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PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Originally Posted by crackedpiston15
good morning so after months and months of pestering the nhtsa and mailing them a petition to recall they have finally opened an investigation into this , let’s all keep our fingers crossed and have faith that the NHTSA will hold Mercedes Benz responsible for this issue. The investigation has started . Very thankful to those at the NHTSA for finally looking into this !
Finally... making progress, thanks for filing everything to the NHTSA. Please keep us posted.
I purchased a 2017 C300 class Mercedes-Benz ("MB") in May 2021 from a used car dealship in Mobile, AL. At that time it had 36,000 miles. Less than 2 years later, on or about 12/15/22, as I was driving, the MB suddenly and without warning began to vibrate violently and immediately lost power. The car had @54,000 miles on it. I routinely drive interstate to and from work and had just gotten off of the interstate. I was lucky that I was driving at a low speed when this happened; otherwise, a serious accident could have resulted. The local MB dealership told me that the car failed a compression test in the #1 cylinder and that the engine would have to be replaced at $20,000. Of course, this was beyond warranty, washing its hands over its defective product, refused to act responsibly and replace the engine. Subsequent research on the cause of this total engine failure with low mileage relvealed that this engine has a chronic piston defect that damages the #1 cylinder, causing it to lose compression, and that MB has known about the defect for many years prior. MB has not alerted the public nor instigated a recall. In my pre-purchase research, i found no information from MB that the C300 class engine (M274) had a chronic piston defect that would damage the #1 cylinder which would, in turn, cause the the engine to lose power and the vehicle to vibrate and shake, creating a dangerous diving condition under all circumstances, but especially if the car was being driven at speed on a federal interstate highway. Despite demands by me and others, MB refuses to responsibly address the issue. MB prefers to allow this condition to exist so that the defective engine will get beyond its warranty obligations. In my opinion this is outrageous conduct by MB. The driving public is clearly in great risk of harm due to this defective engine and associated power train problems and MB is putting its profits over consumer safety and doing the right thing by this defective engine. It is patently unreasonable for MB to produce and market such a unsafe, dangerous and defective product that poses an unreasonable risk of harm to its customer and others. I am putting together a portfolio of aggrieved MB customers to pursue a class action similar to the one currently pending in California. If interested to participate, please respond to this post and i'll make arrangments for contact.
Last edited by Westlawn1968%%; 01-27-2023 at 07:21 AM.
Reason: correct typo
I purchased a 2017 C300 class Mercedes-Benz ("MB") in May 2021 from a used car dealship in Mobile, AL. At that time it had 36,000 miles. Less than 2 years later, on or about 12/15/22, as I was driving, the MB suddenly and without warning began to vibrate violently and immediately lost power. The car had @54,000 miles on it. I routinely drive interstate to and from work and had just gotten off of the interstate. I was lucky that I was driving at a low speed when this happened; otherwise, a serious accident could have resulted. The local MB dealership told me that the car failed a compression test in the #1 cylinder and that the engine would have to be replaced at $20,000. Of course, this was beyond warranty, washing its hands over its defective product, refused to act responsibly and replace the engine. Subsequent research on the cause of this total engine failure with low mileage relvealed that this engine has a chronic piston defect that damages the #1 cylinder, causing it to lose compression, and that MB has known about the defect for many years prior. MB has not alerted the public nor instigated a recall. In my pre-purchase research, i found no information from MB that the C300 class engine (M274) had a chronic piston defect that would damage the #1 cylinder which would, in turn, cause the the engine to lose power and the vehicle to vibrate and shake, creating a dangerous diving condition under all circumstances, but especially if the car was being driven at speed on a federal interstate highway. Despite demands by me and others, MB refuses to responsibly address the issue. MB prefers to allow this condition to exist so that the defective engine will get beyond its warranty obligations. In my opinion this is outrageous conduct by MB. The driving public is clearly in great risk of harm due to this defective engine and associated power train problems and MB is putting its profits over consumer safety and doing the right thing by this defective engine. It is patently unreasonable for MB to produce and market such a unsafe, dangerous and defective product that poses an unreasonable risk of harm to its customer and others. I am putting together a portfolio of aggrieved MB customers to pursue a class action similar to the one currently pending in California. If interested to participate, please respond to this post and i'll make arrangments for contact.
