bostonmarc

So I get up this morning to go to the gym and NO HEAT in the car. I call the dealer, skip the gym and head over. It was about 22 degrees this morning. Long story short- Drain holes below the wipers are too small, watter gets back up and freezes and screws up the heating motor. Now the proud driver of a 2007 C 280 loaner till Tuesday. Sounds like this will be a continuing problem for us in the winter conditions.

CarGuru

Sorry to hear, But I will probably never have to deal with it in California At any rate you would have thought this bug would have been worked out in Germany where it snows like crazy.

-Ryan

rb23lb

wont see that either in so cal but damn cmon MB??? are you kidding? this seems pretty basic of an issue to overlook... that really sucks...

Krytech

ARgh.... I'm in MN....

chilledbenz

I guess in all of those 100 millions miles that they tested the car...they never tested it in cold conditions? Let's hope this was a one off problem and that it doesn't happen again.

PoaMike

^+1

Baron Samedi

Were there any fallen leaves in the drains blocking them? That's a common problem with Porsches.

bostonmarc

No leaves. With all the snow melting it gets too backed up then freezes. According to the MB tech they have a tool( which I am assuming is a drill bit) to make the holes larger. But I think it was too late for me. I think there is also a replacement piece with larger holes that service can order. Sounded like something they knew was gooing to happen but too late

chilledbenz

Well the big snow storm has hit for the eastern United States and no one else has commented on having the same problem thankfully.

I don't think I fully understand the post. Why would frozen water in a drain hole near the wiper blades stop a heater motor? Wild guess would say that its a vent tube and the motor over heated? Are these drain holes located under the plastic mesh? Haven't heard of this before, but then I don't drive a Porsche either as mentioned above ha ha.

bostonmarc

My dealer said i was the second 2008 c class of the morning with that problem, and it has been a known problem in the past with other MB. Says they already have a replacement part with larger holes and they have a drill bit for it, so sounds like they knew this might happen

430752

... you are the new owner of a 2007 c280 4 matic and a 2008 mercedes toboggan!

Do you keep your w204 garaged? Curious since mine is garaged at home and parked under an building (but still outdoors) during day. Wonder if that will help. Also, just had car in to dealer for non-repair work, wonder if they preemptively drilled me....errr...reamed my hole......errr...made me looser....errr...you get the idea!

Krytech

At least it sounds like they're on top of the problem. I'm going to mention this to my dealer when I pick up the car next month. No heat here in Jan. would be a little on the dangerous side...

chilledbenz

Still curious, where are these holes you speak of? I looked on my car and I see no holes, unless they are hidden inside that plastic mesh screen. And why would they have anything to do with the heating motor?

It's probably one of those service bulletins where they don't issue an offical recall, but they fix it when it comes in for servicing or if the customer states there is a problem.

bostonmarc

No idea where, but now my part is "backordered" . I am not happy right now

peabers

Thanks for the heads up about the drain holes... I will double my efforts in clearing off the snow and ice on my car.

Rant -- I hate people who drive around in a wedding cake (i.e., 4 inches of snow on top of their SUVs). Matter of fact, I had to swerve over to the shoulder to avoid an airbourne mass of snow and ice flying off a Toyota Highlander this morning on the highway.

430752

I dunno about the great white north, but in Jersey there is actually a law against weddign cakes. Well, they don't say wedding cakes, but about cars that don't clear snow. And it is more than the simple law that makes it illegal to drive without windows cleared, but actually designed/intended against people who don't clear off their cars and affects other drivers when snow/ice is blown onto them. Don't ask me where the law is codified, but remember the news blurb on its passage a year or two ago.

Of course, it has little effect since it still happens all the time, but its there if a trooper gets upset enough. And, every winter the superintendant of the state toopers does a PSA concerning snow/ice on cars and they'll ticket for this (aking to a click-it-or-ticket seatbelt PSA).

kirkg13

Just to let you know that I have the exact same problem in my ML320CDI (2007) and several others are reporting it. See threads in the ML forum.

My technician explained that because I started the car and the defroster BEFORE removing snow off the hood, fluffy snow gets sucked in through hood vents and then upwards past the heater fan. A filter apparently keeps the snow from blowing into the car, but the trapped snow eventually melts and water settles around the fan (in some form of "cup" he said) from which it doesn't drain. If you then park outside, it can freeze around part of the fan.

At one point when the temperature was just around freezing, my fan suddenly started working again, but with a loud ticking, so obviously blades hitting ice. Then the sound went away, but the next morning the fan was frozen again.

I think because the snow has been sucked upwards into a duct, they didn't expect water there, and that could be why there are no drain holes, at least on the ML (and GL?). Once it has happened, it won't go away until the water is manually removed, according to the dealer. MB are apperently looking at a new filter to keep snow from getting sucked into this area.

For my car - 4 months old - they've ordered a new fan, since they said the water may eventually cause the bearings to rust now that I've had this problem.

The way to try to prevent the problem is to avoid having light fluffy snow get sucked into the fresh air vents on the car. I guess the ML/GL have a really bad design, with the vent on top of the hood, so always coverred by freshly fallen snow, as opposed to from under the hood or wiper area.

bostonmarc

Just to update- The backordered part came in I picked my car back tonight. The paper work said I had corroded blower motor regulator

st13phil

More info in this post over on BenzWorld...

chilledbenz

Just to make an update on this thread...make sure you clear the snow off around your vents next to the windshield wipers! I woke up this morning, hopped into my new R350...and no heat? I instantly remembered this thread, but it hadn't snowed on my car and its parked inside a garage, but it did get coated with ice the other day and I'm assuming thats the problem. No fan at all no matter what setting I put it on and eventually it started to smell like a burnt plastic rubber smell through the vents. There was no way I could have cleared the ice off around the vents with out damaging the car, so I just drove it thinking it wouldn't have the same effect as the snow melting...I was wrong ha ha.

syrAMG

wow and to think that I decided to buy the car after checking out the commercials and the process of building the "ultimate" C-class its kinda sad they are lacking these things. The car looked pretty fine when they were doing the winter tests. IMO this problem should have been easly resolved during the Test phase. (as well as the squeeking wing mirror problem)

I kinda see why alot of ppl (elderly people) still ride there old Mercs compaired to the newer ones. Besides the sentimental values, its just built to last with their straight foward mechanics.

and the bottom line is that this is one of the reasons why people decide on choosing another auto maker.
The c-class general target audience is aimed towards the Middle class & youth, these are the people that fluctuate the auto market.

ColoradoDriver

It's a new design. Problems will happen. All will be resolved in time. At no cost to us. Need to be aware but not panic.

ColoradoDriver

What was your build date? Wonder if MB has made changes on newer cars.