We have had this beautiful 1990 300SEL for over eight years now
and for driving comfort and luxury, we could not ask for more.

    So we were driving to the airport to catch an overseas flight and
less than a mile away, I noticed the temperature needle all the way at
120 deg. I wanted to stop right away but decided (bad call!!) to keep
going to try to get to the airport. We managed to get to the parking
lot and the poor car finally quit dead.

    On our return a week later, I filled the radiator with coolant and
water and left the radiator cap open, then cranked it. The car started
but water was gushing out the top of the tank. White smoke seemed to
come out of the exhaust. The car groaned and managed to move for a
hundred yards and then quit. Could not restart it, so had it towed
home. When I try to start now, the engine cranks, but no start. I now
found out that the top radiator hose was cracked at the joint, probably
causing all the fluid to escape.

    My question is, what does it look like, a cracked head or blown
head gasket or worse? The car has over 220K miles. If I try to sell it
as is, I am not sure what I would get in its present condition. Other
than this, the car is in good shape, some minor issues but no major
problems. We live in Tampa, Florida. What am I looking at for repair
costs? Any help will be much appreciated.