Let me see, it's my car, my data, but I need a court order to retrieve it? Yup, sounds about right...

 

here is the full report from MB that did the field recall

 

I am not disagreeing with its your car your data, Im just saying how dealers (of all kinds of vehicles trucks, cars, tractors, boats....) try to treat the customer. Heck trying to get the PIN to your vehicle can be a task in itself even though its your vehicle bought and paid for (US vehicles anyway). Depends on the dealer ofcourse, some people seem to get lucky and have a good relationship with them, others get bent over.

 

Like I mentioned above but didnt get your mentioned in it. Not disagreeing there could be more to the story or anything like that. They do have there choice and it all depends on how much they decide to stick to it.

 

Attached is the diagnostic i have no idea what i’m reading . maybe someone else does here

 

I was not aware the ECU stores more “data” than the typical fault codes.

Are you saying you'd be able to retrieve oil pressure prior to engine failing?

 

You an me, no. A factory tech / rep with the right tools, yes.

Whenever there is an accident or an engine failure (at least during warranty) and there is a possibility that Mercedes may be on the hook or have some responsibility for what happened, they can download the data and send it to MB Germany for analysis. The dealership itself may not have the ability to analyze it, but Daimler AG - the parent company - does. It would include operational parameters like oil pressure, temperature and coolant temperature as well as any warnings that may have been displayed on the dash and for how long.

 

Something doesn't make sense. The only stored code pointing to any kind of engine issue is the first on the page - the misfire on cylinder 6 - but according to the Xentry printout, it appears to have occurred about 100,000 km earlier as the indicated odometer mileage for that code is 56,494 km - but everything else is 156,480 km. AFAIK Xentry does not have a glitch where it swallows digits... so something is off. Other issues all point to under-voltage at various modules (so probably a weak battery) and a bad circuit with one mirror heater, but that does not result in metal shavings in the oil filter.

If it were my car, I would take it somewhere else and have them do a proper inspection (yes, I absolutely would pay even more money out of pocket for this) and find out what failed and why. You said you had an oil change done about 1,000 km before the field measure installation - so about 1,100 km before the engine failure. I would DEFINITELY do an oil and fuel analysis, and I would have someone qualified look around the engine with a boroscope in order to determine what exactly failed and what the engine interior looks like (as in was there any gelling of the oil that would prevent normal oil flow for example). As it is, you have no idea what caused the failure - and I respectfully submit that it is not normal for OM642 engines to experience catastrophic failures after 156,000 km. Maybe it was caused by something in the cylinder heads or perhaps the timing chain, in which case you'd have a very good chance to claim that it is Mercedes' responsibility to replace the motor as both of those are warranted after the field measure installation (the engine is run 5 degrees hotter than before - which is why the thermostat is being replaced as part of the recall) and if the subsequent engine failure was caused by a failure in the heads or the timing chain skipping, you'd have a point. They didn't touch the turbo, but they did replace the thermostat and the coolant. Did they use the right coolant for your car (blue) or did they put the pink coolant in by mistake? A UOA will show if there is any coolant in the oil. If there is, how did it get there? Or had the coolant perhaps leaked and were you driving with no coolant causing the engine to overheat?

There is a LOT of relevant data and operating parameters that are missing. If I am looking at a ~$30K bill to replace an engine, I would spend an extra ~$1K out of pocket and get someone who knows what they are doing to properly investigate and tell me what exactly failed and what caused the failure. Then again, I look after my cars fanatically (as in change the oil every 5-6K km), never use anything with more than B5 biodiesel content (which is what we still get in Ontario), and I don't use the diesel for short trips to the grocery store, and last but certainly not least, I buy the cars new so I know how they were run and maintained from day 1 (not subject to deferred maintenance by a previous owner that may have leased them and couldn't care less about anything except bottom dollar)... so I do expect my cars to last longer. Have someone look at it - even tear down the motor if necessary - and report exactly on what failed and why.
That's my $0.02.

