Scott Little

So I bought this car with 52,000 miles on it one month ago. One week later the CEL came on (OB11 Says 2002 DPF) so I took it to a 5 star Indy shop. They did a forced Regen, charged me 170.00 and the light was off.

2 days later, the light is back on. I call the mechanic and he says I am not driving it enough, that short trips won't kick in the Regen and that I should get it on the freeway and downshift it so that I am running 2500 RPM's for at least 15 minutes. I do that, the next start there is no CEL.

Last week the light comes back on. (My wife drives the Interstate 8 miles each way to work and back) I tell her to drive it at high RPM (2500) to work. She gets to work, gets out of the car and the key won't lock the doors. She shrugs it off. Comes out to go home and the car is dead. No lights, no bells, no nothing.

I grab some jumper cables and go to the rescue. Nothing. I find the Pos terminal and something that looks like a earth ground, high idle my Tahoe while reading the manual regarding the KeylessGo.....batteries show good in key. No sign of life from the car AT ALL.

I intend to have it towed to a Dealer in the morning if I can't figure some kind of work around. I love this car, but if it doesn't run past 52k ...well...WTF.

Bob338

Don't believe that your "mechanic" knows what he's talking about. On this forum there is a long thread on this subject with a number of the updates for technicians covering this subject. Find those numbers and refer the service department to them. I've never heard of a recommendation for having to run the engine at certain rpm's and while it may have some merit to create heat and burn off deposits on the NoX sensors, enough heat is generated around town at low r's to do that. Try a better and smarter dealer.

formerjeepguy

The recommendation to run at higher rpm is bunk.

If a forced regen or two can't revive the DPF it is likely clogged. Once the DPF is clogged it needs to be removed and cleaned or replaced. Sometimes they cannot be cleaned.

And once the DPF is remedied, do you know why it got blocked up in the first place? Bad high sulfur fuel? Blocked EGR passages? A bad batch of Adblue? If you don't find out it could happen again in another 10-15k.

As for the overall dead car - Its odd that you could not revive it by jumping it. I suppose the battery could just be very dead and maybe shorted, but I would expect a more catastrophic failure if shorted.

Scott Little

So I go to my dead car, I take all the necessary precautions, remove the battery. While I was doing that, I was thinking to myself, Man, they don't leave any extra space. I actually was smiling while doing this. (Did I say that I love this car? I do. I don't care if the PDF costs 3k+ or whatever. I bought this to keep.)
Took the battery to Auto Zone for a test and charge. Asked the guy to look up a new battery just in case. He is looking kind of dumbfounded at the screen. He says that he not only doesn't have a replacement battery, but there is not even a recommendation for one. Dealer Only he says. Hmmm. I say.

I leave and call the Dealer on Saturday morning. Nope, closed on weekends, but you can talk to Tony the Sales Manager. He says Mr Little, on the visor is a phone number. Call that number and a truck will be dispatched with a new battery and it will be replaced in the field for you. I said I am out of warranty. He says doesn't matter, you are in the family. We will take care of you. Good to know I sez. ( I imagine a 500 dollar bill for road service, more?)

Time to kill while the old one charges, start the online search for options. Heh heh...not looking good. Go back and find that sure enuff, the battery will not hold a charge, after 2 hours. Hmmm....call for road service or wait until Monday when the dealer opens.

What a great day for the SLK! GLK can wait until Monday.

Wondering if the bad battery could have been a contributor to the CEL...we shall see and will report back.

I know. I am wordy.

Scott Little

formerjeepguy..please don't ever use the word catastrophic...yikes! However

you are exactly right...but I really have no way of knowing what caused it. The dealer I bought it from (Not a MB dealer) did a service on the car, also put new tires on. They said they used the correct Mobil one but who knows really? And what filter? So I suppose that would be the most obvious place to start, with a new and correct oil change. Just so I know what is in it now. Past service records show an O2 sensor was replaced at 20k. Other than that just standard service.

Bob338

I am very aware of that thread. I stayed up all night reading it, going from Oh crap what have I done, to well, it looks like it has been handled. Mine is 2013 remember. Honestly if I had seen the thread before purchase, I would have went gas. But here I am, with the cards dealt. Living in a small town, with one MB Dealer that I am not too sure about, and a highly recommended Indy shop that you just said are idiots.

