Peydidy

Well it looks like my first big issue with my c230 sedan is here.

Last night I was leaving Safeway, I turned on my car and my engine made a little different of a start up sound but it didn't sound too weird so I didn't think anything of it. As I turned out of the parking spot my stearing wheel felt really hard and weird to turn, it kind of felt like a flat. So I went a few more feet and then pulled into a spot. Once I got out I saw a huge trail of oil from the spot I was parked at originally to the spot on the other side of the lot were I was parked, the rest pored out into a huge puddle of oil under the new spot that I was at. I popped my hood and there was oil splattered everywhere and even dripping out from the sides and out my bumper.

I had the car towed to my MB dealership but this all happend late at night so I still haven't talked to MB about diognosticing it or doing anything to it so I can still change were I take it.

The car was recently involved in a accsident were a sign was hit and the sign ended up breaking parts under my car that I had replaced including the radiator and the car did over heat in that acsident. I was wondering if issue could be related to the previous accsident

Any recommendations for a good Indy in the sf Bay Area would be appreciated

Anyone ever hear of a similar issue ?
Any help or tips are appreciated

Also sorry for any typos or mistakes in this, I am typing it all from my Iphone at work

Thanks in advanced

Peydidy

Here's some pics of under the hood, there was a lot more oil dripping out of the bumper and sides.

tommy

I'd say it's time to lube up; breaking that cherry is going to be rough (and probably expensive).

How's the coolant level? Any mixing of the coolant and oil? I'm guessing a seal was ripped in the prior accident.

Your iphone doesn't have autocorrect?

Peydidy

It was pretty dark were I was so I couldn't really tell if coolant was mixed in but it really seemed like it was mostly oil.
I didn't get a chance to check the coolant level and now the cars at the dealership

I just called mb of Fremont and told them to go ahead with the diagnostic so I can at-least find out what the issue is and work from there.

I'm not sure what your referring to by the seal, but in the acsident something did break that caused all the coolant to leak out

hanknum

My guess would be power steering pump or hose.

SunnyRayToronto

Yes, I concur with Hanknum,.... especially since:
1. photo - power steering reservoir (between coolant reservoir and gold coloured cap) right in the middle of oil leak
2. your hard to turn like driving with flat tire is describing problem of lost of power steering,... when that's gone, you need lots of upper body strength just to turn the steering wheel so the car can do a normal turn.

BTW, why is there tin foil wrapped around rubber hose between coolant reservoir and power steering reservoir?

Peydidy

Hm during the recent acsident the front passenger side wheel took a pretty harsh impact to a curb, could it be Relivant?

As for the tin foil I have no clue, I haven't really touched anything under the hood other then the air filters since I bought the car

Capn

Not trying to be harsh but don't you have any independent shops in your area? The stealership is most likely going to be double the price of any independent shops.

LLUSKYY

My C230 has what appears to be aluminum in the same exact place.

SunnyRayToronto

Hmmm,... that's interesting,.... my 2003 C230 coupe does NOT have it. Maybe it's a CL203 VS W203 thing or 2003 VS newer W203 thing.

Maybe Peydidy can check if his (formerly Jordan's) coupe has it,...

But why would Mercedes add a aluminum tin foil around that hose? Maybe it's because they had problems with that hose being close to the engine exhaust header,... notice all the heat shield in the area,.... maybe excess heat would cause that hose to become brittle and crack sooner than expected (never heard about any problem with that particular hose),... so they added the aluminum tin foil around that hose to deflect the heat from the engine exhaust header,....

LLUSKYY

Due to the crudely installed nature of the tin, I can only assume that it was done during one of the recalls that MB had. I'm sure with the overwhelming surge of cars coming in, they didn't want to take any risks with hoses, particularly ones that close to the headers.

Peydidy

My coupe has a M111 so maybe its relevant to the engine with the aluminum being there but I will check when I get home and post a pic

Peydidy

UPDATE

So I just got a call from my SA and he said it was transmission related and all the fluid everywhere wasn't engine oil it was transmission fluid. He said all the fluid is gone so its basically like I am getting a transmission flush out of it too haha. It is soposed to come out to $800 for them to clean it all up, add transmission fluid, and fix what ever the issue was. I still don't get what caused the fluid to go everywhere or how it happened, I will report back tomorrow when I get the car back and have more information on the whole thing, I got the call while I was at work so I wasn't able to talk to my SA more about what the issue was.
I was expecting a lot worst so I am glad it wasn't anything too crazy

kirax2

did u drive the car like this??

told u man, keep the coupe, much more reliable and sexier than the sedan...

u never know when u will need another EIS for the sedan

Peydidy

Most likely will be selling both pretty soon. Coupes already up for sale, once that sells Ill probably put the sedan up too.

kirax2

did u swap the PSS9 or you have the pss9 on the coupe still?

Peydidy

Still on the coupe

Peydidy

UPDATE

So I just got another call from my SA

He said that they repaired it, cleaned it all up and topped off the fluids. He said that once they had it all ready to go they took it out for a test drive to make sure everything good and it exploded everywhere again. He said they tried repairing it again and the same thing happened.

Then they had one of there guys take a closer look at it and realized that it was because the radiator was causing it to over heat and explode.

My radiator was damaged in my recent accident but the insurance would only pay for an aftermarket one which cost around $200-$300. So I had an aftermarket put on at the time of repair.

The dealership is also saying that any aftermarket radiator will cause the same issue to happen and that I need to get an OEM one which they charge $1000 for.
I called the shop that I had my work done at and they said they would not be held responsible because the issue has to do with the replaced part not the install that they did.

Glyn M Ruck

P ~ you can get a genuine Benz Behr radiator made in South Africa for a couple of hundred dollars. See splinter's thread on replacing the Valeo in the stickies.

EDIT: Behr has a factory here for supply to Benz, VAG & BMW. We have a weak currency so prices are good!

LLUSKYY

Would it be wise then to import parts from South Africa as the dealership prices in the US are ridiculously overpriced?

Glyn M Ruck

No. You generally have the lowest Benz parts prices in the world. What I'm saying is nobody should pay $1000 for a Behr radiator in the US - you are being robbed ~ you don't have to buy from Benz dealers, go to RMEuropean and the likes. You guys are spoiled.

slammer111

OEM W203 radiators are <$300 in Canada last time I checked. Is your stealer for real?

speed7

Peydidy you're killing me.

First don't ever go to the dealership they are a joke in the bay area. And they mark up the parts HUGE. Always go to peninsula mercedes "http://www.peninsulamercedes.com/". Nick is the owner and the mechanic. He's smart and doesn't mess around. One drawback is he has a waiting list and he only works on 2-3 cars a day. He does buy his parts from a dealership so that is a bummer. BUT if you get on his good side, like I did. Then you can bring in your own parts. However they can only be OE mercedes parts. Which is fine.. which brings me to my second point.

Secondly order your radiator from getmercedesparts. Its $210! This is one main reason why I don't miss the bay area. They mark everything up to make more money on people who don't know. get Mercedes parts is a DEALERSHIP based out of NY.. so yeah it takes some time to get the parts. And yeah the guy who runs it ls like 70 and if he reply's to your email. A) you're lucky.. he's not very good with computer. B) its all in caps. But their prices are fair and you only pay shipping.



Hope everything works out for you man. Don't sell the car because of this... its a very minor speed bump. Just take it to Nick and get it sorted out proper.

speed7

Update:
Didn't realize you had a 2005. Here is that price.

kirax2

blow up the OEM radiator 5 more times u can buy another C coupe