They could care less, they just denied fixing my high pressure fuel pump because my car is past the 120,000 mile mark. They also denied it five years ago because I was a month past my four year factory warranty. Yet they are allowed to wait ten years to extend the warranty to ten years where it’s already expired.

can’t wait to ask them to reimburse my 3,000 for camshaft repairs so they can look down upon me for being the second owner of the car and using an indie shop lol. Use Mercedes to fix the car they built that has had several engine failures before 70,000 miles? I absolutely hate these people with a passion. My beater car in college was more reliable.

 

Just joined to outline my experience with Mercedes and the camshaft Issue on my 2012 c250.

In short, after noticing a rattle during startup I found this thread and suspected my car had this camshaft Issue. The bad part was I didn't have a CEL but decided to take it into the dealership anyways since my extended warranty expires in a couple months. I told them my suspicions and fortunately they came to the same conclusion after the inspection. I didn't mention anything about a CEL and it's probably a good thing not to unless they ask since the extended warranty seems to require that to be on the car during inspection. Anyways my car was in and out in a few days.

This thread had me concerned that I wouldn't be able to get the warranty since I didn't have a CEL at the time I brought my car in. But my experience went against that, so give it a try if you're in the same shoes and maybe try with different dealerships

 

The dealership input may affect the outcome. I’ve been told that the stored DTC is sufficient. I’ve mentioned this before, but all dealers are not equal.

 

​​​​​​I did not have a stored DTC either. I agree not all dealerships are equal

 

Does anyone know if the code P001667- Crankshaft camshaft position correlation is included in this warranty?

 

i am having the same issue with my c250, if you don't mind me asking how much was it to replace the timing chain, guides, and tensioner with the warrenty? did the warranty cover labor costs to get to the timing chain?

 

From the NHTSA letter:
2. Short Test Documentation with fault code information (P001477, P001600, P001762, P001662, P001177, P001700, P001192, P001492, P034062, P036662) must be attached to all returned camshaft adjusters.
P001667 is not included in the list.
If it’s beginning to fail, drive the car. Other codes should begin to appear shortly.

 

I don’t mind you asking, but I don’t have a separate estimate for the timing chain, et al. The camshaft adjusters are about $1500 for parts only, so the chain, guides, and tensioner are the smaller component. Technically, the chain and guides are not covered. The tensioner is a necessary part of the repair, so it’s covered. Mercedes Benz covered the entire $3100 repair for me. Based on what others have said, I was very lucky. It worked out for them, though, because I spent >15x what they reimbursed me on a new car for my wife.

 

Hello!

I believe I'm experienceingthe same issues with my w204 2013 c250 coupe however, I haven't received any letters regarding the extended warranty of the camshaft adjusters. how should I proceed?

 

It doesn’t matter whether you got a letter. Your car should be covered if you live in the US. I don’t know if the warranty has been extended in other countries.
The coverage extends for 10 years or 120,000 miles from the original purchase date of the car. Scroll down this thread for actual warranty statements from Mercedes Benz.
Note that MB is requiring the existence of specific diagnostic trouble codes (DTC) associated with this failure for coverage. After the car detects the code a few times in a row the check engine light (CEL) will come on. Even if you do not have a check engine light, you can check for the code with a personal scanner or, if you don’t have one, most large auto parts chains will scan your car for codes for free.
Record the codes found. Do not clear the codes.
The most common DTC for the camshaft adjuster failure is P034062. Others are listed in this thread.
If you have one of these codes and your car is within the extended warranty period, take your car to a Mercedes dealer for extended warranty coverage. You may have to talk directly to a service manager because service writers may not have the authority to extend warranty coverage.
If you don’t have one of the listed codes, it may appear after a few weeks of driving. But be aware that a stretched (worn) timing chain, or a failed chain tensioner could result in the chain jumping a link and causing serious internal engine damage that is not covered.
If your car is outside of the extended warranty period, either a dealer or an independent shop specializing in Mercedes can diagnose and solve whatever the problem may be. The independent shops are generally much less expensive.

 

Thank you for you reply!
I took it to my dealership (in Canada). While they claimed they didnt know about any extended warranty on the camshaft adjusters, they said they'd cover it if I had any of the fault codes showing (I had printed out the warranty update from Mercedes and handed it to them when they claimed they didnt know about this).

I have called Mercedes Benz Canada, and have confirmed with them that my car is eligible and is covered under this extended warranty and that they had sent out letters regarding the camshaft adjusters extended warranty in April 2020 - I have not received any such letter from my dealership and that's not due to them losing my address, I regularly receive letters from them including one for the extended warranty on the high pressure fuel pumps.

Ill keep driving carefully until one of the fault codes show up and hopefully it does so before any damage to other components

I noticed that you mentioned they also covered the replacement of the tensioner and the chain for you (even thou its not covered under the extended warranty). Do you have any suggestions as to how I may be able to get/ask them to cover the replacement of the chains and tensioner as well?

 

I didn’t know that they would do it until they presented me the check. For what it’s worth, the dealership I dealt with knows that I haven’t bought anything but Mercedes Benz for decades. They know that we put a lot of miles on our main car very quickly. I also have a parts account with them. I can only assume that they wanted me to buy the next car from their dealership because I had bought the C250 from a competing one (there are 6 MB dealers within 50 miles). If that was their intention, it worked.

