Why is my car foaming?

I have a 1980 Mercedes 200, with a 115 engine, its using a lot of water lately, there is no white smoke, or curdy stuff on the oil cap, when I took the cap off the other day, when it was hot, the radaitor was full of white foam, what happened, and whats wrong with it..?

Answers:
It could be that the head gasket has blown slightly - resulting in the exhaust gasses pressurising the cooling system. If you are suddenly loosing water, but there is no signs of leakage, it could be being pressurised out of the system by the leak. If this is the case eventually the head gasket will eventually go completely and you will get the characteristic white ploom. This all happened to me, but with a Honda - took ages to diagnose the problem!

Of course this is only a possibility, you might want to consider getting the cylinder compression checked to look for leakage's through the head gasket.
Cylinder block is cracked I would think
If no visible leaks check thermostat and tep sensor in the radiator, sounds like the water is boiling off
water pump might have packed in ?? but it sounds like a head gasket might have gone if its white oil its the water and the oil mixing together. you havent put anything like radweld in your radiator that stuff can be a right pain or there might be a crack in the block
I agree the motor has cracked!!
Head gasket has gone, gas is getting pumped into the water from one of the cylinders..
Mechanical rabies
could be your gasket blown or have you done something silly like put some soapy water in by mistake? (have seen it done)
Cylinder Block is cracked u should get it fixed . Go to your local auto body shop asap.
Maybe the radiator is plugged up.
Try :

forums.mercedesclub.org.uk

benzworld.org

mbworld.org

I hope this helps.
Rabies?
it's your head gasket thats gone it happened to me before it can be quite expensive to repair
Could be any number of things..head gasket, cracked head, cracked block, Only way to find out is pull it apart & look. Repair costs could be from $100 if you do the work yourself to $2000 if you need to replace the motor.
If it aint dripping on the floor its probably head gasket or a cracked head, or block.
That is unless you are overfilling it and it is blowing out through the overflow and just going down to the proper level, just a thought.
Why not try Barrs leak or something. otherwise a head gasket is the DIY solution, but at garage labour charges a recon emgine must be the answer id you cannot do it yourself.
If it has a radiator for the automatic transmission fluid its leaking between the two. If its a manual gearbox its bad news, it's possible the thermostat is just faulty and the water has got so hot it's mixed as a gaseous liquid, but on a Mercedes this normally means new head required, not just a gasket. I'm guessing its an auto though and just needs a new radiator and the engine emptied, flushed and re-filled. But Mercedes have never been as reliable as the statistics show.
I had this problem with a Ford Escort Diesel. Sounds like water is leaking from the cooling system into the engine. On a diesel it is expensive to repair and can damage [distort] the cylinder head.

Good luck sorting the problem.

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