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timing chain/camshaft issue

Old Dec 22, 2015 | 03:53 PM
  #1  
zichen169's Avatar
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2016 Mercedes E350 sedan 2012 Mercedes c250 coupe
timing chain/camshaft issue

Hi everyone,

For the past month, my 2012 c250 coupe with 47k miles having issue with the camshaft and with the code p0340. The car drives fine, but have intermittent delayed starting issue. I have replaced the two camshaft sensors but the problem still persist. Today, I went back to my mechanic and he said there might be issue with timing chain skipping and it need to be replaced or there is a issue with camshaft magnet.

So my question is

1) He estimated $3000 to replace the timing chain for my car. Is this legit or bs since he said the whole engine have to pull out to replace the timing chain.

2) Would replacing camshaft magnet or timing chain solve the issue, is there any other cause?

thanks guys
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Old Dec 22, 2015 | 05:04 PM
  #2  
chazzz's Avatar
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From: Southern California
'05 MBZ C230K and '09 MBZ C350
2012 Mercedes C250? that is a 3 year old car and it's still under 50k miles, take it to the dealer for a warranty repair.

I believe that all Mercedes are covered by 5 year and 50,000 miles warranty.
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Old Dec 22, 2015 | 08:09 PM
  #3  
michail71's Avatar
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2013 C250 Sport
He could just be out of warrant if the car went into service in 2011. But sometimes MB will partially cover a failure of this magnitude just out of warranty.
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Old Dec 22, 2015 | 08:33 PM
  #4  
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The timing chain could be stretched. This is not very common, but does happen. The camshaft adjusters would be a more likely problem. The engine does not have to be removed to replace the timing chain though.


Since you are not going to the dealer. A couple other things could be in play. Did this start after an oil change? If the wrong filter was used you could have low oil pressure. This will cause timing faults as well.
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Old Dec 23, 2015 | 04:49 PM
  #5  
zichen169's Avatar
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2016 Mercedes E350 sedan 2012 Mercedes c250 coupe
Originally Posted by 211.070
The timing chain could be stretched. This is not very common, but does happen. The camshaft adjusters would be a more likely problem. The engine does not have to be removed to replace the timing chain though.


Since you are not going to the dealer. A couple other things could be in play. Did this start after an oil change? If the wrong filter was used you could have low oil pressure. This will cause timing faults as well.
211, by camshaft adjusters do you mean the camshaft magnet like this one on amazon
Amazon.com: OES Genuine Camshaft Adjuster Magnet: Automotive Amazon.com: OES Genuine Camshaft Adjuster Magnet: Automotive
?

Also, if the timing chain is stretched, are there any symptoms or anyway to check to make sure? At this moment, my car is running perfect, the only problem is delayed cranking and startup

thanks!

Last edited by zichen169; Dec 23, 2015 at 04:52 PM.
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Old Jan 26, 2016 | 11:13 PM
  #6  
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2016 Mercedes E350 sedan 2012 Mercedes c250 coupe
Thank you for the feedbacks everyone.

I took my car to the dealer and the issues turned out to be timing chain tensioner and timing chain adjuster both faulty. Mercedes USA was able to fix my issue for free under goodwill because my car just came out of warrenty! Thanks everyone the car runs perfect now
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Old Jan 27, 2016 | 04:44 AM
  #7  
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From: 1 hours drive north of Sydney Australia
2007 W204 220CDI Classic Sedan
I would shame your mechanic as being incompetent or a charlatan. The industry does not need these types.
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Old Feb 7, 2017 | 09:37 AM
  #8  
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C250
Same Issue as You

I'm having the exact same problem and I'm trying to figure out how you got it covered by Mercedes with Goodwill.

my car just went out of warranty on December 29 and has 48,000 miles. They are trying to say that it is not covered by warranty. I am looking for something that will help me argue my case. Any suggestions? The

Originally Posted by zichen169
Thank you for the feedbacks everyone.

I took my car to the dealer and the issues turned out to be timing chain tensioner and timing chain adjuster both faulty. Mercedes USA was able to fix my issue for free under goodwill because my car just came out of warrenty! Thanks everyone the car runs perfect now
Reply
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Old Feb 8, 2017 | 11:01 AM
  #9  
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There is a class action lawsuit going about this I believe.


Mercedes knows this is an issue and has for years.
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Old Feb 8, 2017 | 01:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Colin G
There is a class action lawsuit going about this I believe.


Mercedes knows this is an issue and has for years.
I believe the suit is for m272 6 cylinder engines. I do not know if it is for m271 4 cylinder engines.
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Old Aug 7, 2017 | 12:50 PM
  #11  
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2012 ML 350
Timing Chain 2012 ML350 Mercedes

I just had my timing chsin replaced today. My car has 100k. Mercedes knew of the problem because the new parts come with a selonoid to take some of the tension off of the engine and controlling the chain. This should have been a recall, no reason to spend $4000 on an error in engineering which mercedes recognized.
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Old Aug 10, 2017 | 03:42 AM
  #12  
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2012 C250 Sport Sedan 1.8L Turbo
Camshaft Known Issue - Degredation Beyond Initial Causation

First wanted to say thanks to all who have been diligent in providing accurate information in regards to the 2012 W204 1.8L Turbo engine known issues with timing of the CamShaft, and it's multiple appparant causes, and consequences.