You might drop the hint that you would view them favorably on your next purchase.

Lets hope that the DTC shows up soon so you can get the warranty coverage going. The time between the rattling noise on mine and the first CEL was a few weeks. I drove it for a while after that without issue, but I don’t drive very hard. If the warranty coverage kicks in, the car will already be apart and that will absorb the labor part of the chain and guides along with the adjusters. The chain and guides are definitely the lower cost components.

 

HI RS250_Chester - did Mercedes agree to reimburse you for repairs outside the 10 year warranty or 75,000 miles period? I have the CEL turned on outside 10 year and at 780630 mileage

 

Hi - have you been able to get reimbursement for this from Mercedes?

 

Most people have been denied any good will coverage outside the 10 year extended warranty period.

 

I got the check engine light a few days back. The dealership said code is p001477 and p001177.

however check engine light is gone after getting car back from dealer.

can i continue driving without damaging timing chain ?

 

Those are definitely two of the defining trouble codes. I drove mine for a total of maybe 6 weeks before the repairs were made, but that's no guarantee. I would be afraid to drive indefinitely because if something causes the timing chain to jump a tooth, the internal damage to the engine will be extreme. Did you get any satisfaction on getting the problem covered under the extended warranty?

 

I am unable to do repairs as i am 3 months out of warranty. Dealer is charging $5500 !!!

here is what dealer says

TIMING CHAIN HAS STRETCHED CAUSED BY STICKING CAM ADJUSTERS SO NEEDS CHAIN- TENSIONER-ADJUSTERS $5446.00 -INCLUDES OIL CHANGE AFTER REPAIRS

-NOISE AT 20MPH IS COLLAPSED ENGINE MOUNTS CAUSING A VIBRATION NOISE $1200.00

 

The engine mounts are mostly an aggravation. Driving on them will not destroy anything. Mine are probably bad and I’ll get them changed (not at dealer) when I can budget it.

I could take exception to the way the dealer stated the problem, but it’s serious.

I’m going to assume that you’re not deep enough into DIY to attempt this repair yourself. It’s something I can do, but I don’t want to. It’s time consuming, uses special tools, and is near expert level.

An independent German car specialist shop could probably cut that estimate nearly in half while still using Mercedes parts.

There are much less costly aftermarket camshaft adjusters available. I don’t have any direct experience with them, but I have heard they are not particularly reliable. Then again, the original ones weren’t either. If you want to risk it and the shop will do it, then you could get the repairs down quite a bit more.

Aftermarket timing chain and guides are no problem if they come from a well known manufacturer. A good shop should know.

Keep us posted on how you move forward.

 

Hi Does replacing the camshaft, replacing timing chain and the tensioner’s require that the engine be taken out of the car ?

if so then I would prefer to get it done at a dealership otherwise I wouldn’t mind doing it at a small shop that can do it for half the price but I want to understand if it is a big fix??

also since the check engine light has gone away can I continue driving the car without fixing this problem ?

 

Hello, I had my two cam adjusters and the tensioner replaced for free from a Canadian dealership under the 10year extended warranty. They did not however replace the timing chain.

They could replace it with extra cost to me but the head service manager said that its extremely unlikely that the timing chain would be bad/stretched given the fault codes, service maintenance and mileage of the car. Heeding his advice, I did not replace the chain.
Although its been only a month of driving, all the problems seem to have gone away for now.

I did thou explicit ask whether bad adjusters can damage the timing chain and/or the other way around and he said no whatsoever - Is that really true? dsumit's diagnosis seem contrary to what my service manager said.
Did I shoot myself in the foot by not replacing the timing chain at the same time?

 

The camshaft adjusters, timing chain, tensioner, and all related parts can be replaced with the engine in the car.

As your car is beyond the warranty period, I would recommend using an independent German car or Mercedes specialist shop. It’s a moderately large repair, but not extensive like a rebuild.

If my experience is an indication, the CEL will come back on over time. The CEL is triggered by (I think) 3 consecutive timing errors. It will go off after being cleared. It will also go off after 3 consecutive starts without a timing error, but a permanent DTC will remain in the background.

 

Most of the timing chain failures I see in posts are occurring around 100,000 miles. Some chains are going much longer. My adjusters failed at 75,000 miles, so I had predetermined to replace it anyway. The timing chain stretch (actually wear) is not a problem until the tensioner can no longer remove the slack. The only real way to measure chain stretch is to measure the length. Since that requires removing it, it only makes sense to reuse it if it’s perfect.

 

Thanks for the reply, I guess ill plan to replace the timing chain around then

Can bad adjusters can damage the timing chain and/or the other way around?
And other than the cold start rattle, what are some other symptoms of a worn out chain?

 

they claimed I needed to pay the about the same amount ($5000 or more )because “the camshaft spring was missing” I told them to gladly bring the car back around and no thanks. Although I need the car fixed to pass my smog check, I’m not paying them half the value of the car for a “spring”. Any suggestions on this???? I’m really at a standstill