Luton Driver

Cars include some models of the C class

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/m...for-fire-risk/

z28lt1

Here's the US recall filing, elswhere read over 1 Million worldwide.

Fire risk is only for repeated failed attempts to start the car.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/201...7V114-6749.PDF

I suspect this will be updated some, as it lists the C300 and C450, but not the C400 which seems odd considering the similarities.

removedCFGaccount

Yikes! Don't keep pressing the button if it doesn't light....

andylaidb9

Does it include Canadian market?

dieseldoc

Includes all markets.

cheerful

Yikes. About going to dealer for maintenance ...

Tej7

The article that OP posted (along with others I've seen) states that it's mostly in the US. Any source for your information?

removedCFGaccount

All you guys with duff engines from wrist pins, now is your chance....

kleinebin

C250 not listed?

flycaster

I've got the 2017 coupe and I have had one instance of the car not starting as it should. Got the car last July and it now has about 2K miles. About three wees ago, I pressed the starter and absolutely nothing...no sounds (like clicking), just nothing. I tried a few more times, and nothing. Then after about the 4th or 5th time, the car started...BTW, no fire (LO). Never brought this to the attention of the dealership as the issue seemed to self-correct. Anyway, since that one instance, have not had problems starting the car. Nonetheless, I fully expect a recall letter any day. Also, maybe our coupes aren't involved as the starter problems seem to be coming from the US and our cars were made in Germany...

ManiacGT

its a global recall with over 75,000 being recalled in the U.K. (German build). It's not a build issue it's a design flaw (among many).

removedCFGaccount

Just a wild guess, but maybe wee before you go?

ernieh

Ha Ha, but save the wee for the fire!

Ernie

z28lt1

Other articles have over 1 million total, with 300k in the US.

Here's one;
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-da...-idUSKBN16A1RO

amgfan1

Please check with your dealer to acquire more information if your cars are affected:

LINK:
https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/fli...0fd%2Fcnet.com

Drive safe,
amgfan1

removedCFGaccount

I don't know about that-I remember pissing on an electric fence as a kid....

gfmohn

The danger occurs only when the engine is blocked from turning. The text of the NHTSA bulletin reads:

Description of the Safety Risk: In the event the starter is blocked due to engine/transmission damage (e.g. hydro locked engine), a very high electric current would flow through the starting current limiter during the subsequent start attempt. Should the driver attempt to start the engine repeatedly despite the engine not cranking, the very high electric current draw might lead to overheating of the starting current limiter. In a worst case, surrounding components might melt, and potentially ignite and lead to a fire.

Description of the Cause: The starting current limiter is designed for typical current draw and unable to handle very high current under unique circumstances when the engine/transmission is damaged to the point where it is unable to crank.

Notice the example of a "hydro locked engine."

schvamf

You can check your car here:
https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/recall

My 450 is affected but the site says parts are not yet available.... geeez!

z28lt1

If you read the articles, it states notifications in the next month and parts will likely be available by the summer. They've got to make a million of them, and its not like people are hydro-locking the motor and trying to start it anyway every day.

flycaster

Can someone explain whether or not the addition of a fuse is a band-aide or a fix? It seems to me that it will be the former as I don't think the fuse will stop the hydro-lock. And, BTW, what is hydro-lock, and when it occurs is it self-fixing with more tries at starting?

Also, I tried to get on the recall site, but never got on. Must be a million folks trying to get the recall info, eh?

z28lt1

Hydrolock is just an example of what might cause the issue that the fuse will fix.

The issue is that when the engine or transmission is broken to the point where the engine is mechanically prevented from turning over, repeated attempts to start may lead to the fire (that the fuse will prevent).

The fuse has nothing to do with hydrolocking the motor, which generally occurs if fluid gets into the combustion chamber ( for example driving through too deep water) and the fluid prevents the pistons from completing the cycle. If this happens the engine is often toast no matter what, and yes the fuse won't change things. But, the engine is seized and the repeated attempts to start it would lead to the recall problem.

This is why this isn't something to worry about for most of us, it isn't going to occur without some other major issue first.

flycaster

Thanks for the explanation, Z28. As you can see from my posting that I have experienced a no start situation, would you say that my engine was "damaged" at that time because it wouldn't turnover...apparently due to it being mechanically prevented from doing so? But, aslo as stated in that post, the engine did eventually start and I have not experienced any problems since...but you can well believe that I am keeping a very cautious eye out for a repeat event.

ManiacGT

that could be a simple electronic issue and not related to a physical impediment.

flagman

Has this VIN check worked for anyone? I have tried inputting my VIN several times over a couple of days and I always get "Server error: Please try again later".

gfmohn

If you didn't see a multi-step ReCaptcha script for security, the mbusa.com website doesn't like your browser. It would not work in my usual browser (Opera) or even in Internet Explorer. (I thought everything worked in IE.) It did work for me on Google Chrome. Surely, mbusa.com realizes that only a minority of people use Google Chrome. So it may have something to do with JavaScript. Both of Opera and IE browsers on my computer have trouble with JavaScript. So make sure JavaScript is turned on your computer.