Odd Piggy

In November 2020, Mercedes Benz began sending letters to owners of 2012-2014 C250 Sedans, 2012-2015 C250 Coupes, and 2012-2015 SLK250's notice of extended warranty coverage for the camshaft adjusters for a total of 10 years or 120,000 miles.

This coverage applies to all cars of these classes with the M271 engine regardless of ownership. If you have not yet had the work done, the coverage only applies to work done at a dealership. If you have already paid for the work done at a dealership, you should be reimbursed by showing a receipt. Work done at independent repair facilities may or may not be covered.

You must talk to a service manager. Service advisors or other persons may not have the information to properly handle your claim.

If you have not received this notice, contact the nearest Mercedes Benz dealer.

Mercedes Benz Customer Satisfaction is at 1-800-367-6372. They can direct you to a dealer and will put your name in a queue to be contacted by a service manager.

Good luck!

AAIIIC

My wife just got the notification letter for her '14 C250. I haven't spent a ton of time on this forum, so maybe I've just missed the back story - what issue (or issues) are there with this engine that led to M-B extending the warranty on the camshaft adjusters? Is it a high mileage thing? (I don't think her '14 has even cracked 40k miles yet, so it's pretty low mileage, and with her working from home for the past 8 months and into the foreseeable future, that mileage is staying low!)

Odd Piggy

There is plenty of discussion on the W204 forum about the camshaft adjusters on the M271 EVO engine. The symptoms are harder starting, check engine light, possible "rattling sound" for a few seconds after engine fires. If you have the CEL diagnosed, OBD will show DTC P0340 "Timing Sensor Bank 1."

They seem to begin failing at around 75,000 miles. This is very early as all our other MB cars went well past 150,000 miles with no major engine issues when we replaced them.

The timing chain is also a potential weak point around 100,000 miles but not covered by the extended warranty. Since the cover was already off, I had the timing chain, guides, and tensioner all replaced at the same time.

AAIIIC

Thanks for the symptoms, I'll keep an eye/ear out for those.

When I searched for "adjusters" I was getting an awful lot of threads that had nothing to do with camshafts. Had to go back a bit farther to find some useful threads.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...0-problem.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...0340-code.html

Odd Piggy

It looks like you've found the relevant posts. Just keep that warranty letter with you owners manuals. You should have quite a bit of driving left before any worries. Also, it doesn't happen to all of them, so I suppose it's a quality control issue on the parts, not a basic design flaw. My daughter had a C230 Kompressor M271 and had no problems for it's entire lifetime. We have been buying MB for decades and this is the only one with any early issues.

Thanks for your service.

parsley

Thank you @Odd Piggy. My 2014 C250 had this issue at about 57k miles. Took it to my indie mechanic who pulled code P034062, which indicates a camshaft issue. Did some googling and came across your post, then I called the dealership, spoke to a service manager who confirmed the warranty on the camshaft adjusters was extended and took my car in. Took them a couple days, but it's all done and I'm out of pocket nothing! If I'm reading the invoice correctly, they spent about 14 to 15 hours on it, so it would have been a costly repair. No idea how much the parts would have been.

Odd Piggy

57,000 miles seems quite early, but I have 2 indie mechanic friends who say that a few of them have failed under the original warranty. Parts alone are in the range of $2000. I have heard $4500 to $6000 for a dealer repair.

Tony Carreon

97k miles, had a CEL come on. when i plugged in my scanner it indicated the HPFP
yesterday, i took it to the dealer for the airbag recall and mentioned the CEL
they're saying the CEL was related to the camshaft adjusters, and that it will be covered
i've not had the rattle on startup, not had the delayed start.
i've had 2 issues:
- coming to a stop after leaving the highway after sustained speed : no CEL & rough idle
- taking off quickly from a stop: resulted in CEL & rough idle

Odd Piggy

High pressure fuel pump could be associated with your 2 issues. The dealer will have the diagnostic equipment to correctly determine the source of the problem. If they are indicating that they will correct the CEL and other issues under the cam adjuster warranty, then it is covered. The HPFP may not be.

jcfergus

I had the cam adjuster repair service performed on our 2013 C250 in July 2020 and when attempting to get reimbursed per the letter, the dealer discovered that MBUSA is only reimbursing these costs IF AND ONLY IF an engine service code was generated, or as the MBUSA Executive Referral Manager described it, "an electrical failure". Our car definitely had the issue with rattling on startup, the dealer confirmed the cam adjuster failure, but because we had the repair completed before it was bad enough to throw an error code, so far, they have refused to cover our costs under this warranty extension. This is despite the letter being non-specific about the cam adjuster failure that is covered. The dealer service manager reportedly had a very heated "discussion" with the MBUSA Executive Referral Manager to no avail.

I'd be very interested if others have experienced a rejection of a repair reimbursement.

Jim

Odd Piggy

On my 2013 C250 they missed the problem the first time before the CEL came on. The car was in for the Takata airbag replacement. I had asked them to check the hard starting and rattle, but I think that they only looked for a CEL because there is no indication on the receipt that the car was hooked to the diagnostic equipment.
I am told that the engine management system must see a number of repeated instances of camshaft timing errors before the CEL will be turned on. I drove mine until the CEL was intermittently on and off. It was more off than on, especially if the car was started many times during the day. When the CEL was on, there was an active code. When it was off, there were stored codes but no active code.
However, I am still surprised at the response to your reimbursement request. The dealer verified the failure and the letter seems to state that it would be covered. In my conversations with MBUSA I was told that the decision for reimbursement is completely up to the dealer.
On mine they paid for both cam adjusters, not just the one that had failed, a new timing chain, new chain guides , and a new chain tensioner. No cost to me whatsoever.

