gaazmon

Hey guys

Used to be over on the W211 section for a while. Last week traded in an 04 E320 for an 08 CLK550. So far I have to say I love the car. The difference is night and day. Way sportier. Loving the AMG wheels, body, and exhaust on this thing. The car is obsidian black on black leather with Premium 2 Package, DVD Navigation, Keyless Go, Heated Front Seats, Rear Side Air Bags, Sirius Satellite Radio, Electronic Trunk Closer. Had 43,200 miles when I purchased it

Couple of things I have to take it back to the dealer for them to fix:

-Having the badges put back on (removed by previous owner)
-Both front seat belts don't retract back well (belt hangs sometimes and have to help it go back up and in)
-Driver's side mirror glass is distorted (there's these water spots but can't get rid of em no matter what I tried cleaning it with. can only really see them at night when rear cars headlights shining on it)
-Driver's side mirror vibrates at highway speeds (when you push the housing down if feels a little more loose than the passenger side one)

Few other things I noticed gonna see if they'll fix too, don't know what the causes are exactly (the things in parenthesis are what I searched and you guys have said could be):

-Engine shakes/car vibrates after warmed up while car is standing still (MAF sensor, ATF flush, engine mounts?)
-Squeeky belt noise from engine when car first running after startup (idler, tensioner, or belt?)
-Ticking noise in engine compartment drivers side next to ABS/ESP pump (EECS purge valve?)
-Slight gas smell while tank above 3/4 on drivers side rear wheel well and at gas cap (fuel tank pressure sensor?) Had this smell on my E but that was from the dreaded fuel tank problem on the W211s (and some W219s) and that came up after 90k miles (don't think that affects the CLKs).

I already decoded the VIN with one of those VIN decode web sites (http://www.neoriginal.ru/cat/mb/) and found the engine serial number is past the balance shaft/timing chain problem range, but might still have the malfunctioning camshaft adjustment solenoid

Lot of great info you guys have provided here. Thank you

Fatz

Congrats and Welcome! Post some pics when you can. You may ant to try some "RainX" glass cleaner/rain repellent on your window; if that doesn't work, try frst a common spray wax (most contain a cleaner as well) or use a bit of car polish...... I'm assuming tht these water spots are on the outside.

It is a great car. Got mine in Aug '07. Plan to trade it in Aug '28......

gaazmon

thank u. i'll try to get some after i get the car back from them next week and have it washed. wanted to get it tinted too after. the spots are on the drivers side mirror. tried bunch of stuff to no avail. gonna see if they'll just replace it since the housing has to be looked at too since it vibrates on the highway

Yidney

Unless you have records showing it was done, have the trany fluid changed. It's past due. And make sure they drain the torque converter directly through its drain plug, not just change the fluid in the pan, or flush the torque converter. Don't just trust they will drain the converter - they probably will not. You ought to be charged for about 9 quarts of fluid.

Rudeney

Congrats!

This is typical. Some people have found that cleaning the belt can help. I have just gotten used to taking the belt off and using a motion to guide it back into the retractor.

Mine did this. I ended up removing the glass then placing some heavy duty two-sided tape on the back to hold it tight.

Mine does this, especially when it's hot enough outside that the radiator fan runs. I had the engine mounts replaced, and that made it slightly better, but I still feel some lumbering.

It may be the secondary air injection pump. Mine makes some noise, too. The air pump only operates when the engine is cold, for a few minutes after startup. I wouldn't worry about it until it fails (and it may never fail).

I'm not sure about that one. it could be many things in that area.

Yep, it's common - you need to replace the seal rings on the pump and sender access ports on top of the tank - easy and inexpensive.

Yeah, it's rare to find a "bad balance shaft" engine ion a MY2008, but I have seen two. They must have been very early build - like early calendar year 2007.

Oh, and +++++1 on Yidney's suggestion on the transmission service!

F1Bobby

Congrats! Good luck with those small fixes. The CLK550 is a surprising car. Great driver IMHO.

gaazmon

According to the services on the carfax, with what mileage it's been brought in for service over the years to the dealer I got it from, I doubt they did it since it would've been at 39K miles. So I'll definitely have that done. If they don't want to, I'll just have my MB indy guy do it the way you've described

thanks rudeney. your posts were very helpful over the past couple of weeks when I was looking at this car and a couple of others.

ya. i downloaded the tsb that was posted on a thread here. they've told me they've already ordered new parts for these so i know they should be replacing them

good to know. they have to replace my mirror anyway. these damn spots r the weirdest thing. couldn't get them off

okay. ya i figure they'll be some vibration since it's such a huge engine. it's not too bad, but i'll see what they find

ya. our 02 cl500 does the same thing, and it's been doing it for a while, so probably won't even mention this to them if not worth it since i rather get the other stuff fixed

just thought of the eecs purge valve cause Glyn mentioned on a thread here and even circled the part in the engine bay

okay. i'll note those to tell them. this one i definitely want fixed asap. can be really annoying with the smell in the garage

ya this one is an 07/07 build. only thing i might have happen is a malfunctioning camshaft adjustment solenoid and replace the seal, which can't be that much to replace both

definitely will get that done too

thank u. they shouldn't be too much of a problem. my E had some major issues along the way. ya this car is quite the sleeper. surprises me every time

gaazmon

Here are the answers I got today from my S/A:

