Jonny Nitro

Dealer is in Mississauga, Ontario Canada. Service Manager that I spoke to his name is Jason.

Fung63

Jonny,

Mississauga if I remember correctly is corporate owned. I wonder if you will get a better (or maybe worse) response if you went elsewhere.

j bro

how much would it be to replace the valve buckets? does weistec sell these as well?

Sincity

Yes they do.

BerBer63

Dont they use the SLS ones or the newly revised MB oem also available?

Mads_C63

Does anyone know if the heads can be pulled with the engine in the car? If so, can the heads be reinstalled with the engine in the car using head studs instead of head bolts?
Thanks.

Sincity

I believe we are talking about the same item here.

Merc63

Yep you can.

The trick is the dual over head cams that have to be held in place so you don't throw the timing off.

GeorgeSmooth

It's a pity you got started as the Weistec built bottom end with their labour is around ten grand if u add in the gaskets and bearings you going to need.

bhamg

Jonny - Your thread is now included in the sticky. Hope all is going well...

Jonny Nitro

Hey guys,
Here is an update.

The car is currently at Mr Tazzy motorsports in Milton Ontario. I stopped by on Friday to see the disassembled motor. Roland is doing a great job and as we all thought the head bolt was the point of failure. It is for sure a design issue. Take a look at the pictures and you will see it.

I am very happy I went with this shop, they are doing what can only be described as a masterful job. I look forward to getting it back on the road in a week.

Pictures here
https://www.facebook.com/mrtazzymotorsports

All this trouble for a defective bolt, unreal. Luckily all the bearings were fine, there was some damage to the top of the head from the cam shaft lobes playing hockey with the head of the bolt that broke off but nothing of consequence.

My advice is to everyone with these motors that does not have the upgraded bolts....get the Weinstec kit installed. I have been Car less for a month.

And for what it's worth, MB customer service can kiss my ***.

Thankful for all the notes of support and nice comments! This forum is just great!

JN

Jonny Nitro

Oh one last piece of advice, if it happens to you, turn the car off and call a tow truck. I'm thankful I did that. The damage to the top of the head could have been a lot worse from the top of the bolt flying around the cams and valve springs.

If anyone wants super blown up pictures let me know Roland took some with an incredible camera but the files are massive. I could email them to whom ever want to see and has a big inbox.

bhamg

Yeah, I've been juggling the utility of keeping my 7/100 extended warranty or cashing it in and going the Weistec route when my OE warranty expires next fall. I think the head bolts at Weistec is the way to go...I'll take my chances on the rest of the car post-warranty.

Merc63

Just BOILS MY BLOOD knowing those F*ks are MB sent these engines out with defective head bolts and are doing nothing about it.

Its not like its a defective AC unit or something, this is an essential part of a really expensive engine and they just left us to deal with it... Nice customer service you *****s!

At least take up the whole bill and fix it!

Merc63

Did you need new cams because of that bolt head flying around in there? Or was anything else replaced because of the bolt head?

How quick did you know something was wrong? Can you explained how it happened?

morganb

Jonny,

My rebuild for the headbolt issue had A$ 20,000 worth of parts, including all new Bearings, Pistons and Rings. MB quoted me about $35K and we also shared costs(see other post in sticky). I had a long time arguing with them and showed them some of the threads in this forum related to the head bolts. In the end I paid about A$3.5K. I was 6 months out of warranty and the car was always serviced by MB dealer and was serviced 2 weeks before the incident.

HoozyerdaddyC63

I feel like this needs to go viral. A Facebook page is one thing, but what about Twitter and a blog dedicated to the issue and letters/documents from MB regarding the issue and how they're dealing with it.

You should also post in the AMG Private Lounge to get more exposure to other AMG owners who may not visit these forums.

I was at the dealer last week talking to the tech and asking about the head bolt issue. He was fully aware of it and said that they would most likely take care of it if it happened under warranty, but seeing that I don't drive much I would most likely see this issue occurring outside of the warranty.

If MB is willing to fix a production defect from an OEM item in warranty, then why would the same production defect not be covered outside of warranty.

I'd be curious to know how many E, CLS and S class owners have seen this issue on their 6.2 L outside of warranty and what the dealer did for them.

Sincity

Agreed it needs to go viral and pics posted in the Private Lounge.

CoolBDPhenom03

Aren't there any lawsuits out there?

Jonny Nitro

No damage to the cams thank heavens. Nothing else got broken or damaged just a couple of gouges in the head but nothing that will impact operation of the valves.

The failure shows the EXACT same symptoms of a blown head gasket. White smoke, no power and the motor idles like it is dropping a cylinder. If this happens to you turn the baby off and call the tow truck. The longer you run it the more damage you are going to cause. This could have been way worse.

Jonny Nitro

Im with you brother. Just brutal. Its conflicting when I love the car so much but am so upset with the brand and customer service.

Sincity

You should throw the headers on since the engine is out. I wonder if you could drop the engine back in the bay with the headers on? Either case, the exhaust manifolds are easy to remove now.

arctichaze

I'm approaching my 4th year and 30k mikes. I really dot drive that much. I was on the fence but hearing about all of these issues forces me to buy the extended warranty. I got quoted for $3,500 to extend it +3 years up to 70k miles.

Karl901

I was just at the Laguna Seca ADA advanced class and ask a AMG tech about this Head bolt issue. His response was, " if I track the car, he would recommend replacing the head bolts".

DuaneC63

Hi Karl,
Had fun at Laguna. Thanks for the off track excursion in the SLS. Shoot me a PM.
Regards,
Duane