 

I have taken your insights and acted. Getting a Diesel and Oil analysis done.

Confirmed that the antifreeze added was pink. Looking to find information on what happens when pink antifreeze is used.

 

The fact that they used pink coolant is interesting for two reasons.

First, it is not the factory coolant formulation for your particular car - yours was made to use the blue stuff, which AFAIK Mercedes still makes and sells (part # BQ1030004 - a G48 based, 325.0 or 326.0 spec, HOAT type formula). Earlier OM642 models can use the newer pink one (part # BQ1030005 - a G40 based, 325.6 or 326.6 spec, Borate-free Si-OAT type formula) provided that the blue one is completely flushed out. Some OM642 engines actually require a retrofit / conversion before they can use the pink stuff. The BEVO sheet for approved coolants for various MB engines (https://operatingfluids.mercedes-ben...heet/320.1/en/) states that for the OM642 engines, vehicle build dates up to and including April 2014 can use the blue coolant (325.0 concentrate, 326.0 premixed), and build dates May 2014 and later have to use the pink coolant (325.6 and 326.6 respectively). The footnote that says "Restriction: For all vehicles up to and including April 2014; Important: Service measures for certain vehicles that required a conversion from 325.0, 326.0 to 325.6, 326.6 must be observed." refers to the retrofit as some engines require new seals and some other parts.

Second - and possibly more relevant here - is that if you mix the blue and pink coolants, you end up with a gel. Jell-O doesn't flow, and would most definitely cause your engine to overheat and seize if you had blue coolant in the system and they didn't completely drain it before putting in the pink stuff (which does not mix with anything else). There are a number of warnings about mixing the two - the first two that came up when I Googled it are https://forums.mbclub.co.uk/threads/...oolant.240761/ and https://piketransit.com/can-you-mix-...ue-antifreeze/. If your engine somehow ended up with a mix of blue and pink coolants, that may have resulted in the engine overheating and eventually failing. Have the coolant examined as well just in case.

You said there are reports of this happening to a few other cars that had the retrofit (field measure) installed at that same dealership. If that is true, it is entirely possible that some tech that works there is doing something incorrectly. Are you perhaps able to get in touch with the other few owners that have experienced engine failures after the f/m installation at the same dealership and find out what they were told?

 

PM sent. Mine just did the same when dealer just did recall and went for a final test drive. Blown within 50 km's of test drive.

 

I've been waiting for over a year now for a cheque (check), they keep saying they're very busy and to be patient.

 

I've usually had to refill the adblue two or three times a year... had to do it four times since getting the field measures done in April. Once it was only 2 days and about 800km between adding a full jug and getting the refill warning. We were towing for a bunch of that this summer, but a small trailer (about half the towing capacity, and one we've pulled for a few years without problem).

Eventually the CEL came on, and a while after that the car started to go into limp mode with any significant load while towing (accelerating too quickly or up a big hill) and I had to keep it around 90km/h. When it went into limp, if i pulled over and turned it off/on once or twice the CEL would stay on, but it would be out of limp mode until too much again. No codes that my Foxwell 510 could read (so nothing from engine, transmission, exhaust...) but there must be something in the adblue system that the Foxwell cant get to. After a few weeks, the CEL went out on its own.

There may be a bit of DEF residue on the garage floor (rear end, passenger side), but I haven't tried to take it apart to see if it's just a corroded hose or something. Can't get it into limp mode with normal driving and haven't tried pulling the trailer again to see if it repeats, but it doesn't seem to he going through DEF as quickly anymore so I'm nor sure what's going on. Dealership said diagnosis would be free if it ended up being a warranty-covered issue, but $400 if it wasn't covered, which a corroded hose wouldn't be.

Any ideas before I try to get to the adblue system for a look?