Just curious if you filed a complaint with the NHTSA as was done in a previous post. The more complaints that they have, the more likely they are to do something about it.
I purchased a 2017 C300 class Mercedes-Benz ("MB") in May 2021 from a used car dealship in Mobile, AL. At that time it had 36,000 miles. Less than 2 years later, on or about 12/15/22, as I was driving, the MB suddenly and without warning began to vibrate violently and immediately lost power. The car had @54,000 miles on it. I routinely drive interstate to and from work and had just gotten off of the interstate. I was lucky that I was driving at a low speed when this happened; otherwise, a serious accident could have resulted. The local MB dealership told me that the car failed a compression test in the #1 cylinder and that the engine would have to be replaced at $20,000. Of course, this was beyond warranty, washing its hands over its defective product, refused to act responsibly and replace the engine. Subsequent research on the cause of this total engine failure with low mileage relvealed that this engine has a chronic piston defect that damages the #1 cylinder, causing it to lose compression, and that MB has known about the defect for many years prior. MB has not alerted the public nor instigated a recall. In my pre-purchase research, i found no information from MB that the C300 class engine (M274) had a chronic piston defect that would damage the #1 cylinder which would, in turn, cause the the engine to lose power and the vehicle to vibrate and shake, creating a dangerous diving condition under all circumstances, but especially if the car was being driven at speed on a federal interstate highway. Despite demands by me and others, MB refuses to responsibly address the issue. MB prefers to allow this condition to exist so that the defective engine will get beyond its warranty obligations. In my opinion this is outrageous conduct by MB. The driving public is clearly in great risk of harm due to this defective engine and associated power train problems and MB is putting its profits over consumer safety and doing the right thing by this defective engine. It is patently unreasonable for MB to produce and market such a unsafe, dangerous and defective product that poses an unreasonable risk of harm to its customer and others. I am putting together a portfolio of aggrieved MB customers to pursue a class action similar to the one currently pending in California. If interested to participate, please respond to this post and i'll make arrangments for contact.
Sorry to read about this. Sadly another example of junk product produced by a junk manufacturer. The M274 4 cylinder engine is a dud. Stay away.
I have reported it to the NHTSA. We'll see. Frankly, we need to get their records, put them under oath, and ultimately hit them in the pocket book. They're putting profits over people here. More worried about shareholders than customers.
Which I will continue to do even if it annoys you and others. Potential consumers of this POS product and company should be warned.
It's long overdue for your personal grievance to be sent to the trash bin for good. You offer nothing to any thread you participate in other than your personal grievance. You don't have a clue what you're talking about. It's time for you to get over yourself.
As an owner of many brands over the years, domestic, foreign, high end, low end. sport. economy, luxury, utility, I can attest that they ALL have their problems.
'Ya pays 'yer money and 'ya takes 'yer chances. No matter what you buy
As an owner of many brands over the years, domestic, foreign, high end, low end. sport. economy, luxury, utility, I can attest that they ALL have their problems.
'Ya pays 'yer money and 'ya takes 'yer chances. No matter what you buy
agree 100%; however, it is a two way street. The manufacturer also take their chances that customers unite against a clearly defective product. For good brands do not happen often, but it can happen. Is this the case? Time will tell
The response can be legal, but also lost of trust, customer loyalty, etc. I personally will not touch MB 4 pots for a while. Plenty of MB 6's still out there, no need to tempt fate.
