So my air pump is toast and the CEL light is on. C32 has 51K miles. Dealer wants $900 (!!) to replace pump, and says it is not covered under the 8year/80K emissions warranty. Anyone have any specific knowledge that the air pump is or is not covered under the 8/80 warranty?

Gracias Compadres!

 

It should be covered. It is part of emission controls.

Have him prove it to you that it is not.

Good Luck!

 

Here's a link that could help.

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/cert/recall/420b07003.pdf

Quote:
An air injection pump, designed to operate during engine warm up periods, may fail to turn off at specified time. This will cause the pump to overheat and burn out. When the pump fails a MIL light will illuminate. Remedy: Mercedes and ECU-supplier have identified a software modification which will prevent random electromagnetic impulses from affecting the air injection pump. The ECU software will be updated and the pump relay replaced.

Look down the list to "Mercedes" and it's there.

I would not only show this to the dealer, but report the dealer to MBUSA. I cannot believe that they cannot find a recall. Makes you wonder how many unsuspecting consumers get robbed on things like this.

 

Absolutely! This behavior is a NONO.

But may I suggest, that that may not really solve a much bigger problem; which is, "they take it from the living".... they have a contractual OBLIGATION to fix things.

Get the EPA involved, preferably BEFORE contacting MBUSA; regardless of the MBUSA attitude - they will listen, if the pressure is on.

 

Good strategy. MB already paid a fine in connection with this recall, apparently relating to their unwillingness to address it. EPA would be very interested in this story.

 

I have sent an email to my MBSD service tech asking him to elaborate on exactly why it is that the secondary air injection pump is not covered by the 8/80 emissions warranty.

Here is another question I have: As you will note from the email which I sent to MBSD today (see below), when I initially took my car in with the CEL on, they replaced the relay and reset the CEL. The CEL came back on in a couple of days and I took the car back to MBSD. Only then did they advise me that the pump itself was now shot. It seems to me very likely that the defective relay was what caused the pump to take a dump. Anyone care to elaborate on this theory? Also, does anyone know when the relay replacement recall started?

In any case, here is a copy of my email to my MBSD service tech:

"Hi Cesar:

As you know, I recently had my 2002 C32 (55K miles) serviced at MBSD. I brought the car in initially because the Check Engine Light was on. The tech apparently replaced the secondary air injection pump relay (as part of a recall) and reset the CEL light. Within a few days after I picked the car up, the CEL light came back on. I brought the car back in, and the tech now diagnosed the problem as a faulty secondary air injection pump (presumably the same pump that the previously-replaced relay controls). You called me and advised me that it would cost approximately $900.00 to replace such pump. I advised you that I did not wish to incur this expense and would pick the car up without the work being done. A few days later, it dawned on me that the secondary air injection pump should be covered under the 8 year/80,000 mile warranty for emissions components. I called you and left a message inquiring as to whether this was the case. Shortly thereafter, you responded (via message on my voice mail) that the secondary air injection pump is not covered by the 8/80 emissions warranty.

Would you please be so kind as to explain why it is that the secondary air injection pump (which appears to be a purely-emissions-related component) is not covered by the 8/80 emissions warranty?

I thank you in advance for your attention to this matter."




Thanks for your comments and support people.

 

No theories here, I was in the same boat about a year ago. I wasted my time with the service advisor and calling MBUSA to try to reason with why the secondary air injection pump was not covered??? The manual clearly states what’s covered under the emission warranty and sadly the secondary pump is not one of them!! Oh well, I just found one on E-bay and changed it myself. It took me less than 15 minutes, real easy DIY. The part usually costs around $380 from the stealer-ship but I found a brand new one on E-bay for $150. This was just an emission part and I wouldn’t have changed it if it wasn’t for the check engine light that bothered me, I tried unplugging it and resetting the error code, but the check engine light kept coming back every 2-4 days! Every time someone rides my car they would ask me about it so I decided to fix it. Good luck!!

 

It makes NO SENSE that an EPA-forced recall would occur because of a faulty relay that would cause the air injection pump to fail; yet when the air injection pump fails, it is NOT a part of the emissions system!?!?

What ELSE is the air injection pump for? If it's not for emissions, then why was there a recall to fix the relay to keep the pump from burning out?

All that being said, it could be an uphill battle to get this resolved. I'd find the group at EPA responsible for auto recalls.

 

That's exactly what I argued with the service advisor. My check engine goes on due to the secondary injection pump dying and a week later I receive a sec injection pump relay recall letter. I thought that was great, the car must be transmitting error codes to the headquarters or something!!. I took the car to the recall service and ended up with two pumps dead instead of just one!! Whatever they did caused my intercooler water pump to fail as well!! I made a U-turn and returned straight to the dealer since I didn’t know what was going on and was seriously suspicious they gave me a C240 re-badged as a C32.
They couldn’t figure out what’s wrong with the car and I ended up paying for the diagnostics since it was out of warranty… the recall that I thought was free was not free anymore!!. They refused to fix either of the pumps even after explaining to them that the recall is obviously done to stop the sec injec pump from constantly running and that the pump obviously went dead because of a faulty relay!! Even worse, whatever they did caused my intercooler pump to fail. I even threatened to sue them after getting so frustrated without any success in making them pay for the pumps!! But thanks to mbworld though, I was able to fix both pumps for under $300 instead of the $1,900 the dealer quoted me!!

