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In the spirit of the e550 oil in wire harness posting from last year, I want to inform everyone that I discovered oil in my wire harness for the m276 engine.
During the recent preventative camshaft sensor replacement job that I did in January, I noticed that there was some residual oil in the connector of the camshaft sensors and at the ECM connector. Thought that was an odd find and proceeded to clean the connectors with contact cleaner and reassemble. Never had any codes.
So, I checked my camshaft solenoids and discovered residual oil, as well, and replaced all four with new.
By the way, the part numbers for the solenoids and sensors have been superseded. Which leads me to believe that there have been design revisions to the part.
I have reported this to NHTSA and MB USA and requested that they increase the affected engine model numbers for service campaign 2012070002. MB USA gave me a weak reply to the effect that I had to bring it in to a dealership to have it official documented. Never did that. However, I was speaking with the shop supervisor two week ago at one of our local MB dealerships about the oil in harness and he shared with me that they had a m276 in the shop right now for the same problem. They have implemented checking the ECM harness as a proactive inspection.
Check your harness if you have a m276 engine and report it to MB USA and NHTSA as soon as possible.
Thank you for reading this thread.
The part number for the "adapter harnesses" is A271150015605 - the "271" prefix tells me that these are the same parts that I installed on my 2005 C230 that also suffered from this. That Mercedes let this go on forever is really crazy.
Can you install these adapters on a 276 engine? Anyone know? If this part is compatible with engines 276 and 278, we all should be doing it as preventative. It was super simple on the C230 and the car never suffered the issue.
FYI - from what I saw there is a post that shows a campaign where dealers will install the pigtails as a courtesy...I looked online - found the plugs for about 15 bucks each with about $5 shipping - (and you need 4 of them)
I have no affiliation with FCP Euro - but they sell the kit with all new cam solenoids etc for about 120? so might be better to go that route? and have all new parts...
Couple of easy options maybe?
Im pondering still each way - yet - is it a time-bomb waiting to happen as i have 120K on my car...is it worth changing \ adding pigtails? or just in very rare cases is an issue?
The part number for the "adapter harnesses" is A271150015605 ... Can you install these adapters on a 276 engine? Anyone know? If this part is compatible with engines 276 and 278, we all should be doing it as preventative. It was super simple on the C230 and the car never suffered the issue.
Greetings forum members. Pleased to report that I finally got around to installing the pigtail adapter harnesses this weekend and they fit nicely !
I definitely want to do this as a precautionary measure against this oil seepage since Mercedes has obviously not corrected this after all these years.
Can a forum guru such as @konigstiger@ItalianJoe1 confirm or deny that 1) these parts won't cause any harm to an M276 and 2) did Mercedes change camshaft solenoids by 2015 production year so my 2016 will not have the issue?
My 2016 is under CPO until 10/2023 but I intend to keep it for a very long time, so if $80 in pigtails will prevent this issue I am all in. I'm at 38,300 miles now so it's early for my car.
Can a forum guru such as @konigstiger@ItalianJoe1 confirm or deny that 1) these parts won't cause any harm to an M276 and 2) did Mercedes change camshaft solenoids by 2015 production year so my 2016 will not have the issue?
Good question ... I will pull the harness a do a resistivity verification.
Regarding the solenoid part numbers being superseded ... Yes. part number 276-156-04-90 is superseded to the current part number 276-156-07-90.
They certainly won't hurt anything, if your car isn't currently leaking from the solenoids into the harness they aren't going to do anything for you though. I'd say pull your 4 connectors and take a look. If they are all dry, don't worry about it. IF they are leaking and you don't want to replace them, install the jumper harnesses. Very few cars suffered from actual issues due to leaking oil into the harness and then other components, but it's cheap insurance as you mentioned.
Good question ... I will pull the harness a do a resistivity verification.
My multi meter on reads to tenths of an Ohm. each conductor measured 0.1 Ohms. That's enough assurance for me.
Note - pay careful attention to orientation of the male end of the pigtail as it is not murphy proof.
It is possible to install the male side 180 deg. off which would cross the wires. However if the solenoid is only a switch so it does not matter.
They certainly won't hurt anything, if your car isn't currently leaking from the solenoids into the harness they aren't going to do anything for you though. I'd say pull your 4 connectors and take a look. If they are all dry, don't worry about it. IF they are leaking and you don't want to replace them, install the jumper harnesses. Very few cars suffered from actual issues due to leaking oil into the harness and then other components, but it's cheap insurance as you mentioned.
Thank you for chiming in. I doubt mine are leaking - 38k miles - but I will check. I installed them on my 2005 C230K as insurance just because I didn't want to have to continuously check. The timing chain got that car in the end, but oil never made it anywhere important. I intend to hang on to this 2016 E for a long time, so I might install these simply to not worry. I've said many times it is covered by CPO until 10/2023 so I might wait until then to install.