Im new to the mbworld, so please go a little easy on me if I don't get all the terminology, or give precise info etc....but if you'll tell me my errors I will do my due diligence in learning from the mistakes and be sure to get it right next time.

So my first MB was a 2012 C350 Coupe, purchased new and drove it 90k, without a single major issue needing to be repaired. Literally only scheduled maintenance at my local indie shop, and not anything more ever required. I'm OCD when it comes to regular maintenance, and replacing parts that are starting to head in the direction of needing replacement even if it's not necessarily required at the time I'm given such information by my local indie shop manager.

Loved driving the 2012 C350 Coupe as my every day driver, and regret that I sold it, and ended up driving what is turning out to be a nightmare.

I had such a great experience with the C350, I decided to stay in a C Class W204, and even found the same year, just a downgrade to the C250 (long story - painful now to think about - prefer not to talk about!).

My issues began similar to most I've read about:
Cold start would cause a rough idle that would go away and smooth out quickly, and then no issues after that. No error codes, nothing mechanic could pin point as issue at that time.

6 months later and I'm going through a nightmare with this vehicle.

The rough idle on cold starts became a delay in acceleration after pressing the gas, and quickly degraded to its current state of random and intermittent extreme rough idling in park, neutral and while driving at various speeds. Sometimes while cold and sometimes while engine was warmed up.

i found a few posts of similar issues and took what seemed to be the most common solution that was working for others.

1. At this point my C250 Sport Sedan 1.8L Turbo was giving a Cam Timing Sensor Bank 1 Error code. So based on what I read in the forums I replaced both Bank A and Bank B Camshaf Magnets, and also Bank A and Bank B Camshaft Timing Sensors.

No improvement, and actually began getting additional Error Code that Cylinder 3 was Misfiring.

2. So now I Replaced my spark plugs and my Couls for all 4 Cylinders. Again, same issue persists and same error codes persist.

it appears I need to look at possibly replacing the timing chain and additional parts, depending on what the full diagnostic reports next week.

My question is about the Cylinder 3 Misfire. Can anyone please shed some light on the possibilities of what's occurred that causes a camshaft issue to grow to a Cylinder Misfire issue?

Can you please also advise what the likely repairs will be to the most likely causes of this issue, which I'm assuming will go well beyond fixing the camshaft timing issue??

Please help, im getting very worried about what the full diagnosis going to reveal next week so I'm try f to get myself prepare for the worse!

I miss my issue free 2012 C350 Coupe, and this ongoing disaster with my 2012 C250 Sport Sedan has me questioning whether I'll be sticking with Mercedes Benz, if I end up with a engine replacement and pay out of pocket since I'm out of my warranty.

Cheers,
J~
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Old Aug 20, 2017 | 11:52 PM
  #13  
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C250 Sport Coupe
At a loss...after replacement...!?

I have a 2013 c250 sport coupe with 114,000km. I had the rattling noise on start up, the hard starts and the engine warning light. So after much research decided the cam adjusters and timing chain needed replacing. It was a big job but both cam adjusters, the timing chain and tensioner were replaced. It started no problem I cleared the warning light and everything sounded fine. Car drove without issue however 1500km later and everything is back to how it was before the repairs. Hard starts, rattle on start up and yesterday the engine light came on with the dreaded "cam"code. So has the chain stretched again....? Surely not!?? Any ideas... I dont want to be replacing the chain and cam adjusters every 2000km!
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Old Oct 15, 2017 | 07:26 PM
  #14  
Aminu200's Avatar
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Joined: Oct 2017
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C200 2013 model
same issue

Originally Posted by Oli975
I have a 2013 c250 sport coupe with 114,000km. I had the rattling noise on start up, the hard starts and the engine warning light. So after much research decided the cam adjusters and timing chain needed replacing. It was a big job but both cam adjusters, the timing chain and tensioner were replaced. It started no problem I cleared the warning light and everything sounded fine. Car drove without issue however 1500km later and everything is back to how it was before the repairs. Hard starts, rattle on start up and yesterday the engine light came on with the dreaded "cam"code. So has the chain stretched again....? Surely not!?? Any ideas... I dont want to be replacing the chain and cam adjusters every 2000km!
This is the same issue I am having.. have u found a solution yet? Please let me know thank you
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Old Oct 15, 2017 | 08:31 PM
  #15  
michail71's Avatar
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2013 C250 Sport
Originally Posted by Aminu200
This is the same issue I am having.. have u found a solution yet? Please let me know thank you
Only solution is an expensive repair job if it's not under warranty.
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Old Apr 24, 2018 | 01:42 AM
  #16  
Tgiang's Avatar
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S500
Issues leading up to your failure

Originally Posted by zichen169
Hi everyone,

For the past month, my 2012 c250 coupe with 47k miles having issue with the camshaft and with the code p0340. The car drives fine, but have intermittent delayed starting issue. I have replaced the two camshaft sensors but the problem still persist. Today, I went back to my mechanic and he said there might be issue with timing chain skipping and it need to be replaced or there is a issue with camshaft magnet.

So my question is

1) He estimated $3000 to replace the timing chain for my car. Is this legit or bs since he said the whole engine have to pull out to replace the timing chain.

2) Would replacing camshaft magnet or timing chain solve the issue, is there any other cause?

thanks guys
hello Zichen. Do you remember any issues you were having leading up to your issue? Was your car taking longer to start than normal?

Thank you.
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