Clark Kent

The other night on the way home from the tennis courts, my engine had significant failure. I was doing a little spirited driving but no where near like I do on the racetrack. Prior to this day/evening the car and engine had been 100% perfect, just like everyday of the last 5.5 years that I’ve owned this car. Halfway through the length of road where I can open it up some the engine started ticking loudly with the sound and timing of loud lifters. I pulled to the side of the road and did a quick inspection under the hood to see if I saw anything obvious going on. I didn’t so I shut off the car and had it towed to a local indie shop that works on mostly MB and BMW’s.

Today’s prognosis from the shop manager is the engine is mostly likely damaged in a way that is not worth fixing but would likely be best served by a replacement engine.

I am asking you guys to do your best to give me a second opinion and/or things to look for next week for possible cause.

Here’s what I know as I went to the shop this afternoon and saw with my own eyes. There’s tiny metal fragments in the oil filter canister, so they have circulated everywhere.
The cams looked great with a little wear right on the tip. Cam adjusters looked fine as well. Service manager says all of the suspect points on the top of the engine appeared
to be just fine so he predicts something internal/bottom half of engine . . . maybe a thrown rod - and he mentioned a few other possibilities which I can’t remember them all.

No fluids leaked from the car at anytime while waiting for two hours for the tow truck.

With the spark plugs out, and trying to manually crank the engine, it won’t budge at all. I have 70k miles on it. What are your thoughts?

Racin_fool

if its locked up solid, you have 2 options... pay for the labor to teardown the original engine and see/fix the problem and then rebuild it all, or find a used engine, do some minor inspection and maintenance and then stick it in

Clark Kent

Thanks Racin, that matches what the Service Manager said. Ha, maybe this thread is finished already . . . but I'll take into consideration more input because why not.

roadkillrob

It will certainly cost more to rebuild a bottom end failure than get a used engine and in theory you can source an engine with updated headbolts and not have that issue in the future.

hachiroku

if you plan to chalk it up as a engine failure i'd like to see a video with audio how the engine is running. without that it would be difficult for us to assist.

you probably have rod knock from what i could tell...your bearing is most likely galled up and causing the engine to be difficult to rotate. in light cases, these type of issues can be resolved, but yes, from a cost standpoint a $4,500 engine might be better as a full rebuild could/would cost the same.

last thing...do you have an extended warranty?

AMG6.3

If it was me, I would tear it down to determine problem and rebuild stronger. It will be expensive but think cost will be cheaper than buying a used M156 motor.

What year C63, did you have for mods and what tune where you using?

Ludedude

Not sure if you're on mobile but from his profile: 2010 C63

And from his sig: "Eurocharged V5 KW V3 Girodisc 2pc Rotors Carbon Fiber Hood Carbon Fiber Front Lip Carbon Fiber Diffuser Carbon Fiber Gear Shift Carbon Fiber Stop/Start K&N Charcoal Deletes Resonator Delete Cleared Corners Porterfield R4S Pads Stainless Steel Brake Lines RB Wheel Stud Conversion 12 mm/10 mm Wheel Spacers"

bentz69

In before v5 tune caused it

Clark Kent

I wish I could provide a video but didn't shoot one at the moment as I was rushing to shut 'er down after that quick visual inspection under the hood along the side of the road. What started as light clickity-clack quickly turned into sounding like someone in the engine banging on the roof with a ball peen hammer.
And no extended warranty for me. I bought the car barely two years old, with < 7k miles and didn't know how long I would hold onto it.

I have had the V3, V4 and now V5 tune across 5 years now. I don't have any reason to believe the tune is the cause. I don't plan on buying a replacement engine, but if I did I'd EU tune it also. Eurocharged has been nothing but top notch to work with for all that we've done.

Savage-wp

Sorry to hear.
I would also pull the bottom end apart to see the exact extent of the damage. Then rebuild with stronger components.

bhamg

This. I can't see a bottom end rebuild as being cost-effective...these projects often end up as throwing money into a black hole. Out of curiosity - and I don't believe the choice of which in any way caused anything bad to happen - what oil have you been using?

CaptnCharisma

I have a 2010 C63 as well that I just rebuilt myself after bending a rod. Not including special tools it cost me around 4k to rebuild it with upgrades. A new rod and piston cost around 1k, 82mm kit 1k, and SLS Black series valve buckets were around 1k. About another 1k for gaskets, new head bolts, and other misc hardware. I'd at least tear it about just to see what sent metal shavings everywhere. If the crankshaft is damaged that would be another 3k and probably just more economically feasible to swap the engine.

