meritrade

I have a 2014 ML350 Bluetec with approximately 60,000 miles. It just recently started leaking diesel fuel - you can see it dripping from under the car and the diesel fumes are pulled into the passenger cabin through the vents.

These fumes are not only toxic, but when driving they can cause the driver to lose consciousness and get into a serious accident! This is a very serious safety issue.

I have small children and this is an extremely scary and dangerous situation. All BlueTEC owners should beware and get this fixed as soon as it happens!

The car is at the dealer now and they are investigating what caused the leak. I have contacted Mercedes Benz corporate about this issue and they said there are no current recalls for diesel fuel leaks, but I have read online about others who have had this exact issue.

If you have this issue, please contact Mercedes-Benz right away so that they can do something about this before anyone gets very seriously hurt. Mercedes has not issued a recall and hopefully will before its too late.

DanD.

Do you have a case number with MB? Thinking when some one call MB with the same problem it's better to reference to the same case even for different car.

Diabolis

Guys - chill. Both of you. Mertitrade - your first post is "OMG, my car is leaking diesel and the sky is falling... must be a manufacturing defect and is so freakin' dangerous the only thing that we could possibly do is ban all cars completely", and Dan was asking about traces of moisture on his engine block in another thread. Take a pill (actually, two pills each may be a more appropriate dose in your case), take your cars to a service center and see what they say.

No, I don't work for Mercedes. You're both blowing things *way* out of proportion.

meritrade

Hi Diabolis - thanks for you reply. Mercedes-Benz acknowledges that leaking diesel fuel from the filter is a very serious issue. They have issued multiple recalls because of this. This is the latest recall (Campaign Number 11V496000) that was performed for safety reasons:

Mercedes-Benz Recalls Diesel Vehicles for Fuel Leak
2011 Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTEC
Mercedes-Benz is recalling 6,872 diesel vehicles because of a potential fuel leak. “The diesel fuel filter may leak from the area around the heating component,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports.


For this recall on the OM642 engine the issue was the diesel fuel filter O ring was faulty.

According to Mercedes-Benz themselves:
"The concern is that the diesel fuel could leak near the heat source or leak onto the road. This could lead to a crash or cause a fire in the presence of an ignition source”

The issue with my vehicle was the fuel filter was faulty and started leaking diesel from a pinhole crack form the bottom of the filter housing. The filter is manufactured by MANN, and I will get the exact part number and post some photos for this thread.

If other are having diesel fuel leaking issues form the filter, please note the manufacturer and part number of the filter and post to this thread so we can make Mercedes-Benz aware of this issue before any vehicles catch fire due to this.

Diabolis

Meritrade - yes, there was a bad batch of fuel filter seals in 2011, but if your vehicle was one of the ~7,000 affected ones, you would have received a recall letter. While I certainly don't dispute that leaking fuel can be dangerous, unless it is squirting a considerable amount on the hot exhaust manifold, it is nowhere near as dangerous as the report suggests. Yes, if someone hits a large patch of fuel, oil or coolant they can lose control of the vehicle, but two drops of diesel every 300 yards are not enough for this to happen... and yes, IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE, fuel can catch fire, but then again, you'd need both a large amount of fuel AND an ignition source, which on your ML would be nowhere near the leaky seal unless you drive over open, burning fire pits for fun. I mean, if you take a butane lighter (you need open flame - a lit cigarette butt for example will not ignite gasoline, let alone diesel) and hold it for 10 seconds near the seal, you might start a little fire - until the drop of fuel that leaked burns out in 1 second and the flame extinguishes itself. No MB cars have ever caught fire because of the leaky filter seal. That's a fact.

I will grant you that it stinks though, but if I can smell unburnt fuel in the car, I would pull over ASAP, investigate where it's coming from and determine if it's safe to continue driving to the service department or whether I need a tow truck. So - what I was trying to say is that yes, you have some kind of a defect that you need to get addressed immediately, but chances are that you've burst a hose or broken a clamp and that it may not be related to the 7,000 defective filter seals nor nearly as dangerous as the "this-is-a-worst-case-scenario-of-what-could-possibly-happen" description. And yes, I'd probably drive with a window cracked open, but again, it would take *A LOT* of fuel vapor for you to even get dizzy, let alone pass out. Everyone can smell the fuel at the pump every time they fill up their cars, but I have yet to see anyone at the pump pass out because they've been overcome by the fumes.

meritrade

I have an update from the dealer. According to the dealer, the diesel fuel leak was coming from a tiny crack forming on the defective oil filter housing. The fuel filter housing developed a small crack and started leaking fuel at an alarming rate.