"The manufacturer also take their chances that customers unite against a clearly defective product"
True. Manufactures have lost me forever over defective vehicles that they didn't stand behind (BMW, Cadillac). Seems they are more than willing to risk losing customers and don't seem to fear class action lawsuits. The prevailing attitude seems to be "we'd rather lose them than go through the expense of doing the right thing'
My "personal grievance" unfortunately (sadly) is a shared experience by all too many MB owners who have been treated terribly and unreasonably by MB over this exact issue. See California class action. Would that I was an outlier with this problem - I would get it and move on. But I'm not. MB needs to be held to account. Every fact stated in my post is true. I am a lawyer. I understand the bean-counting game being played here by MB and have the knowledge and ability to try and do something about it. There is strength in numbers. If I can help someone who may be about to purchase a MB vehicle with this m274 engine avoid the $20,000 crater that MB put me in, all the better. I will "get over myself" (who tf are you to tell me that?) when MB does the right thing by me and countless others.
My "personal grievance" unfortunately (sadly) is a shared experience by all too many MB owners who have been treated terribly and unreasonably by MB over this exact issue. See California class action. Would that I was an outlier with this problem - I would get it and move on. But I'm not. MB needs to be held to account. Every fact stated in my post is true. I am a lawyer. I understand the bean-counting game being played here by MB and have the knowledge and ability to try and do something about it. There is strength in numbers. If I can help someone who may be about to purchase a MB vehicle with this m274 engine avoid the $20,000 crater that MB put me in, all the better. I will "get over myself" (who tf are you to tell me that?) when MB does the right thing by me and countless others.
There you go again, changing your forum user name and recycling your same tired old rant. You offer nothing constructive to any forum discussion thread you participate in other than your same tired old rant. You made your point long ago. It's long past time for you to get over yourself and move on. For the record, the % of MB owners actually having this problem is a small one and it's likely a part supplier issue that obviously needs to be addressed. Your lack of automotive engineering experience is obvious in your same old rant. I have every right to call you out for what you're doing.
that 2015-2017 C300 killed my LOVE of MBZ. I'd to sell to carmax to auction out my BOTH '15 and '16 C300 with over $10k lost for each car.
very disappointing and didn't had times to deal with these dealers/stealers
MBZ has to really convince me to buy another MBZ again.....even though I still owned 5 other MBZ pre2010 productions old school MBZ
that 2015-2017 C300 killed my LOVE of MBZ. I'd to sell to carmax to auction out my BOTH '15 and '16 C300 with over $10k lost for each car.
very disappointing and didn't had times to deal with these dealers/stealers
MBZ has to really convince me to buy another MBZ again.....even though I still owned 5 other MBZ pre2010 productions old school MBZ
good luck to you all....
It's standard MB procedure and the same with basically all other car companies. That's the problem with buying a new car, you never know what problems may pop up later. Used cars at least have a history. Brings to mind the bad balance shafts in the 2006-2007 on the M272 engine, the SBC issues with brake by wire which they eventually did a 25 year extended warranty after many complaints and then there's another 15 year extended warranty on the fuel tank on W211 cars, guess smelling gas in the cabin wasn't very good either. Still you hear of people spending 8k on run of the mill repairs on a Toyota or Honda at the dealer so it's not like other makes are that much better. File enough complaints with the NHTSA and maybe something will get done with it. Cosmetic issues you need class action suits like the faded wood on W212 models. Maintenance/repairs is a standard budget item on any car though, some are just more than others.
It's standard MB procedure and the same with basically all other car companies. That's the problem with buying a new car, you never know what problems may pop up later. Used cars at least have a history. Brings to mind the bad balance shafts in the 2006-2007 on the M272 engine, the SBC issues with brake by wire which they eventually did a 25 year extended warranty after many complaints and then there's another 15 year extended warranty on the fuel tank on W211 cars, guess smelling gas in the cabin wasn't very good either. Still you hear of people spending 8k on run of the mill repairs on a Toyota or Honda at the dealer so it's not like other makes are that much better. File enough complaints with the NHTSA and maybe something will get done with it. Cosmetic issues you need class action suits like the faded wood on W212 models. Maintenance/repairs is a standard budget item on any car though, some are just more than others.
