ncmudbug

JD203 - We haven't heard from you recently. Any news?

BF_JC230

Is the "NEW" engine in the C250s the same basic design / block / head as the m271? What, if anything did the Engineers at Mercedes-Benz do to "improve" these areas???

Hogger

It has a dip stick....

LILBENZ230

I'm pretty sure it still has a single gang chain.

JD203

yea Glyn M Ruck, i think this is what my mechanic meant when he said i was gonna end up spending more with trying to fix and replace the parts rather than just getting a whole new engine altogether. he said by getting a new engine, he could somewhat thoroughly(well maybe not that thorough, i dunno) inspect and prevent future problems that may occur. i agree that this is the best option to go with, it's my only option, i think, hehe.

good luck with the chain replacement Hogger. hopefully u won't need a new engine, gotta stay positive!

that's around how much i was quoted.

yea the shop gave me a quote of "around 1K" too. engine sold separately, of course.

JD203

this is messed up to me right here, u know the thing was too, i took it to the stealership last year because it was idling rough and service B was due. it would bounce around from 1100 to 700 RPM. they said it was a spark plug, replaced it, diagnostics all over the place, found the front right side suspension spring "broken", replaced both(thank god under warranty), topped off my windshield washer fluid, and gave me a bill for almost a grand. sucks that they didn't even mention anything about a timing chain back then.

JD203

wow, labor warranty never even crossed my mind. i'm definitely going to ask about that.

priceless advices over here at mbworld i tell ya. 90-day warranty on labor is pretty much the norm huh?

JD203

hey ncmudbug, thanks for asking man. i stoppped by at ROMtech on monday the 9th, and we haven't gotten one yet. apparently, he found a good prospect with only 20K from a "good" company, so his first guesstimate on a fairly used engine for me was around $2500 initially, is gonna cost me about 6 or 7 more bills now. this thing is still a baby n i hope it goes through.

LILBENZ230, man if this doesn't raise awareness for other M271 owners out there to be proactive about this issue, i don't know what will. unless, they crave for stress. this is(as it's currently going on) a very expensive lesson for me to learn. do not ignore check engine light signs. pay attention to irregularities in sound and feel of the car. if unsure, pls go to a reputable shop for help. no matter what happens, DO NOT NEGLECT THIS ISSUE!!! T-I-M-I-N-G C-H-A-I-N, it's an issue...a very expensive one. unless 5K is nothing to u, then i umm...hate u. LOL.

i'm gonna stop by again at the shop on monday and clean my car out. i left a lot of my personal crap inside and it looks like it's gonna take a while for me to enjoy my C230K again. it definitely sucks big time when it's nice outside and everyone's got their cars nice and clean and every clean car is just cruisin'. i'm driving my good friend's(ur a saint Rayray!!) 90-something maroon Toyota Avalon with 240K(man this thing is a friggin' tank!) right now. although i am very grateful that thanks to my friends i still have means of transportation, it humbles me, because all i can do is sit and wait and hope that before summer ends this year i'd be able to enjoy my "fresh" car by then. wooosahh.

thanks everyone for your continuous support and morale boosting here at mbworld. i will continue to keep everyone posted on what's going on with this challenge i'm facing. peace!

ncmudbug

Did I understand you correctly that the 20K motor is going for $2500? That sounds pretty good to me. If that has any kind of warranty, I'd try to snap it up.

As you found out, this is turning into an expensive lesson. Those are usually the ones you learn best so it could pay dividends in the future.

Good luck.

Dune

I believe that is good value and I get an 90 day warranty.

JD203

well he quoted me $2500 for a motor, and this was before we even started looking for one, just an estimate. we were gonna go for somewhere that has around 60k or less. but then he found one with around 20k, and he told me that it might cost about $600-$700 more on top of the $2500. it should be ok right?

mskembo

JD, that sounds like a STEAL to me! Hope it turns our well.

amanonfire

That's a steal. I spent $6K to have mine swapped, cause I blew the HG and needed a new cat as well. Engines at the time were hard to come by, so mine cost $4200 CND with 40K kms on it.