The filter apparently has defect that causes the bottom housing of the filter to form small cracks prematurely. The Mercedes part number of this filter is A 642 090 60 52 manufactured by MANN, made in the Czech Republic.

If you have this filter in your vehicle, I would change it out proactively, keep the receipt and a photo of the old filter so you can be reimbursed if and when Mercedes issues a recall for this as they have in the past for leaky fuel filters.

Diabolis

That doesn't look cracked - it looks rusted out from the inside exactly there the water would pool, which would indicate a high water content in the fuel that's been separated by the filter. Whereabouts do you live? I am interested specifically in the biodiesel content - many states in the USA now increasingly sell ULSD that meets ASTM D7467 which has 6-20% biodiesel content and the Mercs definitely do not like. Biodiesel does have its share of fuel stability challenges including moisture absorption. Just curious.

meritrade

I'm in South Florida and I have only filled the vehicle with ultra low sulfur highway diesel fuel, never a biodiesel mix. I also have never seen the blue sticker that is required to be posted when bio-diesel is mixed in.

Diabolis

In that case it doesn't look like the fuel was the culprit... the filter housing rusted out on yours. When was the last time it was replaced?

Those same filters have been in use on other diesel MBs for a fairly long time. Will keep an eye out on the forums to see if the issue becomes more widespread, although I suspect that it was just a bad filter or that it wasn't replaced every 20K miles.

meritrade

The filter was replaced less than 10k miles ago.

It definitely was a bad filter. The failure mode for a fuel filter should never be to rust out and spew diesel fuel.

Mann has already had to redesign this fuel filter twice, it looks like like they're going to have to do it a third time. The last time Mercedes Benz smartly issued a recall before it turned into a very serious liability for them.

Diabolis

^ This I agree with 100%. As I said, I haven't seen this happen often, but if there is a batch of filters that are starting to rust form the inside (whether it's because of a bad tank or two of fuel or just the moisture content of B5 diesel in general), they do need to be redesigned again.

mikel212

Get it fixed and dont stress over it. Diesel wont ignite unless it's in aerosol form.

Warning RedFlag

Hi Meritrade!

It’s been a while since you posted about your ML350 leaking exhaust into the cabin of your car. I’m curious what happened and if problem was resolved because I have the same exact car 2014 ML350 Bluetec and dealing with the same exact issue right now and MB dealership who did my AEM install is NOT taking me seriously. In fact, the let my car sit in service for 31 days without repairing or running basic diagnostic tests. This MB dealership did my AEM install in Sept 2022 and at the same time replaced my entire exhaust system, under new extended warranty, because car was emitting thick white smoke from tailpipe that smelled like ammonia.

The exhaust that leaking into the cabin made my eyes burn, made me vomit (sorry), made me sleepy and overall made me feel off. The dealership had the nerve to text me and say my car just has a “smell problem” and I should replace the air filters and get the AC lines cleaned which will cost me $685.00. Yeah right! Like I’m gonna pay that.

Denying me a fix through the new extended warranty is breaking settlement agreement with EPA & CARB $20,000 penalty.

What’s crazy…. Is the MB dealership is blatantly ignoring the safety of this car even after I put all of my concerns in writing, after emissions scandal, after AEM install after getting entire exhaust system replaced. They let my car sit in service for 31 days with zero diagnostic testing and repairs.

I’m thinking the dealership knows this ML350 Bluetec has a design flaw or a exhaust problem that they can’t fix and they’re not going to bother pretending to fix the car because they’re already busy.

Is anyone else is dealing with same issue.

Thanks!



QUOTE=meritrade;6937936]

I have a 2014 ML350 Bluetec with approximately 60,000 miles. It just recently started leaking diesel fuel - you can see it dripping from under the car and the diesel fumes are pulled into the passenger cabin through the vents.

These fumes are not only toxic, but when driving they can cause the driver to lose consciousness and get into a serious accident! This is a very serious safety issue.

I have small children and this is an extremely scary and dangerous situation. All BlueTEC owners should beware and get this fixed as soon as it happens!

The car is at the dealer now and they are investigating what caused the leak. I have contacted Mercedes Benz corporate about this issue and they said there are no current recalls for diesel fuel leaks, but I have read online about others who have had this exact issue.

If you have this issue, please contact Mercedes-Benz right away so that they can do something about this before anyone gets very seriously hurt. Mercedes has not issued a recall and hopefully will before its too late.


[/QUOTE]

Rock

Enough gentlemen. Either be civil or don't post.