kbanks45

I just got a "check engine" light on my dash. Took the car and had it looked at and they said the code was a bad thermostat. The car isn't running hot and seems to be cooling but the car is saying it's bad, which now has me nervous driving. I'm looking at the temp reading constantly and keeping a eye out for the temp so I won't cause anymore damage to the motor. Have any of you experienced this? At 60k seems to be a little early for a thermostat... The car is a 2011 though...

95viper

Thermostats go all the time regardless of miles. It is an easy and inexpensive replacement. Take it to an independent mechanic if you don’t wrench on cars.

It must be stuck open because if closed it would overheat. It isn’t hurting your engine but being stuck open means that coolant is flowing as soon as you start your car. Normally the coolant in engine block heats up first and then the thermostat opens.

not good to do it for a long time so just fix it as quickly as you can.

kbanks45

Yeah, I used to do front end work for Cadillac. I'm just sorta funny with Mercedes because I never had one to work on until this one, and I've taken it to the dealer for everything since I've had it. But it's really starting to bug the hell out of me because since my warranty expired, it's been little stuff one after another going wrong. With only 60,000 miles on the dash, my starter went out, driver side air shock, Idler pulley, now this thermostat .... I love my CLS but this might be my last Benz...lol

machild

I bought my first MB back in the '90s (used of course) and at the time I was told by a MB independent shop that I should budget about $2,000 annually for repairs and maintenance. With inflation that would be about $3,500 - $4,000, but I think that was good advise and it holds true today. Additionally, with the number of controllers in these cars, there is a much greater possiblity that something pricey is going to go bad. The good news is that there is a huge level of used parts from salvage yards with thousands of E Class platforms that makes lots of stuff available for us today. One way to help control the expense side of these cars is to find a good independent MB repair shop and stop having the dealer do the repairs. Your costs will drop in the range of 35-50%. As an example, dealers won't consider using a used door control module when one fails on your car, but an indepdent shop typically will. The cost difference between a new door controller module at MSRP of $340 (many dealers sell parts for more than MSRP) and a used one for about $50 is just the starting point. The labor cost with the independent shop is usually less than the dealer labor cost too. These are nice cars but controlling your operating cost is important. Good luck.

kbanks45

Well the weird thing is, I was getting ready to drop the car off last week to get the work done and the check engine light went out, and never came back on. I was wondering along the lines of maybe the thermostat is stuck open like you said, but it would have to change states to closed in order for the light to go back out. The car hasn't gotten hot at all. It gets around 50% and I guess the thermostat kicks in. I'm gonna keep a eye on it, but that's sorta weird, the engine light just cut off. I'm not complaining, but I just hate having that thought that something might be wrong in the back of my head when driving it.... Oh well, we'll see what happens... Thanks for the replies...