Tiger1818

I appreciate your patience with me as I get used to this new forum. I am sure this question has been asked before but I could not find the answer in the search feature.
I got my first Mercedes about 2 weeks ago, when I bought a used 2012 C63 in Diamond White. It had just under 6000 miles on it (9500km).
It does not have the Performance Package but does have the 19 inch rims. I love the exhaust note of this vehicle. The snapping and popping is music to my ears.
I am just getting used to driving it and this weekend I used it in the manual mode for the first time. Nothing too crazy, shifted around 4000-4500 RPM.
Both times when I returned home there was a noise from under the hood that sounds like a vacuum cleaner. It was fairly loud. This had not happened before whenever I drove it in Comfort or either of the Sport settings.
I called the Mercedes dealership today, where I purchased the car from and talked to their service adviser.
He informed me almost right away that I needed a new Intake Manifold. This was common with the 2012's and it was still ok to drive my car.
Does this sound correct? They said they did a complete check on the car before delivering it to me but would they not have discovered this issue? How common is this problem? It has made feel a little uneasy.
Any advice or feedback would help. I apologize in advance if this question has been asked many times and if this is something basic I should know or have known. Thank you for your assistance.

whoover

Intake manifold gaskets are a common failure on these cars. The manifolds themselves not so much. Diagnosing it by phone is a red flag as far as I'm concerned. Usually a leak will throw a CEL (check engine light). And advice that it's ok to drive with a leaky manifold is another red flag. Are you sure about this dealership?

Tiger1818

I agree with you. It is a little disconcerting. I have an appointment for next Thursday to have it checked out. Unfortunately it is the only Mercedes dealership in Victoria where I live.
I am a disturbed by the whole matter but want to give them the benefit of the doubt that they know what they are doing. I have great hopes and aspirations for this vehicle. I will be extremely disappointed if this turns into a fiasco. I have not had any CEL show up.
I texted the salesman today, who sold me the car. He pretty much said,"Those warranties are life savers"

Mort

It sounds to me like you raised the oil temperature by driving the car more aggressively. When the oil reaches a set temperature the cooling fan on the auxiliary oil cooler in the passenger side fender area comes on. That fan is quite loud and makes kind of a roar. Is this a possibility? Watch your oil temperature, coolant temperature and gear selection in the AMG screen when you are driving aggressively. The next time you notice this note the oil temperature.

jmueller

I agree with Mort. That likely was your oil cooling fan. The fan sounds very much like a vacuum cleaner when it is on. If your car does not have a check engine light, and the sound goes away after you let the car cool off a little, in my opinion you have nothing to be worried about and your car is working properly as it tries to cope with the elevated oil temperatures caused by spirited driving.

nkc

my oil cooling fan has become part of my amg melody..... so noisy u'd think the car has another issue...... am sure u have nothing to worry about

papashango

I was just going to say that it most likely is just the fan from the car getting heated. Although I haven't had that happen to my car and I have had more than a few 'spirited' drives. I used to have that happen to my C350 all the time though.

alexmtl

Yep, same here. Those engine fans do make a lot of noise

stratman

Thanks for asking this question Tiger1818! I too am a newbie having purchased my new 2013 in April and I was about to ask something similar about M mode. When I first start my C63/p31 I can hear that same vacuum sounding noise and after about 5 seconds or so it stops. Since I've been driving in C mode (until yesterday when I used M for the first time with 1,010 miles on the clock) I never noticed this sound after driving and parking in the garage and I didn't notice it after a bit of a drive in M mode either. So, to add to Tiger1818's question, is it ok to drive mostly in M mode for normal driving or is this not advisable? I used to drive my previous '12 IS F almost exclusively in M mode once it was warmed up. Sorry Tiger1818 I don't mean to hijack your thread but I didn't want to start a new partly redundant thread.

