Angel 430

Hi guys just wanted to see if this has happen to anyone else on their GTS. Last night as i was driving after making a left turn i stepped on the gas hard and as the engine revved up the car last power and went into Neutral so i let off the gas.
At first it said "Rear axle lock differential inoperative". I was able to cruse to the side of the road and shut of the car. After restarting it it made a screeching noise and will not go into gear and gave me a Transmission Malfunction warning.

Had the car towed to Foothill MBZ last night. Today when i picked up my rental they told me that it was most likely goin to be a driveshaft issue/ broken driveshaft but not sure yet as they have not had the chance to llok at everything.
I know there was a recall on the driveshaft so im not sure if it is the same thing exactly.
Any one else experience anything like that on their car?

ItalianJoe1

Sounds like a driveshaft coming apart...

Angel 430

Yes it will be interesting to see what the dealer says the issue is.
Will keep you guys posted. Just curious if it happen to any one else?

AMG 17GT

There was a recall. Check your VIN

ItalianJoe1

You know about the recall but keep asking if it's happened to anyone else... what are you hoping to hear? That it's never happened before?

Angel 430

Do i just ask my deanship to see if mine was included in the recall or is there another way to check???

thecutter64

What year was your car? 2016?

Angel 430

Yes its a 2016

AMG 17GT

Yes.

Either way it's under warranty.

Vic55

You can also try this... Vin Recall Check:

https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/recall

Angel 430

The dealership checked and there were no recalls on my car.
The car is still at the service and is not being worked on because they are waiting on AMG to tell them what to replace.
It has been over a week and it just sits there with no progress.
This is extremely frustrating . I knew it had to be an AMG certified technician to be able to work on the car but i had no idea they needed permission from AMG to actually do any work WTF.

Td33

Good luck, but this is the direction of MB/AMG.

RJC

MB or any brand for that matter doesn't like cars sitting in service doing nothing, as it racks up time on the lemon law clock. I'd rather wait a bit and get direction from AMG than have a local tech start replacing parts without knowing what might actually be needed.

Td33

You have a point, but isn't this just a regular production car. Nothing special four wheels, engine, transmission etc. Maybe they need to invest in some better techs and/or training so cars don't have to sit at dealers for weeks.

ddtung

Ask your dealer to unscrew the cover on the opening of the driveshaft tunnel. My MB service manager did that and could smell the burnt CF driveshaft after AMG spent two weeks analyzing the problem and were about to ship a transmission unit over for replacement.

RJC

They may be waiting for the MB field technical specialist to visit the dealership...they're around good size dealerships around 1x per mo generally.

ItalianJoe1

Heres what actually happens.

When there's a known issue, such as a recall or bulletin, it will have a VIN range. The bulletin will say, if the car falls OUTSIDE the range, you MUST open a PTSS (Product Technical Support System) case before ANY repairs are done, or you risk non-payment of warranty claims.

Basically, they think whatever happens should have been corrected by the end point of the bulletin VIN range, so they want to see why it's still happening. This involves waiting for the engineering guys at PTSS to tell you what to do, maybe pictures, videos, in really strange cases they will have you remove and return parts, it depends. Here in the US, our PTSS guys are in the US, but for AMG issues they have to confer with the actual AMG engineers in Germany, as they are the only ones who really know the cars that are built over there.

So your dealer isn't waiting for AMG to tell them to fix it, they are waiting on AMG to decide what to do. They will probably have the FTS (Field Technical Specialist) on site the entire day when the car is taken apart to ensure they document any issues. If they tell you to wait until the FTS is available, and you fix it anyway, they will debit the dealership for the entire amount of the repair and any future issues resulting from an "unauthorized repair".

AMG 17GT

Great explanation Joe.

If car was outside if recall, it would be more important to determine why this shaft failed and more cars will be included in recall.

Gedalneil

Just got back my 2016 GTS. Same story. Car build fell within recall date, but was never recalled. 4,500 miles, the driveshaft went. Tech went through standard process and found "burnt smell" from driveshaft. MBUSA sent over new driveshaft. Repair done. All under warranty, 2 weeks time.

I want to know why car wasn't recalled to begin with. MBUSA is non responsive. Anyone have a tactic to get to a person of influence who would actually care about high end AMG model customers?

Angel 430

Hi Guys,

Here is the update on my car. The car was at the dealership for a total of about 18 days. Finally AMG Germany told them to go ahead and replace the propeller shaft and gave them the part #. My dealer told me that the part with that # was not in the states and was on back order from Germany but it actually came pretty quick.
All and all i have now had the car back for couple of weeks and it is working fine with no issues.
One think that was pretty cool i i contacted MBUSA and asked them to pay for one month of my lease because the car was stuck at the dealership for so long. They did some research with the dealership and actually agreed to pay for the lease for one month. I actually got the check a few days ago.
I am pretty satisfied of how MBUSA handled the situation.

California John

Good news to see how both you and MBUSA handled it!

surfah

Glad MBUSA stepped up!

Td33

Pretty sad when we’re thanking them for doing what they should have done without having to ask!

06032

Curious....when the shaft goes, does it go quickly or are there warning signs?

ItalianJoe1

Essentially, the attachment fails at one end where the carbon tube meets the yoke. Once it fails, the car either slips badly or is totally undrivable. It won't be just a little and and then gradually get worse. That part handles the full power of the engine back to the gearbox, it's under a lot of stress. Once it breaks, you will know.