Paculdo

was thinking of doing a preventive maintenance for this head gasket (coolant issue) with these.. i was thinking of either sending my car to weistec, or purchase the kit and have my mechanic install these updated parts.. also maybe to get the oil catch can kit from them.

question is, if something happens to the car and i take it to the MB dealership (since the car is still under warranty), would they void the warranty if they see all these updates?

or..

if i buy the kit from weistec, and have MB install it -- will they allow this?

or..

wait 'til the warranty expires and then do all these upgrades (but that'll be about 2.5 yrs until my warranty expires).

Paculdo

buy extended warranty worth $4,350 from MB

or spend that money to update parts from weistec?

BerBer63

buy the new MB bolts...have your indy shop do it for half the cost

Paculdo

^^ since it's an MB parts, this shouldn't void warranty right? even if the work wasn't done by (and in the) MB shop? they would have records that i purchased those updated parts, but they won't see in the car history in MB that the work wasn't done by their people.. so if something happens, they might void the warranty of the engine (??)

DuaneC63

A very experienced indy could just replace the bolts but it's not an easy job as the timing chains have to be locked in place and the cams removed. Most dealers may have only one or two techs qualified to do this job. Chances are a dealer will not notice this has been done if they pull the valve covers for any reason since they are stock part, unless he checks your service records. If they somehow found out, I'm sure they would not warranty any further engine issues. Be aware the service bulletin associated with this problem also involves replacing the head gaskets, head bolts and lifters. This is about a $4-5k job at the dealer depending on labor rates. The Weistic head studs are stonger than the revised factory head bolts but also require the cams and heads to be removed. (I doubt a dealer will install non MBZ head bolts.) If a dealer tech pulls your valve covers off for any reason, he is going to see the Weistec studs and they look completely different than the stock headbolts. Hence your warranty is out the window. So your two choices to keep your warranty are to find an indy that has done this before and replace the head bolts and lifters (without pulling the heads) or buy the MBZ factory extended warranty as the problem seems to occur at around 40k miles. I bought the extended warranty.

j bro

So is replacing the lifters on this service bulletin having to do with the defective camshaft affecting the lifters issue?

Merc63

I think your better off waiting to lose coolant then you will know something is up? It's a pretty decent size job removing heads,

DuaneC63

The issue with the cam shafts may be related to the lifters. My understanding is the original design flaw of the lifters was they did not fully compress fast enough which in turned caused premature cam shaft lobe wear on the take up ramps. Hence the problem is not in the cam shafts themselves. The revised lifter design is from the SLS motor.

j bro

i thought the issue was the the camshaft was a metal that when came in contact with the lifters that it made the lifters wear out prematurely