cbwhitley

Hello All,

I know you all are probably tired of this subject. I've owned Mercedes for years and for some reason this topic completely passed my by.. I have a 06' E350 4matic that just hit 100,000K and guess what... It threw the dreaded code.. I was never contacted by the law firm that represented "us" in the case against Mercedes.. so I am out of luck...The car is running perfectly....Is there a chance that the senor is bad?? The dealer has quoted me $7500 to do the job..I think that they don't really want to do the job so they jacked up the price to drive me away...lets face it...That's about what it's worth.. Does anyone know how long I have before the problem gets worse..and when it does...is it like having a timing belt on other cars that if it breaks ..boom...the engine is shot..

davidjohnbamber

I owned a 2007 E350 that was outside of the affected range. I had a few camshaft position sensor magnet retarded left bank CEL. IIRC. They would clear after a few starts. Could this be your case?

cmriv

repair goes for about that price. its like 40 hours of labor and is very tedious. if you have 1200 or 1208 fault codes you need a balance shaft. no way around it....

when problem gets worse engine running issues become apparent and your fuel mileage depletes dramatically

LILBENZ230

Clear the codes, sell it to Carmax. Run.. don't walk.

kjb55

You said it thru the code, but is it codes 1200 and 1208?

cmriv

i stand corrected, it could be the shaft or the chain

macro254

I am paying $4,200 today for an engine replacement. Mechanic sourced 4 engines and 1 of those engines are out of the serial number range. Meaning, the balance shaft is not an issue on this particular engine. I think this is my best option. Can anybody give me any advice?

Izrud

Can you be a bit more specific? How many miles is the donor engine? Is that price just for the engine or engine and all associated labor (4k is way to expensive for just the engine). Is it RWD or 4-matic?

I think you have several factors to consider-

1. How much $ total would the repair of your old engine cost (all parts + all labor)
2. How much $ total would the donor engine install cost (all parts + all labor)

Considering that the engine has to come outside for repair either way I would say go with the lower cost/lower mileage option.

Another factor to consider is whether the old engine suffered any damage due to the balance shaft issue (in which case another engine would be a better option).

Unfortunately I do not have any more insight into the issue, hope someone else can help.

macro254

Thank you for the reply.
I have contacted multiple auto repair shops and have been quoted $4,500, $5,000, & and another directed me straight to mercedes benz.
One repair shop, the route I think I'm going to take, suggested finding a replacement engine with a serial number not in the effected range and replace it with said engine. Because the engine would have to come out regardless for the repair. This engine replacement will be $4,200. ($3,000 for the engine and $1,200 in labor)
Donor engine 86k miles. My vehicle has 81k on the odometer.

Izrud

I see, so it is mostly a matter of saving money in this situation.

Maybe ask them if you can source the engine and look for it yourself - just a cursory engine search on ebay shows one RWD engine on 80k miles for $2000. Another 121k 4-matic engine at $1500. You can also call the local salvage yards around your location and ask them if they have one for sale. I never take my mechanic's word on part costs, since they always look to make a profit out of it.

jokerbuoy7011

Definitely consider repairing the balance shaft if your engine has been well maintained and if you caught the problem early enough.Also take your time and do research before deciding on a shop. I just had my balance shaft replaced by an indy and it took me about a month to find a shop I had confidence in. Also profited the oppurtunity to do other repairs as the engine was out. I did have the benefit of having a warranty so they picked the majority of the tab.

cetialpha5

Why not just get a price for the balance shaft repair? I believe the parts are only a few hundred dollars. The reason for the big price at the dealer is mostly labor for removing the engine and putting it back in. There are some old threads where people got it done at an indy for 3k. I think the newer the car, the more they feel they can charge you. $1200 is a pretty good price for a removal and replacement charge.

macro254

As previously stated I contacted repair shops regarding the repair. I even ordered the repair kit. But that route is minimum $4,500.

Paying $4,200 for an engine replacement. I put a deposit of $3000 today. The shop is ordering the engine from LKQ. They said it will take 3 days for replacement.

NewShockerGuy

^
I don't want to be that guy but what is the car worth? KBB lists it at roughly 5-6k, so spending more than 75% the value of the car for a major repair seems extremely silly to me...? Am I missing something?


Why not dump the car and put that money towards another used car?


-Nigel

Bahnstormer

I just looked on eBay and 2006 E350s with over 100k miles are going for seven grand and up.

kjb55

This left off with it either being balance shaft or chain. Did you confirm 1200 and 1208 codes?

im with you on repairing what you have - because you know what you have and with this behind you, you can get a lot of life from the car yet.

I would just confirm that codes 1200 and 1208 are / were present.

OnlyGerman

Not worth it. Ive tried selling my 2006 E350 and offered 5 grand or less. Selling private was difficult since 07-09 are only a few grand more. Decided to keep it until the engine or tranny fails, then dump it.

cmriv

this is new to me. replacing a engine with a known defect, that can be repaired, with another used engine with unknown issues/concerns. Interesting. tryna sell your old engien?

macro254

thx for replying. so here's where i'm at currently;

The engine we sourced turned out to be for a 4MATIC. SO we(the auto shop) have continued on with the actual balance shaft replacement instead of replacing the engine. I actually stopped by today at a good moment and got to see big chunks of the balance shaft teeth in the oil pan before they even had a chance to remove them. They looked like little shark teeth. They are on day 3 of the repair. I took some pics(see below).

cmriv

no engine stand or did i just see a engine upside down on the vehicles oil pan?
hope that pan isn't damaged/bent (unless you are replacing it which most do)!!!!! But ya for doing the repair, now at least you know what you are working with instead of a used one that has been sitting in a junkyard.

macro254

It's on a engine stand suspended. Just a bad angle on the picture.

cmriv

FWIW I would tell whomever is doing repair to install front cover with engine upside down so they arent fighting with gravity. Make sure they use a feeler guage to seat cylinder head gaskets and or so they don't damage cylinder head gaskets.

cmriv

nevermind. I'm blind, cover is cleaned up and installed already!

cbwhitley

It is a P0715