Mechanic found a piece of the serpentine belt stuck in the p/s pulley, it kept whipping a wiring loom to the right and cut it in half (new pulley going in as well)
New lifters/buckets in check made in germany by INA
New lifters and headbolts waiting to go in
Hey guys just wanted to share some pics of my car in repairs and a not so fortunate M156

 

Perfectly good camshaft destroyed during install
A camshaft from another motor that came into the same shop
Lifter/bucket fail
The result of bad cam lobe/lifters = new motor

 

How long have you had it in the shop for?

 

Holy wow you've had some bad luck

 

This is the very reason I have a warranty

 

in and out since November
started with a bad sam module, fuel pump, cluster, p/s pump, airMatic suspension issues (as is a ml63) and the list goes on.

 

oh the first three months were under warranty and totaled 9k in repairs but that's still time in the shop i didn't get to enjoy it

 

 

So got the car back today. New lifters, new head bolts, plugs, pcv valve, pulleys a good clean of air filter boxes, new engine oil, coolant and repaired some wiring next to the p/s pump pulley that was torn.

Car started up with the old rattle of the cam adjuster for a second and dissapeared, drove it till it reached a good operating temp and put it through its passes. Felt instant change in response and mid range acceleration was better than I expected.

paid the bill and went home. Tried to start it up a few hours later and it took about 6 attempts before it started. I was ready to pull my hair out because this was the very reason it went in to the workshop along with the adjuster noise.

called the shop and was told that there's a possibility the wiring that damaged could have caused a short further down the loom. they suggested we change the wiring loom but that just sounds ridiculous as no fault codes or cel lights come on expect relating to the missing cats in the exhaust system.

to me it sounds more like a fuel delivery issue and have struggled to find anyone else with an M156 who has had similar issues.

​​​​​​Has anyone come across something like this or could share some thoughts as to what it might be? Thanks
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Wow. I've taken some big hits on mine but nowhere close to yours. I would have traded it in tbh.

 

I just want one month of Trouble free driving lol that to much to ask with these cars? Should have bought a jeep :p hahaha

we had issues with the fuel gauge when we bought it in November and the car would stall when it ran out of fuel but would still show half a tank. The symptoms of my current problem are very much alike and my guess is fuel delivery. Where and how is anyone's guess.
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Yea, that's pretty rough, I can't even imagine going that long without driving it.

 

This occasion two and a half weeks, since purchasing in November I would say I have not had the car for any longer than 2 months in total, rest of the time in repairs.

 

With all due respect - you purchased a 10 year old "performance" SUV. I hate to break it to you, but what you're experiencing is pretty much the norm, not the exception. When you buy a 10 year old performance vehicle that has by definition had a reasonably hard life (as in no one buys an ML63 and drives it like a Prius) and cost well over $100K when new, you should expect to easily sink $5-10K per year into in on an ongoing basis and have it sit at the service shop 50% of the time. It's par for the course. Been there, done that and have the empty bank accounts to show.

 

If it's really $5k to $10k per year and 50% shop time, to keep the 10-year old running, aren't you better off just buying or leasing a brand new one? Or, is that what you were trying to tell the OP?

Jim G

 

That is the case 99% of the time with any reasonably complex, older performance vehicle that has had more than one owner, so yes, buying or leasing a new one would indeed make MUCH more sense if one can afford it. I've made that same mistake twice myself, and I see it happen to others all the time. People see a high-end BMW, Merc or Porsche for Jeep money and buy it without realizing that it will cost them 5-10% of the car's value when new annually in repairs and maintenence costs in perpetuity to keep it on the road.

 

Wow! That's unreal. How much is this costing you out-of-pocket? It's not even like you can cut your losses and sell the car at this point... Without it running, you'd probably get jack-squat for the car... :\