MBTec

Hello all:

Purchased a 2006 R350 for my wife and it's our first experience with MB ownership. Love the car, purchased from out of state, but made sure it was Certified PreOwned from a dealer.

The car is in near perfect condition, except that when I opened the engine compartment, I found the entire engine block and pulleys covered in what appears to be oxidation of some kind.

The car was in New Hampshire, so I'm pretty sure it's from the salt used for snow. I'm hoping others have seen this and can give me a comfort level that it will not hurt anything or affect warranty.

Also, wondering if there is a fairly easy way to clean this up. I did take it to a local MB Dealer and they are helping to research as well.

Thanks in advance for any input!

MoeMistry

Can you post some pictures of the engine...it would help a lot in diagnosing what you should do.

MBTec

No prob - may be a couple of days, but I'll post some pics.

MBTec

Ok, here are a few pictures. I'm trying to have MB give me something in writing that this oxidation will not be used as an excuse to not cover parts during the CPO warranty period since they say this is fairly normal with cars from snow or beach areas.

Thanks again for any help.

MoeMistry

I'm puzzled from what I see in picture 1, 2 and 3. It seems wherever there's aluminum, there seems to be a whitish film on it...almost as though someone used a harsh chemical to clean it. But in picture 2, there seems to be a residue of some sort on the bracket. What happens when you scrub the surface of the alternator or engine block? It could be road salts, but I thought the bottom of these cars are covered pretty good. It could also be that someone cleaned the aluminum pieces with an incorrect cleaning product that was acid-based.

Benzo 003

I have an 08 ML 350 in the chicagoland area and suffered an identical situation....I somewhat resolved the issue by applying Gunk brand foaming engine degreaser, then removed it with a hot water power-washing. I finished it off with several "heavy" applications of an engine "detail" spray. Some of the luster has returned, but it is part of life in a salt heavy winter area.

grane

The white granular on the flat surface in picture 2 is just salt. I don't think this bad cleaners just harsh conditions.

I am trying Never Dul on the 2 Amg insignias on top of the engine. Will report back. I Blew off a lot of the dust using a leaf blower and then vacuumed the engine compartment with a shop vac to remove as much dust and so on. I am using a ph neutral uncoated aluminum wheel cleaner with a stiff brush on the rest of the engine in stages. Am I wise I avoid water in the engine compartment? no steam cleaning for me. Once I clean the rubber I use 303.

Is there a sticky on proper engine compartment cleaning?

TOGWT

Aluminium alloys are alloys in which aluminium is the predominant metal. The highly reactive nature of aluminium metal is normally masked by the protective oxide film which readily forms in moist air and renders the metal kinetically stable (often called 'white rust'). Alkaline road salt and / or harsh chemicals may also cause this.

• Thoroughly clean the affected surfaces of all soil and grease residues with a d-limonene (citrus) based solvent cleaner (P21SŪ Total Auto Wash) prior to processing.
• Brush it down with a wire brush to get rid of all the powder.
• Clean the surface with Flitz Aluminum Pre-Clean and then sand any scratched or damaged areas with Norton 3X Sandpaper (p-graded aluminium oxide grain,) 60, 80 or 100 grit sand paper, sand wet or dry with a rubber sanding block.
• Use a tack rag and wipe the area, using a light pressure
• Then treat with etch primer, maybe two or more coats.
• Follow with ordinary primer and top coat.