Tiger1818

Thank you for all the feedback. I can not tell you how much I sincerely appreciate it.
The noise does go off about a minute after I open my hood when I return home. It is definitely not the engine cooling fan.
While I have not monitored the engine oil temperature, I am going to start doing this in the future. In the absence of a CEL, it seems most likely that it is the oil cooling fan I am hearing. I think I will cancel my service appointment. The vehicle otherwise drives perfectly.
Stratman, no need to apologize. I want to learn as much as I can about all aspects of driving this car and potential issues.

jmueller

The only disadvantage to driving in M mode constantly is that the computer wont let you shift into the highest gear at lower speeds. For example, in M mode, it will not allow you to shift into 6th gear at 37mph, while in C mode, it will shift into 6th and the car will lumber along at 1000rpm. Trust me, you can still get the oil cooling fan to come on in C mode, it is just less likely to happen.

whoover

It won't hurt anything, but why drive in M for "normal" driving? A quick turn to S or S+ will handle any "situation," whether curvy road, steep road or pesky ricer. Your mileage will suffer vs. C for ordinary cruising. Sure M is fun and of use now and then but it's no stick so why pretend it is?

But you won't break anything, for sure.

papashango

I drive in the S mode majority of the time and occasionally put it in M mode if I wanna see the dial go all red and flash when I am redlining it. :p

Ingenieur

Let me get this straight

You heard a 'noise'

You told the dealer over the phone
He said replace the intake manifold

On a car he sold you 2 weeks ago
With only 6000 miles on it

Is this for real?

I've never heard of a dealer prescribing specific repairs over the phone without even seeing the car

abcut973

Man it's not for nothing we call MB stealerships
How could you suggest a diagnostic over the phone??
Anyhow OP you did the right thing by posting in here. This forum is a great source of information (good or bad !lol!)
Enjoy the car safely

ecohen2

Do this... Start the car in the morning and see if you hear the exact same noise after the idle drops... I get a high pitch electric whine and then it goes away after a few minutes..

Ingenieur

We are as bad as the dealer
Diagnosing over the web lol

Was the engine rinning when you heard the 'noise'

My WAG
nothing wrong at all

I still can't believe it happened
The dealer prescribing repairs sight unseen on a 2 week old sale with only 6000 miles

jmueller

Likely that noise on start up is the secondary air injection pump. It's purpose is to reduce start up emissions. It turns off after 15-30 seconds.

abcut973

That is correct and is probably not related to OP's noise after a spirited drive.

Tiger1818

Yes....My experience that I conveyed with the service department was 100% legit.
This is exactly what transpired during my phone conversation with them. Not possessing enough knowledge personally about the vehicle I was trusting that they had enough experience in this field to know what they were talking about. It will be difficult obviously in the future to trust their judgement on other service issues.
It wasn't until I searched the internet for answers that I came across this site, and man, am I glad I found it.
Ingenieur...Yes,the car is running when I hear this noise.It is not there ever on startup and has only been present after the 2 times I have driven in the M mode. It will stop after I open the hood when I return home after about a minute. In absence of s CEL or any driveability issues, it makes sense that it is most likely the oil cooling fan.
I trust the wealth of information here and will be using this site as my source of information in the future.
Thank you once again for all your comments and advice.

jmueller

Keep in mind, our engines are 6.2 liters shoe-horned into a rather small engine bay. These motors get hot and some extra fans are necessary to keep them running. When you hear the noise, take a look at your oil temperatures in the AMG screen on your dash. Likely that oil fan will come on when them temp exceeds 235 or so.

Diabolis

As others have said, the noise that you are describing under those specific circumstances is the oil cooler fan that only kicks in when the oil reaches a certain temperature (which you are unlikely to reach in C or S mode). It is perfectly normal.

chrisridebike8

Any time your oil temp goes about 235 (IIRC) it will kick the aux fan on until it drops to 221. I definitely know when it kicks off because I have let it cool down in the garage once. When it kicks on...well pretty much every time I drive because I can't resist a little fun

Dogtag114

Hmmm. just finished AMG Academy advanced training this week and I put an SL into limp mode because the oil was around 280. I guess the SLs don't cool as well as the SLSs.


By the way, off topic, but the Advanced training exceeded expectations... much more challenging then the basic. Reinhold Renger was there. He is the global lead instructor, a sick driver and is back racing the 24 hour ring this weekend.