JD203

yea I just stopped by at ROMtech today. I spoke to Ted and YESSS!!! the motor is ordered and being shipped as we speak. I just hope it gets here sooner hehe. this the best news I've had since this whole mishap. ok so the engine actually has ~28K and we got it for only $2800. sounds like a good deal, and they're giving me a 12month warranty on parts and labor so I guess it's leaning towards a good deal here. not great, cuz great would be me not dealing with this stuff hehe, but I'll take good. thank u for all your support once again guys. I will definitely keep u all posted on the progress with pics and everything as soon as anything happens of course. peace everyone!

mskembo

JD, I think you may be the luckiest SOB around! You ended up getting a great deal for that engine (hopefully) and it sounds like you have a good shop at your back. I hope your luck continues, and that your credit cards aren't maxed out!

LILBENZ230

I like the positivity.. I certainly couldn't look at a $3800 repair as me being lucky.

mskembo

Once you're in the pit you need to be happy when you get out of it with some skin still intact!

Trust me, I've been there. I lent my brother my '72 Chevelle 454SS one weekend, got called on Sunday and he had blown the motor. Threw a rod right through the block. Cost almost $15,000 to replace it when all was said and done (it was a race engine, 750hp at the crank). Of course I did some other things "while I was in there", but it would have been $10k anyway you look at it.

amanonfire

Plus fluids, new parts (vacuum hoses, timing chain, ...) and tax depending where you live. My $6K repair was closer to $7K after everything was added up.

To remain positive, once fixed the car should easily last a long time without another major repair.

ncmudbug

JD, that sounds like a great price! I'm glad you jumped on it. amanonfire is right that there will be a lot of incidentals.

As you say, great would be not being in this situation in the first place, but there's nothing you can do about that and you've got about the best deal you could given the situation. I'll bet all of the negative side will slide away when you get back into your ride again!

ncmudbug

That's a rough one, Mike. I hope your brother made it up to you! Those big blocks should be bullet proof! I say that but then a guy I knew had a newly built small block Chevy (should be at least as bullet proof) and the first time out on the track (road racing) while he was just warming it up (still hadn't opened it up!) threw a rod. Clearly his problem was an assembly issue, though.

LILBENZ230

Is simply rebuilding the engine in the car cost prohibitive? It seems shocking that it would be more than $3800 to rebuild the engine. I wonder what my secondary indy (the engine guy) would charge to rebuild the M271...

JD203

hey thanks bud, yea considering the unlucky stuff that've happened, i guess i still am pretty lucky with this deal(hopefully, hehe). my credit cards umm, nah before my car stopped working, i was saving up for a motorcycle. just when i was ready to purchase one, the timing chain messed everything up, so good thing i had a little bit saved up for a bike which i'm just gonna have to put into my beloved C230K yeyy.. a bike would probably kill me anyway. must've been a sign, hah whatever.

i hear ya. u know how it is man, i was down in the dumps but i'm finally seeing somekind of light at the end of the tunnel u know what i mean. pretty much this is really all i can do anyway is stay positive haha.

yup yup, u see u see?! thanks mskembo!

yea i know it's all gonna add up, i haven't even paid for my towing bill yet haha. the shop took care of that, but yea the costs are racking up.

i can't wait buddy. hopefully i make it before summer ends too. i wanna hit up some meets with my low-mileage C230 hahahaha.

Hogger

I just finished mine. Wasn't a full rebuild, but close. Replaced timing chain, balance chain, tensioner, and all the guides. New head with new valves and springs, plus all new gaskets, and a few extra parts for good measure. I did all the labor myself. If I was to do it again, I could do it for about $1300 for the parts. It looks hard, but not really.
If I remember right, JD203 had the same problem I did, but opted to go for a new engine.
I would think an indy shop could do the labor in 10-12 hours to do what I did. With shop rates around here, it would be right around the same as the price of JD203's new engine.
I would think a full rebuild would add another $1500+ and push you over the $4K mark pretty easily.

LILBENZ230

Jordan but you had it happen at start-up.

I'm just not seeing how a new engine is more economical than a rebuild.

Hogger

Right, just went back and read it.