jrsalesco

my car died on me the otherday, got it towed to the mercedes dealership. Got a call back with all the parts that needs to be replaced.
car: clk430

altenator
battery
voltage regulator
left motor mount

with a total of $1250.00

please advise me if theres another dealership that can fix this for cheaper? around the bay area....any recommedations? any help is glady appretiated!

thanks

NorCal 55

There is a recall on the Alternator. I found this out when I brought my car in to the dealer the other day to have my Catalytic Converter replaced.

Symptoms of my converter going bad was a rattling noise under the car at idle. While I was at the dealer he asked me to bring back the car in a week or two when they have time to replace the Alternator. Could this be why my battery drained after I installed the load equalizers? Couldn't figure it out so I removed the equalizers and just used the polar whites for my city lights.

jrsalesco

so does this mean that they should replace the alternator for free because theres a recall on it?

NorCal 55

Have your service advisor at the dealer look up your VIN. That will tell you if your car was included in the alternator recall. If so then they should take care of part of the service.

Whodat

What? Are you sure it's not the infamous Crankshaft Position Sensor problem?
What do you mean you car 'died'? If the car was warm/hot and you were in traffic, it most certainly COULD be the CPS, a $100 part. It exhibits that symptom. It will just die, anywhere, anytime, after being run for a while. You simply let it cool off (about 20 minutes). If that's the case, they could be reaming you at the stealership but you won't know it until they've hit you up for $1250!

jrsalesco

correction... the total is going to be 1800 dollars.... this is not going to be good....

F14Tomcat

Correct, the alternator and regulator are both part of the recall. Found out this morning when our 04 CLK55 went in for service. Apparently they used two different manufacturers, and if your car got the ones that are causing problems, they'll replace them for free. Definitely mention this to your dealer. I don't have the recall number, but it showed up in the computer as "Alternator/Regulator Inspection Campaign" (or something very close to that...)

jrsalesco

i asked the dealer about the recalls.. they said the only recall my car's VIN number has is the harmonic balancer...nothing else.. i guess thats a good thing.

xxbenzc230kxx

awwww.. john wat happnd to the benz... its all good evrything would be all good.. you will get the ride back.!!

MarcusF

I think 012-154-13-02-88 is the part for the 2002 and later alternator, while 010-154-29-02-88 is the earlier part. A rebuilt alternator for a 2002 and later sells for about $300, and the earlier part goes for about $330. If you can R&R the alternator yourself, most electrical shops can probably rebuild it for under $100 (the last one I had rebuilt was about $70 and it took about an hour). The voltage regulator is about $30. A battery is from $50 to $100 or more (depending on the brand and where you buy it). A motor mount is about $100. That's between $300 (having your alternator rebuilt) and $530 or so in parts. If spending a Saturday morning doing the work yourself is not possible, you may want to try an independent Mercedes repair shop in your area. The motor mount seems like it's the biggest job listed.