ATTN FOLKS with HEADBOLT FAILURE - FILE A COMPLIANT WITH NHTSA!!!
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2017 Mini Cooper S Clubman ALL4 - British Racing Green
NHTSA does not investigate every single complaint they get, only if they see a trend. This is why it is very important that every affected owner files a compliant.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/RecallProcess
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/RecallProcess
Maybe I should have phrased it differently. NHTSA responds to every single complaint that comes in. What that response consists of could vary from a form letter to the manufacturer, to a full blown investigation.
However, they do have to respond.
ex US DoT employee, so I know a little bit how things work there.
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2017 C63S coupe '09 C63, '15 Durango RT, '14 Jeep SRT8
Spoke with my SA today. I asked him to check my headbolts and make sure everything is good. He said usually you will start hearing a noise before anything can be done. Also the foreman stated that the reason there isn't a recall is because 1. Its only a few cars its happened to and 2. Because they've monitored cars in the affected range and they headbolts seem perfectly fine. They also told me that as long as you're under warranty, they will pay for everything but also told me not to worry about it because it really hasnt happened to that many people.
MBWorld Fanatic!
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2017 Mini Cooper S Clubman ALL4 - British Racing Green
Spoke with my SA today. I asked him to check my headbolts and make sure everything is good. He said usually you will start hearing a noise before anything can be done. Also the foreman stated that the reason there isn't a recall is because 1. Its only a few cars its happened to and 2. Because they've monitored cars in the affected range and they headbolts seem perfectly fine. They also told me that as long as you're under warranty, they will pay for everything but also told me not to worry about it because it really hasnt happened to that many people.
I tried to go in to my dealer to get a record of my past visits and numerous complaints about engine noise and their response was always "thats normal". They could not provide them as they were archived. So hopefully if push came to shove, there is a way to get those details, because I sure as hell am not paying for prematurely worn cams or head bolt failure.
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2009 C63 AMG
Spoke with my SA today. I asked him to check my headbolts and make sure everything is good. He said usually you will start hearing a noise before anything can be done. Also the foreman stated that the reason there isn't a recall is because 1. Its only a few cars its happened to and 2. Because they've monitored cars in the affected range and they headbolts seem perfectly fine. They also told me that as long as you're under warranty, they will pay for everything but also told me not to worry about it because it really hasnt happened to that many people.
Last edited by andy_c63; Jun 6, 2014 at 01:50 AM.
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From: NYC
2017 C63S coupe '09 C63, '15 Durango RT, '14 Jeep SRT8
Then my SA better sleep with one eye open lol. Me and him go way back so it wouldn't be wise for him to play that game with me!
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2009 C63 AMG
Last thing we want is to flood NHTSA with frivolous complains and give Mercedes an excuse to ignore the issue.
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From: NYC
2017 C63S coupe '09 C63, '15 Durango RT, '14 Jeep SRT8
I dont know of many ppl on the forum that have had the problem. Only read about two but you got it!
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2009 C63 AMG
I counted a little under 30 owners on this forum who stated their vehicles experienced the headbolt failure. I think there are could be some who experienced the failure, but chose the not comment and also the unregistered users. The bulk of the affected owners, of course, are those not mechanically savvy who don't read forums and simply bit the bullet not knowing that the failure is a result of the manufacturer's defect.
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Audi A5 6MT, C63 AMG
I counted a little under 30 owners on this forum who stated their vehicles experienced the headbolt failure. I think there are could be some who experienced the failure, but chose the not comment and also the unregistered users. The bulk of the affected owners, of course, are those not mechanically savvy who don't read forums and simply bit the bullet not knowing that the failure is a result of the manufacturer's defect.
I am hoping to keep my car beyond expiration of extended warranty but I will be forced to sell and jump ship if MB does nothing about this.
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From: Texas
10 C six trizzle
lol, what interest does a service writer have from the manufacturer? If you have a good service history with the dealer considering it's a known problem they should goodwill it. I see it all the time with all sorts of problems. You guys have to understand you cant just go replacing parts that havent failed or arent bad. That's warranty fraud. Theres plenty of somewhat common issues with every make,model,brand etc... if you ran around replacing all those things on a regular basis car companies would all be bankrupt or cars would cost 2x as much.
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2017 Mini Cooper S Clubman ALL4 - British Racing Green
lol, what interest does a service writer have from the manufacturer? If you have a good service history with the dealer considering it's a known problem they should goodwill it. I see it all the time with all sorts of problems. You guys have to understand you cant just go replacing parts that havent failed or arent bad. That's warranty fraud. Theres plenty of somewhat common issues with every make,model,brand etc... if you ran around replacing all those things on a regular basis car companies would all be bankrupt or cars would cost 2x as much.