The badges are back on but haven't seen the car yet. Gonna get it back tomorrow

They only changed the driver's side mechanism. I'm trying to get my sales associate to have them pay for the passenger side one too

EDIT: Talked to my sales associate today and she said she'd handle the passenger side for me too

They stated they had their detail guy come in and he got the spots out. So again shall see tomorrow

According to them the vibration is gone now since the motor mounts have been changed

They changed the motor mounts. Still gonna have my indy clean out the maf sensor and do an atf flush

Stated couldn't reproduce

Stated couldn't reproduce

Stated couldn't reproduce. I wanted this fixed for sure. Weird thing was it didn't do it the last time I filled up and that was right before I took it to them with almost full tank of gas too

I was going to also have them check for any open recalls. Seems to be one regarding programming and something about a fuel level sensor (Recall number: 08V303000). I wonder if this would cause the gas smell since it can affect emissions functions

gaazmon

Rodney, where on this diagram are the ones I would need to change?

Thanks for all your help btw

Rudeney

That diagram doesn't show the seal rings. The part number you need is A2114710579. There are two - one for the pump side, one for the sender.

gaazmon

Thank u. I think I found a better diagram.

So one for the fuel pump side and one for the fuel sender access ports on top of the tank?

Anything else that might cause it besides those two seals? Thinking I should have the filler/gas cap seal replaced too cuz inside the fuel door even with the cap on I can smell gas or that's just normal?

Rudeney

That looks like the EPC diagram. It's item #410 on that, and there are two per vehicle. Unless you regularly spill fuel in the filler are, you really shouldn't have any fume odors there.

gaazmon

Alright. Thanks again and no i'm pretty careful about not spilling any fuel there

gaazmon

Also, they changed my engine and tranny mounts so the rough shaking at idle in R and D did go away, but there is still some sort of vibration. If I have the doors open while the car is sitting in park, there is a vibration running through them and u can see it (also the engine itself has a vibration) and so does the muffler (normal?)

I've seen here people talk about cleaning/replacing the MAF sensor and/or replacing the EGR vlalve. Regarding EGR valve replacement, wouldn't it have shown up when the dealer did a smog/emissions check (they charged me for the smog certification)?

I have no CELs btw so would either of those apply? Read somewhere here to that might need to clean out the engine air filters?

Rudeney

My CLK550 vibrates at idle, especially when the engine is hot - as in right before the cooling fan kicks into high-speed mode. I consider this to be somewhat normal. Then again, I'm probably not the best judge of whether or not vibrations and noises are "normal" - I travel a good bit and drive rental cars, so when I return to the CLK at the airport parking lot, it always seems like "the best car in the world" compared to the Altima, Camry, Sonata, or Malibu I had been driving during the week.

gaazmon

Ya these cars are definitely something else

I'll see if they find anything when I take it to have the seal rings done

gaazmon

So just got the car back from the dealer yesterday. My S/A stated they found the left fuel level sending unit was leaking and into the fuel filter. So they changed the fuel filter, left fuel level sending unit, and the two seals. So far so good. Filled up last night before coming home and no smell in the garage this morning

gaazmon

I just cleaned my engine air filters this afternoon. They were quite dirty and from the looks of it they are the original ones. I banged them around a little so that helped until the new ones come in a week or so

Decided to order some mann engine air filters from amazon (2 sets: one for my CLK and one for our CL500 since that one is due too) and also ordered a mann cabin air filter with carbon (the darker one, not the white one). Want to change mine out since there is some smell coming from the vents when on. I can't really tell but my girlfriend said she can, even after the dealer deodorized the interior, so I guess it would help changing it. Would it be safe to spray some febreeze in that area where the cabin filter sits? Would you guys also recommend changing the two charcoal filters under glove box or those don't really affect it?

Regarding the shudder/rough idle, next I'm gonna try and clean out the MAF. If that doesn't help I'll just replace it. Just want to make sure is this the right one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271169524490

After that would be the EGR I guess

F1Bobby

Post some pics!

Rudeney

You might want to check autohausaz.com for the MAF - there are many "fake" or inferior Chinese MAF sensors on eBay that are crap.

gaazmon

Lol. Alright bobby. I took some iphone pics when I picked her up again from beverly hills after they fixed the fuel odor problem. Just haven't had time this week to upload them. Been a busy month. I'll put some up today

Yup. That's exactly what I was worried about too. I searched and read some pretty bad stories about the knockoffs, so definitely wanna keep it OEM. Gonna go buy some MAF/electrical connector spray since I found a DIY pic someone posted a link here to and try that first. Why replace it if not broken right

Rudeney

Cleaning the MAF sensor is a good first step, but if that doesn't work, replace it. MAF sensor problems are often caused by buildup on the wire, but sometimes they are caused by the wire itself just getting old and weak, which can only be fixed with a new one.

gaazmon

Alright I'll try that out

@Bobby: Here are the pics

F1Bobby

Well done!

gaazmon

So I got some MAF cleaner (made sure it says leaves no residue) and sprayed a few times, waited, sprayed again, waited, and repeated this about 5 times. Just wondering how long should I wait before I can start the car?