taeandji

I have 2011 GL350 Bluetec with about 68,000 miles and 2011 E350 Bluetec with about 30,000 miles...
both vehicles started to leak oils about same time.... after I parked both vehicles i see black oil drops more to front passenger sides...
does anyone have similar problems and can share where i might need to look at first...? (moved to different country and trip to dealer is about triple of cost than state side dealers...)

DennisG01

Dripping on the ground only tells you where the oil is falling off the engine... not where it emanates from. You're going to have to get in there and follow the trail. Chances are, you'll have to clean everything (top and bottom) REAL well first and then continue to observe until you see where it's starting at. Other than that, it would just be guesses.

alx

Front pass side is usually oil cap going bad or overfilled with oil at last service.

taeandji

ok... I was able to take it to local (S. Korea) MB service center to check what it is going on and here is what they have found...

1. I guess they called... intercooler gasket? is blown (multi hole ring 642 142 31 80) so they say part of top engine needs to be taken out to replace the gasket and they also included that Servomotor (642 150 04 94) to be replaced as part of replacing this gasket along with many other small parts such as seal rings and screws... ---> quoted for over $2000 (parts and labor) they say it may take up to 3 days or so...

2. For engine light - both O2 sensors are gone bad (they are shown as NOX sensor... MA000 90536 03) --- quoted ($1000/sensor for parts only so total of $2000)

3. they also said adblue tank heated line is faulty...? (RS Preheater 164 471 12 75) ---> parts only quoted for $1700


question 1. what level of effort does it take to replace that gasket? can any experienced indy shop mechnic do?
question 2. do I need to replace that RS preheater? what does it do? can I wait till I come back to state in the next 2 years (have extended warranty till 2018...)

my wife's 2011 E350 bluetec is leaking as well and i'm going to bring it in for check...

alx

All findings you describe are fairly common issues. And expensive ones as you found out.

The oil cooler seals job is not a complicated one, but many pieces need to be removed. The turbo and the intake manifold need to come off. The swirl motor assembly if not throwing errors might or might not need to be replaced. Klutzy techs tend to break it and thus the dealer includes it in the estimate to cover their ***.

The preheater heats up the adblue in cold temps so it can flow. It is strictly emissions related and replacing it is couple hours. Before replacing it however have the tech update the SCR firmware as there is an update that addresses this specific problem (in other words it could be a software glitch). After updating and resetting the controller if the error comes back then you replace the preheater.

On driving it as is- the Nox sensors need to be replaced or you will have other serious issues later. The oil leak if it doesn't bother you and you add oil as needed to stay on top of it- you can drive like that. The preheater- you can drive like that too as long as the truck does not start threatening you with shutting down after X number of starts.

dieseldoc

All of these issues are common problems, I had intercooler leak fixed 3 times on my 2008 GL. Make sure they use the latest gaskets (purple). The 3L diesel is notorious for leaks.

taeandji

Thank you for responses and I'm going to take it to local indy shop and try to get an estimate but not sure if it would be any significantly cheaper than MB service center estimate because local businesses tend to charge even more to owners of foreign vehicles...

I'm even thinking about do it myself if there is manual or someone's write up....
does anyone have manual or step-by-step guide or points what to watch out?

mhasan4

Folks,
let us collect the data on the Bluetec. I have searched ~40 cars on cars.com and found ~ 20 cars with leaks and torn seats (taken from CarFax report on the site). Please add your car or any leaky car you know to the list. There is no such record of engine failure for any other car in the industry. Worse, the failure is mainly because of material choice of a gasket (~$5 value!). Every car made with these gaskets will eventually fail. M-B should recall the bluetecs and offer full repair and warranty.
As a Material Scientist, I was stunned by the choice of material in that gasket. I never suspected anyone in Germany (one of the top countries in materials engineering) would do such a mistake rather than by Mercedes-Benz who has over 80 years of experience with diesel engines and have actually produced some of the best diesel engines in the world. Worse, the gasket is located deep in the engine that it would take a skilled technician between 20 to 30 hours to repair it, according to experts! M-B should have not used anything but metal gasket in that location.
This is a Lemon! There is NO such failure in any engine made by any other manufacturer. Please check the table below: some engines has failed at ~29.5k! This is a $60k car. MB should be ashamed of this record and should hurry up to correct it plus granting at least 100k mile warranty on the repair.
Please add your VIN together with the approximate mileage and date when your engine leaked. Let us take it to the Attorney General of New Jersey (Where MB headquarter is located). There is no cost to submit a claim. Each of us should submit the same claim showing clear evidence of failure at the manufacturing level. We need a volunteer to write a good letter. This is an obvious case. Someone in Florida forced MB (through the Attorney General) to reacquire their car as a lemon.
Go here to file a complaint with NJ Attorney General: http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/Pag...Complaint.aspx
Scroll down to see how to file online or download a complaint form. There is a Lemon complaint too.