zoolander1978

Ok. I had a coolant leak on my 2002 C32 with about 60k miles on it. The closest MB dealer is 2 hours away. There is a place close to me that is a "certified MB" service center. So I bring it in, they keep it for 4 or 5 hours and call me back. They say I have a blown head gasket. I thinking "Crap". The guy goes on to tell me that he was at a large MB dealer where his main job was to rebuild engines and this job will probably take about 30 hours and 3800.00 Well, I just about flipped out. I told him no way that job takes that long or should cost that much. About an hour later, the manager from the service center calls me and tells me the tech made a huge mistake and it's only about 15 hours and $1900.00. I asked how do they know if it is blown. They said they fixed the leak, which it was only there for diognostics, and they filled it up with coolant and ran for a little bit and white smoke started coming out the tail pipe.

This is what I was thinking. If this guy is such a great mechanic, how did he make a big mistake like the over-estimation. I got on here and started to research blown head gaskets to see what other people had said. The avg price was around 1500, but they had more work done.

Here are my questions:
How can I tell if they are trying to screw me?
How much should it cost to repair a blown head gasket at 60K and what else do they need to replace.
Couldn't the white smoke be fuel or carbon build up since it did sit there for 3 days before they got to it?
What questions do I need to ask them and what answers am I looking for?

I turned to this board because most people seem knowledgeable. Thanks for all the help in advance!!!

Bigdot

first, checck if there is oil in your coolent resevour.

and get a second opinion from another machanic

mark

lauer87

Call the mercedes dealer in your area, ask to speak to a service advisor. Explain your problem and ask for an estimate, the mb dealer might even offer to come pick your car up if it has its own tow truck/ flat bed.

zoink

Also smell whether the white smoke smells oil or not and whether your inner tail pipe has some greasy oil.... if not, it's just condensation and you may be fooled.

I still don't get it.... AFAIK, coolant leaking will only result in blown head gasket if you let the coolant res. empty and engine run till it gets overheated and screws the gasket. And you only found coolant leak, right?

Vadim-SoCal

zoolander: Here are the questions you need to ask your mechanic:

1. On which cylinder or between which cylinders is the gasket blown.

2. How did they determined that was the that particular cylinder or cylinders?

3. Did they do a compression test?

4. Did they do a leak down test?

5. Did they pressurized the cooling system and located the leak inside the cylinder?

6. Did they do a chemical test on coolant to see if combustion gases are present.

Get as much detail as you can.

15 hours sounds about right. Head gasket is around $50. So $1900 sounds about right.

Also find out what caused a blown head gasket, there might be more trouble once they open the engine up.

Zeppelin

I would be more inclined to say your intercooler is leaking. Make MB fix it for free. There is about 10 things on these cars that should have been recalled, but were not, and this is one of them.

zoolander1978

Thanks for all the advice. Unfortunatly it is a blown head gasket. They said they won't know which side until they get to work on it. I guess that's right. We shall see.

Vadim-SoCal

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !1

Stop right there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


If they do not know which side it is. They do not know if it is a blown head gasket.

They are full of BULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have them answer the questions I posted in previous post.

If they can not, get your C32 out of there and to the nearest dealer.

zoolander1978

OK they haven't done any work yet. Unfortunatly, this is a dealership. I asked them how do they know which gasket is blown and they said they won't know until they get in there, but the exhaust is smoking pretty bad and smells like coolant. They said the pressure from the blown gasket is pushing it out or something like that. Then the guy got kind of an attitude with me and asked me if I knew which one it was so I could tell them. To make the situation worse, the service woman said that they were having trouble getting wone of their techs to take the job b/c no one wanted to work on an AMG engine. SO now my car is just sitting there...and they didn't even give me a loaner.

sdsilverm3

As Vadim said get the car out of there. Sounds like the current place doesn't a) Know that the hell they're doing b) have any personnel with AMG expertise. With a blown head gasket they should be able to isolate where the leak is.

Out of curiousity, what part of the country are you located?

Zeppelin

If that were my car I would by-pass the intercooler( the radiator lines that go to the engine intercooler- loop them back), un-plug the supercharger clutch and drive it around like a C320 for a few hours or days until I was sure the coolant in the exhaust was gone or still there. If gone, your intercooler is leaking. If it is still there then maybe the headgasket.

You might be able to feel if there is air coming from the intercooler piping( you will have open lines at the block if you by-passed the lines) Air at this point would indicate that the intercooler is leaking(air could only be coming from the intake manifold)

Vadim-SoCal

Precisely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I was just about to suggest the same thing.

Mine is leaking too, but slow. Since I use water for intercooler circuit, I see white smoke at startup and then it goes away.

Leaky intercooler might a problem to look out for, in the past three weeks I have heard another five C32s with the same problem, bringing the total to 11.

amgstyle

hey guys, i'm having the same problem. i'm leaking coolant really bad in my slk 32. in the mornings when i start the car white smoke comes out but after it warms up there's no more smoke. i don't see any coolant in my garage floor either so i don't know it's it leaking for going into my motor. my friend told me to get an oil change, cause if it's going into the motor or a blown headgasket then i will see coolant in the oil.

if the intercooler is leaking then what do i have to replace and fix?? and how much will that cost me ??

thanks for the help.

Zeppelin

If it is only smoking after the car has cooled down and once it warms up there is no more smoke, I'm not sure that you have a problem. Depending on where you live and how much moisture is getting drawn into the muffler when the motor cools, this can be normal. Give us more details on how much smoke and whether it smells like coolant(sweet smell).

amgstyle

well i live in Virginia and the weather here is like 30-40 degree's. when i first start the car white smoke comes out but when i drive it and it's at normal temp there's no more smoke. i've lost alot of coolant, i would say when the resevoir is full in about 2 to weeks of everyday driving it goes down to halfway.

amgstyle

bump

Zeppelin

If you are losing coolant and it is not puddling on the ground then it is more than likely burning in the exhaust. You will need to take it to a dealer unless youn are capable of pulling the supercharger and going further if needed.

silver_metallic

....To make the situation worse, the service woman said that they were having trouble getting wone of their techs to take the job b/c no one wanted to work on an AMG engine.

What a bunch of crap that dealership is trying to sell you! It's a car engine. There's nothing special about the AMG engines other than stronger parts.

These guys are idiots. Definitely brain surgery through the rectum. Take your business somewhere else.