2012 Mercedes Benz E350 4Matic (W212 with M276 engine)
Safety Defect - Oil in Harness and ECU - 2012 E350 (W212 with engine 276)
Originally Posted by mercerized
Hello forum contributors.
In the spirit of the e550 oil in wire harness posting from last year, I want to inform everyone that I discovered oil in my wire harness for the m276 engine.
During the recent preventative camshaft sensor replacement job that I did in January, I noticed that there was some residual oil in the connector of the camshaft sensors and at the ECM connector. Thought that was an odd find and proceeded to clean the connectors with contact cleaner and reassemble. Never had any codes.
So, I checked my camshaft solenoids and discovered residual oil, as well, and replaced all four with new.
By the way, the part numbers for the solenoids and sensors have been superseded. Which leads me to believe that there have been design revisions to the part.
I have reported this to NHTSA and MB USA and requested that they increase the affected engine model numbers for service campaign 2012070002. MB USA gave me a weak reply to the effect that I had to bring it in to a dealership to have it official documented. Never did that. However, I was speaking with the shop supervisor two week ago at one of our local MB dealerships about the oil in harness and he shared with me that they had a m276 in the shop right now for the same problem. They have implemented checking the ECM harness as a proactive inspection.
Check your harness if you have a m276 engine and report it to MB USA and NHTSA as soon as possible.
Thank you for reading this thread.
Roger
I had the same problem. It's a Safety Defect. I was driving on the highway when, suddenly, my 2012 E350 (W212 with engine 276 - 3.5 litre, 4 matic) lost power and started jolting violently. Luckily I was abole to pull over dodging other vehicles. Got the car towed to Mercedes Midtown Toronto. They ran diagnostics and reported leaked oil through camshaft and cranckshaft solenoids that had travelled throgh the harness and into the ECU. Their repair estimate was over $13,000. Reported this safety defect to Mercedes Canada requesting they expand their service campaign to include ALL affected vehicles. Also reported this safety defect to Transport Canada. If you have had a similar problem, report it to Transport Canada as a safety defect. Drive safe and ask your dealer / mechanic to check for such faulty, leaky valves or sensors.
@Aftab What was the end result? Did Mercedes-Benz Canada incur the cost? Or did you?
I am not sure if this is an issue on my 2016 W212 but will try the steps mentioned above, hopefully. I wish I had read this thread before going for my service at Mercedes Midtown last week (November 23rd) - would have pressed on them to check...sigh.
@Aftab What was the end result? Did Mercedes-Benz Canada incur the cost? Or did you?
I am not sure if this is an issue on my 2016 W212 but will try the steps mentioned above, hopefully. I wish I had read this thread before going for my service at Mercedes Midtown last week (November 23rd) - would have pressed on them to check...sigh.
It happened just last week. Mercedes Midtown declined to cover any cost. Mercedes Canada has just stated that the car is out of warranty. But I have written back to them quoting they are already aware of this issue in about half a million cars for which they had a service campaign for models 2005 to 2011. Just filed the complaint for it as a Safety Defect with Transport Canada for investigation. I haven’t repaired the car yet. Planning to clean the harness and replace the solenoids myself. I’ll just clean the harness and the ECU rather than replacing. Will update this as we go along.
I'm curious if anyone has installed the pigtails on a 2015 or newer model year. FCP's website says that this part number will not fit a 2015. I'd be willing to put them in preventatively, but don't want to find they do not fit at all.
I'm curious if anyone has installed the pigtails on a 2015 or newer model year. FCP's website says that this part number will not fit a 2015. I'd be willing to put them in preventatively, but don't want to find they do not fit at all.
Verify the part numbers for your model year.
If your camshaft solenoid is part number 276-156-04-90 ( or superseded 276-156-07-90), then the pigtails will fit.
Be aware of the orientation of the pigtail connector as you can insert it flipped or 180 degrees from the other end which can cross the two wires. And I don't know if the solenoids are polarity sensitive.
Hope that helps!
I checked one and it is the 276-156-97-90. This particular one was replaced under warranty for oil seepage. I haven’t pulled the cover off in a while and it looks like they have all begun to seep. I didn’t pull the connectors, will do another time. It doesn’t seem logical that oil would seep into the harness with the connectors all facing upwards.
I checked one and it is the 276-156-97-90. This particular one was replaced under warranty for oil seepage. I haven’t pulled the cover off in a while and it looks like they have all begun to seep. I didn’t pull the connectors, will do another time. It doesn’t seem logical that oil would seep into the harness with the connectors all facing upwards.
Actually it doesn’t make sense that these probes are prone to seepage at all. Just like the concept of oil seeping through the harness all the way to the ECU. Mercedes should really sort this issue out using their technology. If you see any sign of seepage, just replace them before it turns into a costly affair.
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Safety Defect - Oil in Harness and ECU - 2012 E350 (W212 with engine 276)