 

So, is there anyone who has been successful in compelling the dealer to cover the air pump under the 8/80 emissions warranty? From reviewing past threads, it seems like many people think that it should be covered, but has anyone actually succeeded in obtaining coverage?

 

First off, I will never go to MBSD service again!! They have tried to rip me off twice for well over 3k in repair bills. They are a total f'ing nightmare man and I suggest you go to MB of Escondido and don't even tell them about your trip to MBSD. Just see if they will fix it for you. I can give you my SA's name and number. They took care of both my front suspension and drivers seat problem under warranty that MB of SD tried to screw me on.

Can you believe MB of SD tried to bill me over $1200 bucks for seat rails not covered under the warranty? Guess what, it was a short in the wiring harness found at MB of Escondido covered for free under warranty.. I hate those clowns and the service manager I spoke to was a total tool.

I would try this first before doing anything. You might be happily surprised and get the repair done there free under warranty. It is a 30 minute drive compared to 10 for me.. but worth it. They know what customer service means there.

Good luck man.. end rant..

 

I'm barely reaching 94k on my C32, my service advisor will make
me sign a zero invoice estimate sheet if I leave my C32 for
them to do the recall, but will not give me any letter or proof
that it's free even though I have 94k.

Guess what came in my mailbox today? You owe me lunch

Remember, your car has to have the recall outstanding for them
to repair it, if not it's a total different call.

 

Thanks Neihouma, but that recall notice is only for the ECU upgrade and/or relay. My problem is that my pump is toast (presumably because the defective relay or ECU software caused the pump to run continuously, burning it out). In other words, they fixed the relay and ECU for free, but are now refusing to replace the pump unless I pay $900.00 for it.

My wife and I are consumer attorneys. Gee, what should I do next?????

Time for a lawsuit against MB.

 

Checked the warranty manual, it reads the following...

Only certain items are covered for 8 years:

3-way catalyst
Warm-up 3 way catalyst
Engine control module
Malfunction indicator lamp
Emission related hoses, clamps, belts, pulleys, tubes, fittings, sealing devices, mounting hardware included.

Everything else are covered for 2 years - includes Secondary Air Injection System

 

that is true, its in the manual that it doesnt cover it

 

Read it again, if your car has a outstanding recall, then they are supose to
update the recall and FIX the problem because it's what cleared it. My
SA was almost laughing and not surprised to read what you said.

He said damn leech, a SA :lol Thank god I have a down to earth SA

 

the pump is only 375 ish... labor do it yourself !!! * if they do not cover *

 

O.K., so I finally got MBSD to agree to comp the pump replacement.

What I was able to determine regarding the whole fiasco is the following:

1. The secondary air injection pump is not covered by the 8/80 warranty. If your pump dies, arguing the 8/80 warranty will get you nowhere.

2. There is a recall campaign is for the relay and ECU, but not for the pump itself. My guess is that MBUSA got sued (or is afraid that they will be sued) by someone whose secondary air injection pump overheated and caught fire. This explains why MBUSA is so eager to replace the relay, but balks at replacing the pump, even when it is clear that the pump death resulted from the defective relay switch. Indeed, once the relay is replaced, there is no more fire danger from the pump (especially if your pump is muerto).

3. The best argument for getting your pump replaced gratis is that the relay switch is admittedly defective and that this admittedly defective part did harm to another part of your car. As I phrased it to the service manager, if the defective relay had caused my pump to catch on fire, I am sure that MBUSA would be quick to pay for the pump replacement, so why should my "internally-burned" pump be treated any differently?

Hope this helps any of you out there who, like me, are beyond the regular warranty, have a pump that is toast, and do not wish to send $900.00 to the dealer.

 

I'm so glad to hear that MB says the pump is not part of the emissions system. Now I can just un-plug the thing when it goes bad without getting caught by the CARB police.

 

I received the letter for the recall a few weeks ago. Being that my pump is working fine, I am weary of having the recall done for fear of creating a problem where one doesn't exist. Any thoughts?

 

Get a spare IC pump, before they do the recall. The IC pump failed on mine within 2 weeks after the recall was done. Otherwise, car runs fine.

 

I would get the recall work done ASAP. If your air injection pump fails immediately thereafter, you can argue that they screwed up the recall repair. Logically, the recall work should prevent the failure of your air injection pump, not cause it.

If you do not do the recall repair and then your air injection pump fails, I am sure that MB will refuse to cover the pump on the basis that you are to blame for not having the recall work done.

Can someone please explain to me the claimed inter-relationship between the secondary air injection pump and the intercooler pump? I am completely baffled as to how one would impact the other.

 

No relationship, some people think their IC pumps failed shortly after the recall.

 

I noticed that my intercooler pump failed after watching some ****, so I have concluded that Dalton-flogging caused my IC pump failure.

 

Well after reading this thread, I brought my car in to the dealer, told them what was wrong, since i knew the sales director * they gave me the parts for Free, i payed the labor 450 total * they replaced my relay-fuse-Air injection pump 2 days time for this install. I told them about the 8yr-80k miles they said for the air pump only covers up to 2 yrs. They gave me the parts Quote " IN GOOD WILL ONE TIME ONLY ". But they still got it done thanks to the sales Director !!!