seats etc.. and ceramic grease. I see many recommendations for what to dissolve the gunk around the injectors / glow plugs with too, so unsure which to go for. Also seems advice is to get the engine up to temperature before stripping the top off to do glow plugs/injectors as this will help ? What did you say the glow plug head was as it sounded imperial , thought the engine would be metric? ta

I will start in upcomming days to do the same for my c320 cdi (om642). Do you recommend that I must use a torque wrench?

I just did this job on my 2015 gl 350 .but now its cranks longer to start.no check engine light.how to bleed air out of coolant

What’s your trick for removing/ replacing the cooler seals without contaminating the oil ports?

Hey MBDiesel, I came from legitstreet cars. I was looking into getting a Diesel Benz after coming from a terrible Audi A4, and I'm curious on your opinion regarding the OM642 reliability compared to the inline 6 from 02-05. Anything inherent that I should check out first when looking at a car with a OM642?

Whats the benefit of a swirl flap delete? As far as i know they introduced it for better burning of the fuel and for emissions.

I have just done this to my e320cdi. But now I have problem with high pressure fuel side not building pressure. How did you get car running once it all fitted.

Did you put anti-seize on the bolts when doing the reinstall of parts?

Very helpful video. Thanks. How did you block the holes from whirl flaps?

How did you get turbo heat shield off one on fire wall.also center shroud ome behind heat shield

So when youre doing this you dont have to drain the engine oil and coolant before hand? I dont want to start opening stuff up and have a whole bunch of oil or coolant leak out everywhere..

The best

Hey man, is there any way you can cover the timing chain replacement on OM642 as well?

I see you also forgot to put the EGR cooler back in. Did you make a block off plate? After tuning mine doesn't need this 🤣

Well done, the music is annoying but I suppose it is better than silence,.

Great Video Thank you,,,

You have desactived erg? How do you delete the valve swirl flap in air manifold?

Sir i have a question, im about to do my oil cooler and new turbo because when spinning by hand i feel a tight spot on turbo plus blue smoke.I deleted my swirl flap last year do i need to leave the motor out when refitting and what about the arms? Do i just leave flaps open with arms attached? I am a home diy mechanic on my mercedes cls om642.I am nervous to do this job ive already taken Turbo off no problem no snapped bolts which was my other worry but all ok.regards Scott

Aaaah-Mazing!! 👍 Thankyou

Hello, a very good video. I will recommend your channel. I have this pb on my e320 cdi. Do you have a garage or do you work at your own count?

will yr car run properly without the swirl flap motor connected to the inlet flaps?

Hola tengo un problema V6 3.0 224cv en parado si mantengo acelerando el coche falla se acelera y se queda y vuelve por ejemplo 2000 vueltas sube a 2100 baja 2000 y vuelve a subir ....eso lo hace a cualquier régimen llevo anulado filtro partículas electrónicamente y perforado y la EGR anulada mecánicamente y electrónicamente sabes que pueda ser?? Maquina diagnosis no da fallo de ha revisado y no se da fallo Un saludo

Excellent video but dude, turn the music down or your voice up preferably both. My fingers are worn out from constantly adjusting the volume! 😳

Great video!!

+1. .. Excellent. .. Thanks!

how long did it take completely, removal and renewal

Do you recall how many miles were on engine when you needed to do this?

Ok. Can you direct me to the video showing the intakes either being taken off or show a picture of what they looked like after you removed them???

Thanks but, I teared down everything for now but i am at the situation where im thinkin "should i remove flaps or no", After complete whirl flaps removal can you tell me how did this engine run afterwards? any loss of power or anything like that?

The hole at the back by the oil cooler with the drain running into it is that a drain hole? Does that flush everything down and out of the oil cooler compartment?

Hey man! Awesome vid. Are you aware of any “upper oil pan leak” in an w211 om642? Each time I stop the car it has visible drops on the ground so it’s pretty big leak. My mechanic friends told me it s the upper oil pan and they have to remove all the front underside of the car (also 4matic makes things harder). Can it actually be the oil cooler instead? Thanks!

I did it myself on my jeep without this video and if you are a little smart you can find out everything yourself, my jeep is dry and runs like hell 😁

hey man... steve up here in Canada... just watched your turbo rebuild Video... it sent me here. I'm gonna try to remove/disassemble the inner core without unbolting the exhaust side from the engine... THOUGHTS?... as far as I can see, as long as I can pull it straight outward an inch there shouldn't be a problem. My inlet vanes are destroyed due to pieces of the deteriorated inlet seal being sucked in ;( PS... this is on the /08 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD

Good video! I was wondering if you’ve changed the oil cooler, or just the two purple O rings? I’v just finished changing the seals on my E class, and the oil leak is still present( I’ve seen a few oil drops on the drive way)...I didn’t used a torque wrench though on the oil cooler bolts.

I need giude for screws to intake manifold plz, cant start work om my car, dont know witch screws goes where plz anyone