Kanis71

Thank you for this information!

Do you know if this is a worldwide warranty extension? I live in Norway and bought the car second hand exactly 1 year ago. I havent recieved any letters from MB regarding the extension.

Kanis71

Thank you for the information!

Do you know if this is a worldwide warranty extension? I live in Norway and havent recieved any letters regarding this. I am however the second owner of the car, since 2020.

jcfergus

My experience is that the dealer does not have the ability to commit the reimbursement. They forwarded the request for reimbursement to MBUSA, who denied it due to the lack of the CEL code. The MBUSA "Executive Referral Manager" was artificially polite and quite terse in denying the request , because in his words, there was no "electrical failure". The last response from him was "The dealer has provided a position that MBUSA has supported, and would remain unchanged. MBUSA has reviewed the matter in full , as this is the Final Position." The service manager claims that they did not agree with the MBUSA finding. Not exactly the kind of customer support I would expect from Mercedes Benz.
It appears that legal action is the only remaining alternative.

Odd Piggy

I received my notice from Mercedes Benz USA, LLC. I do not think this particular warranty would extend to other countries. I do not know if settlements are available in your country or region. The problem, however, is not unique to US made cars as mine was built in Sindelfingen.

Odd Piggy

That is more than disappointing. It is an expensive repair to have at an early stage in the car's life. My typical experience with MBs is that major problems don't occur until 170-200,000 miles. Legal action in the standard court system is time consuming and costly. Perhaps a small claims court would be sympathetic to the issue. In my area, filing is inexpensive and cases are handled by a justice of the peace without lawyers.

Jorge Nunfio

Do you guys know if the warranty covers the engine failing due to the camshaft adjusters?

Odd Piggy

I do not work for or represent Mercedes Benz, so exactly what is covered is up to the local dealer and MBUSA. Requests for coverage under this extended warranty have been varied. In my case they chose to cover the cam adjusters (phasers), timing chain, guides, and tensioner. I was very pleased with the response. Others have been refused for lack of a check engine light or other detail.

What level of failure are you referring to? Severely failed cam adjusters can cause noise, diagnostic error codes and a check engine light, hard starting or even a failure to start. But if I am correct, the failure of the cam adjusters will not create an interference problem in the engine. However, a failed timing chain, or a "stretched" chain that has jumped a tooth on the timing gear can cause severe internal engine damage. A timing chain issue by itself is specifically not covered by this warranty.

Jorge Nunfio

I’m pretty sure the timing chain either broke or skipped a tooth. Thanks for the info! Since it’s not covered I’m just gonna ls swap it now

Odd Piggy

You didn't describe the symptoms, but sound pretty certain on the diagnosis. MB would charge about $300 for an opinion if the failure isn't covered by the warranty. If the rest of the car is in good shape, these cars have a good resale value when running.

Jorge Nunfio

It’s a 2012 with 75,000 miles and it all started with the typical hard starts and it went on like that for a bit and then I started getting a cylinder one misfire and I changed the spark plugs and swapped coils etc and it didn’t fix it. Then one day I started it and it sounded super bad like some really loud tapping and then I shut it off and it never started again after that. I just towed it home started gathering parts for an ls swap and yanked the engine and trans out. Then I heard about the extended warranty so I figured I’d give that a shot first.

Odd Piggy

You're deeper into the repairs than I realized. Most people say 75,000 is early for these problems, but that's when mine started. The M271 was built for many years in many versions. Common knowledge was that the timing chain needed to be changed around 100,000 miles. The cam adjuster problem seems more common in the turbo versions. Good luck.

Post pics of your progress, if you can. The repairs will help others with similar situations.

AKCOOP

I think there is going to be a class action regarding this ongoing problem Especially since it can damage the engine. If interested please go to the following Site:

https://connlawpc.com/investigations...shaft-failure/

caiNeco_hTx

I registered to this forum exactly because of this post. I recently bought a 2012 C250 with 78k miles which haven't shown the code P034062 related to the camshaft adjuster. However, I do notice the rattle when cranking the car (especially if it's the first time of the day). I contacted the closest Mercedes dealership and was informed that the warranty may cover only if the car shows the problem (I believe only if the code comes on), and because my car doesn't have the code yet that would not be a case for replacement. The car is going for the Takata recall on June 18th and either way I will ask them to check the rattle again.

It's been two days since I bought the car and because it is so recent, I think that Mercedes will not get in touch or send this letter to me. Can somebody post a copy of this letter so I could eventually use it as "proof" when I bring the car in? I am technically still covered due to the information given, but the car will soon be out of the 10-year warranty and I am trying to stay ahead of my time (also afraid of the future costs I may have). lol

Thanks for the help of you guys, and @Odd Piggy I am in Houston too, can you tell which dealership did you take your car to? Mine is going for the Takata Recall at Mercedes Benz Greenway.

Take care everyone and thanks again!

Odd Piggy

The rattling noise can be a symptom of a failing timing chain. Without the check engine light and the P0340 code others (jcfergus) have been refused coverage.

If I can find the letter I will post it.

My dealer is about 50 miles from you — Mercedes Benz of The Woodlands on I-45 just north of College Park/Needham Rd.

FYI-An independent shop can do the repairs for about ½ of what MB will charge if you are denied coverage. But both the indie mechanics I know say that that after market parts are unreliable and recommend the Mercedes parts.

Also have your dealer check the in service date on your car. A 2012 originally bought in 2011 may be very close to out of the extended warranty. However, if it is a CPO from the dealer, it still has at least one year from the purchase date for all failures.