The Issue with Head Bolt failure while in motion can be serious, loss of control of the vehicle. That is not a minor issue that needs to be fixed. Granted, I suspect if the engine did lock up in motion, at least the airbags would still deploy unlike the GM.
We know there is an issue, as they redesigned the head bolts for a reason. Which means there is significant potential for failure. At least they changed the part number... Unlike GM (yes I am picking on GM, but the recent documents released by GM and congress show tremendous malfeasance on GM's part).
If you think GM is alone in this, you are wrong, every single manufacturer does the same damn thing, cost benefit analysis. GM just happen to get caught (again, obviously they did not learn), and now the other manufacturers are probably going to be alot more sensitive to the issue of potential recalls.
NHTSA is not exactly innocent in the entire GM issue either, the ball has been dropped on both sides, numerous times. Now obviously I do not work for GM, or any auto manufacturer, but I did work for the gov (USDOT, and a few other 3 letter agencies), and I can tell you, when they get ***** slapped around by congress, they tend to over react for a period and throw money at the problem (in this case, probably more manpower), but that over reaction is where the manufacturers are going to get it, and we will probably see many more recalls, forced and voluntary.
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From: Houston, TX
2015 E250D
I;m not sure if this will gain any traction. MB also has issues with plagued the 550 and 350 series vehicles for CEL's due to a soft metal used on the timing chain sprocket. I don't think anything came of this and it affected many more vehicles than the 63's
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2009 C63 AMG
Guys, come on, file your reports as soon as possible!!!
Do a search on NHTSA, you will see that there is a very good chance there is going to be a recall on C63 due to rear light assembly failure because 21 owners found 10 minutes to file a report. BUT we are going to let Mercedes get away with the headbolt failure??
You also see the list of related documents and communication between NHTSA and Mercedes.
Do a search on NHTSA, you will see that there is a very good chance there is going to be a recall on C63 due to rear light assembly failure because 21 owners found 10 minutes to file a report. BUT we are going to let Mercedes get away with the headbolt failure??
Subject : Loss of rear lighting assembly
Date Investigation Opened: DEC 20, 2013
Date Investigation Closed: Open
NHTSA Action Number: EA13008
Component(s): ELECTRICAL SYSTEM , EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Manufacturer: Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC.
SUMMARY:
ODI initially received 21 reports of rear light assembly failure due to a melted electrical connector or housing. Since opening the initial investigation ODI has received a total of 114 complaints reflecting an ongoing and increasing trend. In each report, one or both rear light assemblies fail completely (i.e., all lights housed within the assembly extinguish, including the stop, tail, and turn signal functions) when the electrical ground connection is compromised as a result of high resistance and subsequent thermal over-heating. According to Mercedes-Benz, the over-heating of the ground wire is caused by corrosion between the connectors in the ground circuit to the tail light. ODI is aware of a total of 5 reports alleging fire including one injury allegation as a result of this issue. Analysis of subject vehicle complaint data indicates an increased likelihood of failure as the vehicles age. The Preliminary Evaluation (PE13-026) has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis to further assess the risks and frequency resulting from failure of rear lighting assemblies in the subject vehicles.
Date Investigation Opened: DEC 20, 2013
Date Investigation Closed: Open
NHTSA Action Number: EA13008
Component(s): ELECTRICAL SYSTEM , EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Manufacturer: Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC.
SUMMARY:
ODI initially received 21 reports of rear light assembly failure due to a melted electrical connector or housing. Since opening the initial investigation ODI has received a total of 114 complaints reflecting an ongoing and increasing trend. In each report, one or both rear light assemblies fail completely (i.e., all lights housed within the assembly extinguish, including the stop, tail, and turn signal functions) when the electrical ground connection is compromised as a result of high resistance and subsequent thermal over-heating. According to Mercedes-Benz, the over-heating of the ground wire is caused by corrosion between the connectors in the ground circuit to the tail light. ODI is aware of a total of 5 reports alleging fire including one injury allegation as a result of this issue. Analysis of subject vehicle complaint data indicates an increased likelihood of failure as the vehicles age. The Preliminary Evaluation (PE13-026) has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis to further assess the risks and frequency resulting from failure of rear lighting assemblies in the subject vehicles.
Very sad.
Last edited by andy_c63; Jun 9, 2014 at 11:08 PM.