Partially agree. I have owned (and/or my parents') cars by: GM, Ford, Chrysler, VW, Renault, Fiat, Toyota, Honda, and MB. From the experience with the Big 3 back in the 70's and 80's I kind of deleted them from my list of car companies. They may have improved, but no thank you. Renault vs Fiat: what can I say, I learned a ton of mechanics with Renault (5, 12, 18, Fuego, 21) and infinite frustration with Fiat. I can take a Renault in a country where the parts are available while with Fiat also deleted, not a chance. With the Japanese cars, I would say that in general Corolla, Camry, Accord, and Odyssey (despite Odyssey's transmission issues) are bulletproof. The only reason I own an MB is because of the driving dynamics. Never felt as comfortable in any car at any speed I can manage/afford except with an MB. Are MBs like a box of chocolates? Sure, but hell they taste good.
On new cars (or anything for that matter), I avoid new designs until proven. Let others pay for the debugging of the new defects until known robust solutions exist. I already contributed to research when computers started paying $$$ for XT, AT, 386, and 486. Paid a lot of man-hours debugging Windows 3.1, 95, XP, and Vista (what a mess). In the software industry, the saying is "never install x.0 of anything, wait for the service pack"
It's standard MB procedure and the same with basically all other car companies. That's the problem with buying a new car, you never know what problems may pop up later. Used cars at least have a history. Brings to mind the bad balance shafts in the 2006-2007 on the M272 engine, the SBC issues with brake by wire which they eventually did a 25 year extended warranty after many complaints and then there's another 15 year extended warranty on the fuel tank on W211 cars, guess smelling gas in the cabin wasn't very good either. Still you hear of people spending 8k on run of the mill repairs on a Toyota or Honda at the dealer so it's not like other makes are that much better. File enough complaints with the NHTSA and maybe something will get done with it. Cosmetic issues you need class action suits like the faded wood on W212 models. Maintenance/repairs is a standard budget item on any car though, some are just more than others.
Used cars certainly have their own risks that can turn out to be dangerous like cars being sold without their airbags, safety recall repairs not being done, accident damage not being properly repaired and the list goes on.
i posted here maybe last year, i’m here for an update of my
2015 MB c300 4matic AMG sport line.
i just passed 146k miles and i am about to reach year 5 of ownership in December 2023
purchased my 2015 C300 in 2018, with 53k miles..
Since than i’ve driven about 93,000 miles- in approx 51 months
which translates to about 21k miles a year.
i live in new york and i change my oil every 5k miles. i think piston failure might be due to people putting the wrong fuel, skipping maintenence and waiting the 10k oil service interval mercedes recommends..
i’ll keep y’all updated as my mileage goes up
interesting side bit: i ****ed up on changing the diff & transmission fluid on time, so i’m just running off odds and luck at this point with them.. everything is original and ticking smoothly. 🤞🏽
i posted here maybe last year, i’m here for an update of my
2015 MB c300 4matic AMG sport line.
i just passed 146k miles and i am about to reach year 5 of ownership in December 2023
purchased my 2015 C300 in 2018, with 53k miles..
Since than i’ve driven about 93,000 miles- in approx 51 months
which translates to about 21k miles a year.
i live in new york and i change my oil every 5k miles. i think piston failure might be due to people putting the wrong fuel, skipping maintenence and waiting the 10k oil service interval mercedes recommends..
i’ll keep y’all updated as my mileage goes up
Glad to hear you are not suffering the issue others are. However, your failure analysis is a bit off. Say those with failures were using such a "wrong fuel", that means only MB suffer from "wrong fuel" and the other manufacturers do not. I do not think so. It does not add up. Skipping maintenance perhaps could be a reasonable explanation, and doing as the manufacturer recommends and fails, well a bigger problem expecting customer to know the product better than the engineers documenting the product.