 

check codes

 

Unless you know what you are doing, I would suggest you don't try to "get to the AdBlue system to take a look". There are way too many expensive components that you can easily bugger up that will end up costing you 10 times as much to fix. DEF will start to crystallize when exposed to air, so it is imperative that the system remains sealed and contaminant-free, and yes, it does corrode metal. If you have a leak there's definitely something wrong, but while the fix may now only be $400 assuming that you actually have to pay for it, if air gets into the lines and/or injector and the crystallization process starts or if you bugger up the line heater element it will set you back $4K.

 

Hi, I’m new to this group. Found this thread while searching on Google. Anyways Field measure and Timing chain replaced by MB dealer in Toronto area. 137km later engine Seized on 401. I pulled the oil filter and it’s full of bits of black RTV oil change was done a week before it went to the dealer. Interesting enough I noticed my vehicle now has the pink coolant as someone else here mentioned…. Previously it was blue. Very disappointing. Has anyone had luck getting MB to replace the engine?

 

How many km were on the engine?

 

217,xxx Km

 

The colour of the oil filter element and the oil on your finger (where you are holding the filter) would suggest that it did a lot more than 137 kilometers from fresh. Something doesn't make sense here.

 

there is in fact less than 200km on the oil since it was last changed. This is what oil looks like in a diesel. It doesn’t look brand new it goes black rather quickly. I personally changed the oil and filter a week before it went to Mercedes at the beginning of November they had the car for 3 weeks.

 

I am aware that it turns black considerably faster than in a gasoline engine, but not that fast. If it turned black in 137km, you very likely had other issues. And, they performed the AEM and replaced the timing chain without replacing the oil?

 

correct they performed AEM and Timing chain. No record of oil being changed. I spoke to a 15 year MB tech in the USA and he said they are suppose to change the oil. Also they damaged the valve cover damaged the adblue tank cover and zip tied it to the swaybar. The broke the rear wiper and ripped the lower rear trim off in the Carwash and promised to fix it and never did. Paperwork only says 1 qty G40 (pink) antifreeze. In order to swap blue to pink you’re required to flush the whole system. Looks like they just topped off because again no coolant flush documented. I think I got an incompetent tech on my vehicle. They also blew my air strut seal and tried to put a hose clamp around the bottom of the bag and returned my GL completely deflated on all 4 corners and said we tried everything we can’t raise you need 11k worth of suspension…I raised it In Less than 1hr after towing it back home. Yes this was a Mercedes Benz dealership…I wish I was making this up because now I’m stuck dealing with this bull****.

 

More photos to back up what I mentioned above. This MB dealer has been an absolute nightmare. I have a case opened with MB Canada with no response for past 2 weeks. On Friday after I learned she was locked up I emailed the CEO hoping an assistant could escalate and sure enough the executive assistant replied and she is escalating this for me.

 

Ouch - that sounds like a nightmare all right. That many things going wrong and an engine seizing 137km after they performed "surgery" on it is very hard to swallow as a coincidence. What exactly are they saying caused the engine failure?

I think you indeed have a strong case, but you do need to demonstrate culpability. Have you had the car examined by someone else? You'll likely heed to spend some money for someone to investigate what actually caused the engine to fail, but you may have a case if they refuse to own up to it. Mercedes has nothing to do with it - this is between you and the dealership that did the work, and they definitely don't like it when they are on the hook for many thousands of dollars...

 

The engine seized on me Thursday night, I still have the vehicle in my possession they haven’t seen it yet. Waiting for Monday as Service manager was out Friday. Yes Mercedes has nothing to do with it directly but here in Canada they have an internal consumer advocacy department to assist with such issues with dealers and they definitely have influence. I’m sending off samples of current and previous oil samples to blackstone. There is no local shop that I trust and or am willing to have take apart the motor to investigate. I have access to a private shop where I can do this myself. If they refuse to cover the motor I will document a full tear down myself to determine the cause of the failure.

Worst case I also have access to a core that needs to be rebuilt/assembled. again I can do this myself but I would really prefer not to 🤣