AMG3.2

Subscribed. Sorry to hear, OP. Keep us posted. I'm very curious as to what went wrong.

ZephyrAMG

This car is perfectly and beautifully set up. Sorry to hear that about the engine. Would be a shame to scrap the car when a new engine can be sourced...

skratch77

Sorry to hear about this.what oil brand and viscosity were you using?

Clark Kent

For the oil inquiries . . . I changed my oil after EVERY track event (3-4 per year). For awhile it was Mobil 1 5W-40, then last year I used Motul 8100 X-cess 5W-40, and the most recent was Liqi Moly Molygen (Green) 5W-40.

Mag1c Carp3t

Where do you find motors for that cheap?

Diabolis

Sorry to hear that.

Rebuilding might make sense if you could get aftermarket stronger parts, which unfortunately is not the case. Unlike, say, a ubiquitous GM LSx engine that has been around for ever and for which there is tons of aftermarket support, the internal bits for a M156 motor are only available from MB and carry a hefty price tag. If you also need to pay for labour, the cost is likely going to exceed the value of the car. Used 2010-11 M156 engines go for ~$8K (see http://www.car-part.com/) but this is not without risk as the replacement motor may not be in perfect health either. An engine swap by an indie shop is likely going to set you back ~$2K, so it's a $10K+ repair either way you look at it. Been there.

Good luck and let us know what you decide. I'm also curious to know what part failed if you ever end up taking the motor apart.

Celicasaur

Sorry to hear this....i seldom ever hear of an M156 suffer from rod bearing failures unless it was due to hydrolock. With KW V3 suspension, it's safe to say that there has probably been an oil starvation event on more than a few times, which must have started the decline in condition. It only takes a moment to start the wear which essentially increases the gap from journal surface to bearing surface...once it gets big enough to cause a loss in oil pressure, the journal/crank doesn't float so much on the film of high-pressure oil and it then starts to rub against it.

My vote would be to rebuild. 1) it'll be precise and healthier than a second hand engine and 2) it'll be cheaper. But a lot of that is based on the fact that the crank needs to 1) be straight and 2) not require much more than an undersize bearing on the failed journal (assuming it's just one that has failed).

If they drop the sump, you can get a visual as to the condition of the crank and then make a decision based upon that. By all means, replace all other gaskets n stuff, but don't go crazy and replace things that don't need to if money is an issue. You can also save a considerable amount by using a used rod from a motor that is being parted out. Just have the big end measured and ensure the rod is true. You can most likely reuse the original piston. Fingers crossed the bores are in good shape...they should be, but have that checked after you've validated the crank to be ok.

Good luck and keep us updated on progress (preferably with clear pics where possible). Take it from somebody who's been there before (thankfully not with this expensive engine) - it can be fixed and it's often not as bad as you first think. Be prepared to spend, but also look forward to your car coming back Oh...and you may want to consider a baffled sump if you plan to continue with the track days.

BLKROKT

You're not going to oil starve one of these engines. Even without the dry sump of the M159, you can't generate the forces required to unless you're upside down, and then you have another whole set of problems. I forgot if it was Jasonoff or Diabolis who posted to that extent awhile ago, but they had some data or spoke to someone at AMG to back it up.
(btw Celica I see you're active on HPTuners forum - have you given it a shot yet)

Real sorry to hear about this OP, hope you get it back running like new soon.

EDIT: Here was the discussion on oil pressure with tons of nerdy links - good reading. https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...ure-track.html

Celicasaur

Interesting....I wonder how the motor failed then
Sad as it is for the OP, I hope this is just one of those isolated, rare events and it's not something that we'll hear of more in the future.


Yep - i've given it a shot, but I've literally done like 1 evenings worth of tuning. Doesn't help that it's cold n wet over here at this time of year, so trying to do a third gear pull late at night in the middle of nowhere isn't so easy.

Clark Kent

Thanks for the kind words and excellent advice everyone. I'll keep you posted as this gets straightened out.

hachiroku

wow sorry to hear. that definitely is rod knock. keep us updated and let us know if you need any advise! i'd try to locate a used complete motor if possible.

AMGonFire

That sucks. Def sounds like the bottom end went. Let us know what you do. I'd think this is an isolated incident. I hope seeing as how many supercharged cars on the stock motor there are with no issues. Thinking just bad luck.

Merc63

Did you remove the cams and check all the lifters? If they don't have any holes, crank bearing went.

Crank bearing will cause a loud ticking noise as the crank pings around. That's the first I've ever heard of a crank bearing, these engines are some of the toughest around.