Something is OFF, where is it? Only time will tell us.
Glad to hear you are not suffering the issue others are. However, your failure analysis is a bit off. Say those with failures were using such a "wrong fuel", that means only MB suffer from "wrong fuel" and the other manufacturers do not. I do not think so. It does not add up. Skipping maintenance perhaps could be a reasonable explanation, and doing as the manufacturer recommends and fails, well a bigger problem expecting customer to know the product better than the engineers documenting the product.
Something is OFF, where is it? Only time will tell us.
Only reason i say wrong fuel is because the w205s are known to break spark plug tips/ pieces in the combustion process when using the wrong fuel for extended amounts of time.. other car manufacturers may not suffer the same situation, but using the wrong fuel in other brands will have adverse effects on the vehicle. if your vehicle calls for premium use premium. if your car calls for regular, use regular.
i have friends whom put premium fuel in their “regular” 4 bangers and i know people who throw regular gas in luxury vehicles.. it all comes down to knowledge and how one maintains their vehicle, i believe.
Only reason i say wrong fuel is because the w205s are known to break spark plug tips/ pieces in the combustion process when using the wrong fuel for extended amounts of time.. other car manufacturers may not suffer the same situation, but using the wrong fuel in other brands will have adverse effects on the vehicle. if your vehicle calls for premium use premium. if your car calls for regular, use regular.
i have friends whom put premium fuel in their “regular” 4 bangers and i know people who throw regular gas in luxury vehicles.. it all comes down to knowledge and how one maintains their vehicle, i believe.
This is not about using the wrong fuel. It's likely that a defective batch of pistons was produced by the parts supplier and that's where the problem is. There are many thousands of W205s on the roads and not all of them are having this problem. Does MB need to do a better job to help the customers who are having this problem? Absolutely.
This is not about using the wrong fuel. It's likely that a defective batch of pistons was produced by the parts supplier and that's where the problem is. There are many thousands of W205s on the roads and not all of them are having this problem. Does MB need to do a better job to help the customers who are having this problem? Absolutely.
Very likely. When the piston problem started back in 2015, MB knew they got a problem. Vocabulary is very important. Though an engine failure is an absolute event, the root cause could be a design defect or manufacturing mishap. The former is a BIG problem because only a newly designed part can fix it; however, the latter means newer parts with stricter quality controls using the original design specifications can be used w/o disrupting the life cycle of the engine program (investment must be recovered from its own sales)
If the engineers are convinced the design is good, and blame the manufacturing it becomes a statistics game, i.e. how many parts out there are really bad + how many customers will trigger the bad thing. The TSB in 2015 seems like it was treated as a statistic, i.e. "there will be just a few cases, and we can handle it in-house". But, it seems the few have become a bit more they were planning to chew on.
Very likely. When the piston problem started back in 2015, MB knew they got a problem. Vocabulary is very important. Though an engine failure is an absolute event, the root cause could be a design defect or manufacturing mishap. The former is a BIG problem because only a newly designed part can fix it; however, the latter means newer parts with stricter quality controls using the original design specifications can be used w/o disrupting the life cycle of the engine program (investment must be recovered from its own sales)
If the engineers are convinced the design is good, and blame the manufacturing it becomes a statistics game, i.e. how many parts out there are really bad + how many customers will trigger the bad thing. The TSB in 2015 seems like it was treated as a statistic, i.e. "there will be just a few cases, and we can handle it in-house". But, it seems the few have become a bit more they were planning to chew on.
Hope for the best, and that MB can make it right.
Suppliers don’t make batches of bad parts over the course of four model years. It does not happen that way.
Rather, MB failed in the piston design exercise and put an inferior design into production which has in fact spanned four model years.
Piston material grade, geometry, and manufacturing process specifications are the totality of MB’s failure in this case. It’s junk engineering which results in junk products. Common knowledge in MB’s home market.
09-28-2022, 05:24 PM
