Hugues

Got the job finally done. Doesn't seem to drive any different after cleaning the manifolds.
Glad that sucky episode is over.
Now I have to see if the crank seal needs to be replaced. Another exciting job on this so dependable mercedes...
Oh ya, forgot to mention I had to get the timing chain replaced just before the warranty expired, dealer told me it was deffective and streached. Why don't they emit a recall even if you're past the waranty? This would show good faith on their part...anyways, I'll be happy to unload this GL and sit my but in something else.

clvincent

yeah and i am wondering why the newer ones seem to have the timing chain issue and as far as i know the older ones like my 2008 did not...

bha

For Hugues and others who have replaced their oil cooler seals,

About how many hours of actual work would you say it took to do the job?

Just trying to decide if I want to do it on my own.

Have heard various numbers, all the way from 5 hours (from someone who did it on a Sprinter and has done 8 of these, so he's an expert) all the way to 23 hours that an MB dealer quoted someone.

Most common seems to be about 10 hours. Does that sound right?

Truck is mostly highway driven, and not idled much at all. So I'm not planning to clean out manifolds of carbon or anything. Will just clean up (may pressure wash) the oily parts once they are off the truck before I reassemble. So don't include more than about 1/2 hour of cleaning time in your total estimate.

Would 10 hours of actual work be a good estimate or am I too high or too low?

As far as background, I do most of my work on the truck, have done similar jobs at this complexity level in the past, and have all of the necessary tools and parts already.

Hugues

Bha,
ended up taking 25 hours, didn't exactly go fast, took alot of pictures, put screws in ziplock bags and labelled them so I know where they go. You spend alot of time laying on the engine unscrewing the turbo, pipes and all that other neet stuff back there that is ever so difficult to reach. Nice to have a camera or mirror to see what your doing back there. I did some other stuff like the fuel filter since everything was apart, engine filters, oil and oil filter change, new prestone and some other gasket I had to replace because the dealer put it on wrong on the vaccum pump. Honestly, 5 hours for this job seems like super fast to me. Was it only 1 guy or 2 guys working on the car? Someone with mechanical experience, a car lift and all the right tools that has never done the job, maybe 12 to 15 hours. The 5 hour guy must have done this job 20 times to be that fast. dealership called it a 15 hour job.
Hope this will help you out, good luck with the om642 imfamous oil cooler leak problem. Best part is when you pop in those 2 gaskets worth 10$ while your engine is ripped apart. Then you wonder why MB didn't put them in years ago? Then you think of their preassembled gasket kits for this job that is always in stock at any dealer. Not resolving this known issue is just negligence on their part, maybe they just want the extra maintenance work for their dealerships.

chsu74

This is what the dealer charged. 11+ hrs.

bha

Thanks.. If it looks like 12-15 hour range, I'll probably do the job myself.

Here was the other guy's quote who said 5 hours. This is from another forum:
first one took me about 10 hours, but I took way more off than was needed.

I have them down to about 5-6 now. have a co-worker can do them in about 4.5 hours.

we are both MB techs and have done several. We dont clean the intakes out, just the valley where the cooler is.

He is an MB tech and sounds like he moves pretty fast. I'm assuming if you say 12-15 hours and a professional tech takes 10 hours his first time, your 12-15 hour estimate should be about right for someone doing it at home.

When I'm done (may be a few months from now) I'll detail how long it took me so people know in the future.

carlosrg

BHA

I believe the 5-6 hours is just to get to replace the gaskets.Once you have it all apart you need to clean all the pipes and etc.
The Dealer quoted me
13 hours to replace the Oil Cooler gaskets
10 hours to replace rear main seal
23 hours total
plus 500 in parts.

I had someone else do all the Work "Mahadavi Motorsports" for 13 hours, also had him replace the fuel filter, change the oil, and replace the transfer case oil.

It is a doable job, but this time of the year is a bit cold to messing with the truck unless you have a heated garage.

I felt the price I paid for an independence versus the dealership it was worth it.

Tidwell

I took my 2011 GL350 in for oil change at dealership last week. (First time since purchase so I thought it would be good for them to give it a look over) Tech came back and said I have leak at oil cooler. I have not had any oil detected on floor of garage. Also, last oil change was conducted at 81K at dealership, vehicle now has 89K. Oil level was approximately 1 quart low when checked prior to trip to dealership for service. I attributed the quart missing to normal use over that amount of time driving. It states in the dang owners manual that this vehicle will use 1qt over ~600 miles.


Since it is now leaking its probably a matter of time before it just gets worse. However, if it is only loosing 1 qt over 8k miles, I think I will monitor my levels carefully and add if needed instead of having them tear apart my engine to replace the oil cooler and seals for >$3K

dieseldoc

Oil cooler leaks are very common. I had it fixed 3 times on my Gl. It was one of the reasons I said goodbye to it. I never paid for the repairs fortunately. Make sure is they use purple seals for the repair. Also make sure have dealer check for leaks at other locations. OM642 prone to leaks.

Hugues

Truck is running fine, I don't really see a difference as to prior cleaning the manifolds and after.

clvincent

tidwell i would check the orange seal and the big plastic piece that holds the orange seal really well before i was certain that it was the oil cooler

maybe clean the engine and try to figure out exactly where it is leaking from, there are a lot of places to leak on this motor besides the oil cooler

taeandji

I'm having the same issue with my 2011 GL350 and wife's E350 bluetec....

Do you have any pictures while you were working on it? I'm thinking about doing it myself too...