It seems my Dealer is owed a chance to at least drink from the well one time. That will determine many of my future moves. I am not in the class of not having to care how much things cost, I have waaaay more time than money, and I love turning a wrench of a weekend.

May even go take some ASE courses just to round out my understanding of things. 60 is the new 30, right?

formerjeepguy

I have read on here about a few people that have used road service to have the battery replaced and they all said it was cheaper than the dealership. YMMV.

Search this forum for battery replacement and you should come up with the correct battery type if you want to go down the self-replacement path.

I would not trust that a non-mercedes used the correct oil.

The oil that you want is mercedes spec 229.52. Your book will tell you to use 229.51, but that is superseded by the 229.52 and 5w30 is fine for these engines. I found it to be as cheap or cheaper at the dealer than online. Get the oil from the dealer parts counter. The dealer will also have the correct oil filter and crush washer. Pick up cast aluminum oil filter tool at the autoparts store. You can find youtube video of the oil change procedure.

Let us know how it works out.

Scott Little

Got a replacement battery installed and an A service scheduled for Thursday at the local Dealership.

The CEL was out for a day after the battery was replaced., but is back on now. Same code showing 2002 particulate filter

Changing the battery did not require any kind of synchro or reset that I can tell. Started immediately, all windows, sunroof even radio stations were the same.

formerjeepguy

After a bit of googling it seems that using the wrong engine oil can also cause premature DPF failure. If the selling dealer used anything other than the mercedes specific low SAPS oil (229.52) that could be the cause of the DPF issue.

http://www.hypermiler.co.uk/dpf-dies...culate-filters

http://www.dpfcleaningcentre.co.uk/w...my-dpf-blocked

http://www.jlmlubricants.com/en/how-...e-filters-work

Scott Little

Interesting reading. Also, not so crazy for the mechanic to tell me about getting the Regen done by downshifting to get higher RPMs after all.

I am most concerned with finding the reason for the clog obviously. The oil change to the proper lubricants is just a safety thing, so I KNOW what is in it. Doubtful ash deposits would build up in 500 miles enough to cause the CEL.

Prior to the dealership I bought it from,( non MB) it was under warranty and has service records thruout it's life from MB Dealers.

Scott Little

'A' service at dealer on sale, CEL diagnostics 90 bucks plus 30 to do a computer regen. Complimentary car wash total 233 bucks.

My wait was extended due to the Tech dropping my car at the wash bay and walking with the key. I had my Kindle so was not perturbed, I expected to wait.

As I was leaving, Service Manager waved me in, handed me a VIP 10% off parts and accessories key tag, and a 50$ gift card for my next service. Profuse apologies for making me wait an extra hour.

So far so good with the CEL remaining off for two days now. Remaining hopeful but no matter. I love this car, it suits me and her perfectly. Not liking the new 300GLC, looks like everything else on the road. May have to bite the bullet and buy another one

formerjeepguy

That's good news. I hope your problem is solved. FWIW my CEL stayed off for a week after the first forced regen. Then they kept it for over two weeks while trying multiple forced regens and ultimately replacing the DPF.

Scott Little

Thanks for the encouragement...of course now I am very nervous about my decision to buy the diesel.

Did you get ANY love from the dealer when you traded for gas? I love the GLK, but thinking a trade in for a gas model may be wise. Of course yours was new, mine purchased used.

Maybe I should ride it out and see where the Class Action ends up on this one.

You know I spent many hours researching before buying this, I am amazed I never saw all the DPF issues.

bugelrex

What was the dealer cost of the DPF replacement? wonder how painful this would be out of warranty

formerjeepguy

They hid it from me as warranty work. A bit of research put it at $2500-$3000. They had my car in the shop for over 3 weeks on two occasions before I called it quits and traded it.

formerjeepguy

Not really. They tried to tell me they were helping me but I had to negotiate like any other deal. They wanted retail for the new one and tried to lowball on the trade in.

Scott Little

Well the CEL came on after 2 days off. Back at 1.15 today...I will see how they treat me. I mean if they try and charge me another diagnostic and regen I am most likely done with them...since I am out of warranty I will have to go another way.

( Maybe turn it into an 'off road' vehicle for the remainder of my ownership and delete DPF and EGR like all the trucks do. Half kidding.) Any info on purchasing the DPF anywhere except MB?

