Celicasaur

Probably even more-so the CLK63 because that was the first to have the M156 motor.

You probably don't hear about it because there's not enough of them around?

drawde

i believe all m156 within the range is affected.

on another note, how much more does this cost to fix preemptively vs after the fact? 2x more? 5x? 10x? seeing different numbers being thrown around. i'm currently at 126k and thinking if it's worth it for me to get my headbolts done. think i should just see what happens? i'm already in the upper miles and not sure how many miles/years i have left even if my headbolts are made of adamantium.

BigMike62

Makes sense. 143 of them in 2007 and 100 in 2008. Thanks.

Jasonoff

Wonder what the actual reported failure ratio is so far.

drmike5000

I just got the "Coolant Top Off" warning on the dash for the first time.

Is this one of the warnings?

Folks say, "Low Coolant" is a warning but not sure if that's the same as "Coolant Top Off".

In any event, I'm taking it in.

drmike5000

Not a head bolt problem, coolant was leaking onto the ground, cracked thermostat housing

m a x i m u s

Kamal63

Whether differs on composition of material, head bolts (original OEM) m156 and ARP hairpins?
And what is told by practice, after application of bolts (ARP hairpin)

Kamal63

My car mileage 29,800 km, and I have no problems ! But I think now to replace head bolts (ARP of a hairpin) and lifters from (SLS black series).... I hope for the future I will get rid of undesirable breakages!

mephoria

Does anyone have a parts list for completing this job? So far I have:

http://weistec.com/all/c/c-63/2008-2...tuds-m156.html

http://weistec.com/all/c/c-63/2008-2...e-buckets.html

Left and right cylinder head gasket

4x N 000000 005754 bolts

Two oil filters and oil for two changes.

What else am I missing?

Tlnt60

I think it's 3 oil changes. Someone posted a service invoice from MB and it had 3 oil changes.

deadlyvt

Why do you need oil for multiple changes to do a head stud ?

mephoria

Honestly, you probably don't need it if you didn't have a low coolant situation. It's listed in tsb for the dealership to perform the repair if CEL and low coolant light are presently activated.

I guess because MB doesn't perform preventative repairs they are assuming that the repair is being done to a vehicle that actually has a broken head bolt(s)/gasket, at which point, you would probably need the two or three oil changes to make it perfect again.

AMG3.2

Take a look here: https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...adventure.html

Yeah, I don't get it either?

Jasonoff

The TSB is for a compromised HG so the multiple oil changes is to flush coolant from bearings etc.

mephoria

[QUOTE=AMG3.2;6912381]Take a look here: https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...adventure.html



Nice thread AMG3.2!!! That helps a bunch.

AMG3.2

ah - that makes more sense. Thanks.

Sandpit

I have just a lifter fail at 198,000km, so while replacing one of the cams and all the lifters I got my indie to pull the heads and replace the bolts while the engine was open.

Had a look at the old bolts and all appeared ok. Real lottery as to whether people will see problems.

Jasonoff

Pics of old bolts?

DuaneC63

The old style head bolts are a lottery, except there are only losers. The labor to pull the heads is a pretty expense proprosition, so you might as well replace everything. Both cams, all the lifters, have a valve job done (esp at 198k). There are also chain/cam tensioners that should be replaced. All the bolts need to be replaced anyway as they are torque to yield. This includes the manifold bolts.

Vladds

So the old bolts didn't look corroded?
Did you still have the Mercedes blue antifreeze at this point ?

Sandpit

Didn't have my phone with me at the time unfortunately

Sandpit

There was some minor corrosion on some of them. Pretty similar to one of the photos earlier in the thread.

Still had the MB blue antifreeze.

Sandpit

Yeah pretty much what I did. Only put 1 new cam, the other was in good shape, no visible issues. Got the valves cleaned up while the heads were off as well.

Amazed how quiet the engine is now

Demono1191

Hello! this may sound like a silly question, but I have a 2011 E63 which was confirmed to NOT have a headbolt issue (car was produced 10/11 and engine # checked by Valvestud). I was wondering if the car has the new bolts from MB, does that mean is has SLS buckets from factory as well, or not? Thanks!