Hey guys

Noticed yellow snot on my dipsticks oil.

A quick google seems to say that this is an indicator of coolant getting in.
My antifreeze is a low, but still above minimum.
I haven't changed my oil for 4 months, because only put 2000 miles on.
But I will definitely get right away.

I don't think I noticed the yellow snot last time I checked.

how ****ed am I?

 

pressure test your cooling system. its quite likely you have a problem somewhere, most likely the head gasket.

a /little/ snot on the underside of the oil filler cap or top of dipstick /could/ be from condensation if you only ever drive short distances and never get the car fully warmed up. there was a guy on a mercedes forum, lived somewhere in the middle east, his son's older Mercedes was having constant problems, after weeks of the forum gurus going the rounds with him, he says "he only drives it 1/2 mile to/from work each day".. that sort of usage will DESTROY an engine.

 

thanks for the help pierce, its a little disappointing to hear it could be the head gasket

I have never had it overheat, and I drive average distances and let it cool down and warm up

 

in addition to what pierce suggested, if you're sure it's not overheating...
first thing to do is change the oil and filter. then run it up on the highway to get the engine heated up, and check the dipstick again.

 

Just drive the car for an hour or two, no need to change the oil prior. All the moisture should boil out and evaporate. If the oil cap and oil are clean with no evidence of moisture after the drive you can assume your head gasket is OK at least as far as coolant entering the oil.

 

lev i suggested to OP change the oil because he said it was 4 mos/2000 miles which in my opinion the elapsed time would overweigh the miles driven in that case... no?

 

low mileage (rarely driven) cars, I usually go a year between oil changes, hasn't caused any issues yet.

 

Oil related matters are always subject to lots of various opinions. I think that particularly these B230 engines are very forgiving and can withstand a lot of oil variations both in miles traveled and time.

Time intervals actually, again a matter of opinion and hard to be certain about, are not crucial--there is no evidence that I have seen (or heard) pointing to oil deteriorating greatly over time. Common sense requires that oil sitting in an unused car for years should be changed but besides that...? Manual transmission oil for example is rarely ever changed. Granted, it doesn't do nearly the heavy lifting engine oil is doing but still...

 

the big difference between engine and transmission oil is that engines spew all sorts of combustion byproducts that get past the rings and contaminate the oil, while transmissions are sealed and clean. these contaminates turn corrosive eventually.

 

Well, yeah, but say you have new oil/filter in an engine and you drive the car 20 miles each month just to keep things moving. This oil can be perfectly fine for quite awhile, at least 2-3 years I should think...

 

you're a lot better off doing that 20 miles/month as one trip vs 2 miles at a time, or worse, starting it and letting it idle in the driveway for 5 minutes then shutting it off.

 

I agree with that. Many cars on dealers' lots suffer from exactly that: sitting at a car lot and started for a couple of minutes now and then they develop all kinds of issues.