So I'm driving home from orange county on the 91 fwy last night, about 12am, after a nice day relaxing Sunday. Cruising along, a nice comfortable ride, and I glance at the dash. Everything normal. I look back down 1 or 2 min later, and my temp needle has now jumped up to redline at 120. "that... is not right," I say to myself as I get ready to pull over. By the time I pull over, the dash display is now red, telling my my engine is overheating. WTF.

I open up my hood, and it's pretty hot. After waiting for everything to cool down, I take a look at my coolant reservoir. empty. It's hard to see anything because its dark. (ironically, i usually always carry a flashlight in my car but forgot to put it back after using it a few days ago...) I call up my guy i towed with before to tow me all the way back to Redlands. Angry, I go to sleep.

I took a look at the engine this morning, and look what a found. What's wrong with this picture?



(yes, that's coolant everywhere on the bottom of my engine bay)

So in a way, I'm relieved because its just a d/c hose and not a blown radiator or something. But on the other hand, that is a secure connection. It's hard to pull out when it's attached. The fact that it was so easily disconnected and leaked out all of my coolant out within a matter of seconds is scary to me. Especially when my car is only 5,000 miles young.

Either way, I'm going to take it to the dealer tomorrow and let them know how unsafe that felt. For my first german car, especially a Mercedes that costs a significant amount of money, I feel that this is not acceptable. Am I wrong?

As for actually getting to the dealer... should I just reconnect the hose, fill her up with coolant again, and drive it there? (40 min away) Or should I flatbed her there to play it safe? I haven't called them yet since their service dept is closed today, but shouldn't they tow my car in for me? (BMW did that for my dad a few times... Will MB do that?)

 

I hope that you stopped in time to save your engine .It should be a warranty job so I would ask the dealer to flat bed it to their workshop in case you are accused of doing more damage to the car. If it turns out that no obvious damage has been done I would have it in writing from the dealer the full circumstances of the hose clip connection malfunction in case undetectable damage has been done which presents itself in the future, In other words "cover your A#*se" well. Good luck & keep us informed.

 

For sure, go back to the dealer.

What kind of clamp is used to make that connection? Those old banjo style clamps with the screw hold down were the best, but manufacturers moved away from them because they were expensive and slow to install during assembly. I don't like the newer style clamps.

 

thanks for the heads up! sorry to hear this happened to you...

will make sure mine is clamped in all the way.

in the end, it's no big deal as long as we learn from our mistakes - hard to diagnose whether or not Mercedes will!

 

This is obviously some kind of assembly line defect, I am still trying to figure out from the photo what kind of connection is made at the fitting. Is it some kind of snap together fitting, is there a locking tab that has to be engaged? Or is there a clamp, and its missing from the photo?

 

Ah, yes, I've seen that before but more limited. That big hose across the middle of the photo goes from the radiator to the engine and on my C300 it was seeping a tiny bit on both ends which was spotted at the 1000 mile look-see and replaced. You will notice the same clamp on the big hose as the little one that came apart. It's a snap-together fitting and no external clamp is used. The O-ring (seen on the small hose) is the seal and there is a sort of spring clamp inside that keeps it in place. Usually.

They really do work very well, usually, and save time on the production line since they just plug in.

As to how to get the car to the shop, call them and let them decide. They might send the service car to your house and put it back together right there.

 

a snap-fit with no external clamp? Sure, it makes it easy for them to assemble.

I rack up alot of miles on my car, I'll have to inspect this area now.

 

thanks for the replies, guys. i've been bitter all day. how sad to see a brand new mercedes with fresh plates and a new wash up on a flatbed. good one, stuttgart. i totally recommend just making sure all the connections under your hoods are secure, even if it is a new car.

the connection is actually something i haven't seen before. the metal hose part fits into the female connector on the radiator, and the small metal ring on the outside keeps it snug. to disconnect, you simply loosen the outer metal ring and it pops off. it seems like it's a tight secure connection, but apparently not secure enough to keep my coolant actually in my vehicle.

i'll definitely keep all of you updated when i take care of this tomorrow.

 

You should ask for new hoses, with new fittings, don't just bring it there and have them snap it together. If the dealer refuses, have them write up on the work order that you requested it and they refused, this way if it happens again and there is some issue with the engine, you are covered.

 

Good advise.

 

Hmm. When I was buying mine, and I was in the middle of either negotiating down, or walking away from an extended warranty (can't hurt to listen to the pitch), one of the sales rep's comments had to do with a blown head gasket on an '09, which was in the service bay as we spoke.

This is exactly what you risked by running the car with little or no coolant, that and possibly a warped head, but then again, I don't know what sort of reserve or safeguard MB may have up it's sleeve in this regard. So fingers crossed, but it might take more than a replaced hose as the fix.

 

So, heres a preliminary report, guys.

Sent a flatbed to tow back to service at Penske MB, West Covina. There's actually a closer dealership but MB roadside assistance was more than willing to get my car towed back to Penske where I bought the car.

I actually received excellent service from Penske. Ron Gomez is the service manager who helped me, and he was very helpful and reassuring. I told him my concerns, and he assured me that all tests would be done to make sure there was no damage from overheating, etc. He got me set up with my rental C300 and sent me on my way.

He called me back later in the day to tell me they replaced the hose and connection, and blamed the malfunction on the spring clip which was also replaced. I'm going to go pick up my car tomorrow, and you can be sure I'll take a good look under my hood before I take my girl home.

So far, Penske MB has given me nothing to complain about. I'll keep you guys posted if anything else comes up.

Distalero, yea... that's what I was afraid of too. Hopefully the time running on no coolant wasn't long enough to see long term damage from this.

And thanks for the advice, nyca. It's a good reminder to make sure I'm covered from all angles with this issue.

 

How is the car running ? Comments from dealer ?

 

I've had the car back for a couple days now, and I'm happy to say that she's running beautifully. The work slip indicates that they replaced a faulty spring clip and the hose, pressure checked the whole system, road tested, and even cleaned the engine, so there's no coolant stains. The car runs fine, including a 50 min drive back home right after I picked it up in hot weather and semi-traffic, with the engine temp stable at 85-90 C.

I have to say, I'm impressed at how Penske service took care of me following this incident. I was pretty angry, but Ron diffused that quickly with his genuine sympathy and he made me feel like I was taken care of.

If anything happens again regarding this, you guys will be sure to know.

But you guys should double check your hoses and just make sure they're snug... when my coolant drained, it happened in a matter of seconds. I hope this is an isolated incident. Now theres always going to be that small fear in the back of mind that some random hose is gonna pop off again. Hopefully not.

 

Best to keep a close eye on coolant & oil levels for a while to see whether there is any change in consumption ie head gasket leaks to sump ect caused by the overheating. I would check if the fuel consumption is normal also in case of piston/bore or ring damage.

Glad to hear all seems well.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Mine threw up a low coolant error message a couple times when it was really cold out but has since stopped. I took a look at the reservoir and its a fraction lower than the full mark. Could be these seals or the clamps are faulty, could be leaking slowly although I haven't seen anything on the garage floor. I'll be taking a good long look at it tomorrow morning now!

 

Yea, for sure. Good looking out.

 

glad to hear Penske treated you right. as that's where i'm getting my car from.