Scott Little

Well this I haven't yet seen....though I bought the car used and out of warranty, the Dealership said the DPF is covered under the 8yr 80k warranty federaly mandated and will be no charge for the filter. He said there is a switch that also needs to be replaced that is not covered. He sent me home with the promise to contact me later with the price for the switch and a ETA for the DPF.....

Asked why the DPF failed at 55k he said there was really no way of knowing. They are operating under the assumption it was a faulty part. No charge today.

Hugo L.

Well that's awesome. Time to pop open a beer!

formerjeepguy

Wow, you got very lucky today. From what I have seen on other boards including the VW TDI forum, the DPF is not covered by the federal emissions warranty. Take it and get out before they do more research.

Scott Little

So I found this for future reference...https://www3.epa.gov/obd/pubs/420f15035.pdf

formerjeepguy

I was wrong. The DPF is considered a catalytic converter and is covered by the 8yr/80k emissions law. I confused it with the DEF system which is not covered.

Cwdawson

You should see if they will give you back the diagnostic fee...


Can Any Portion of An Emissions Warranty Repair Be Charged to Me?
If you have valid warranty claim, you cannot be charged for any costs associated with the diagnosis or repair of the problem, including labor charges, parts, or miscellaneous items that are necessary to complete the repair. For example, if a manufacturer agrees to replace a catalytic converter under the emissions warranty, you should not be charged for the diagnosis of the bad converter, or any pipes, brackets, adjustments, or labor needed to complete the replacement.

Scott Little

So it went in today. Dealer said they had to wait for the part, also to schedule me when they could give me a loaner. Got a 300C...meh. I don't like the way the info/command screen sits up on the dash and proud. One reason I didn't like the Glc when I bought the GLK.

I asked about them giving me the DPF that they remove and replace, he said they had to send it back to MB as a core? I was hoping to get it and have it cleaned and held in reserve for future.

He told me it was a four hour job. I dropped it at 8 am and at 4 he called saying there was another switch that was bad, they would have to order it and may be a couple days. In the meantime I would still be in the loaner. The switch is a pressure balancing switch, which he had told me in the beginning needed replacment. I was told the switch was 235 but the catalytic converter (DPF) would be replaced under warranty.

I came home and read the Fed Requirements for the emissions warranty and asked why I was being charged for the switch. He said I wasn't, that the whole job would be warranty.

I went in as scheduled, got the loaner and the paperwork authorizing the repairs. I noticed it said the work was being done as 'goodwill' to keep me a happy client. So far I am, but that is not the reason for the repair. It is because they are mandated to repair it. Curious.

2 things. First, why can't I keep the removed part? Makes me skeptical they are in fact replacing it and not just sending it to be cleaned. And second, why the comment about 'goodwill'? Seems like a legal 'CYA' possibly.

I suppose I will go see the Service Manager when I go back and ask these questions. So far I like the way the dealership has been treating me, but you know. When something doesn't square up with logic...it doesn't feel good.


OK..I didn't want to abandon the thread. I will keep it updated thru completion. Thanks to all who comment....

Scott Little

They gave me a C300 loaner, the wife didn't like it at all.

Got the car back on Friday afternoon, basically a week in the shop. I came to pick it up and he said good news! We didn't have to replace the DPF, Mercedes told us the different codes that were pulled, indicated a different issue and so we changed the switches for pressure differential and sent the DPF to be cleaned and everything is fine. I said cleaning is not replacing, and if it is warranty it should be replaced. He said he had to do what Mercedes said to do since they are paying for the work. Yes, but no one is paying me for my hours in the waiting room. He said he was sorry but that the car was fixed.

CEL was off when I drove it home Friday, we left it sitting over the weekend, she drove to work in GLK Tuesday, Wednesday morning the CEL is back. I had to wait until this morning to cool off, now I am going back in calmly, and I intend on by passing the advisor and going directly to the service manager.

formerjeepguy

I had a C300 for a couple weeks too. I did not care for it at all.

Unfortunately I think I know exactly how you feel right now. I wonder if they really cleaned the DPF or if they just did another forced regen. Cleaning the DPF requires removing it and sending it to a specialist shop. I'm not sure if it is welded in or if it's easily removed with bolts so you may be able to tell if there are fresh welds.

They tried the differential pressure switch on mine too the first time I brought it in.

DPFs are not cheap so they don't like to replace them. But you will probably get a new one this time.