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Check valves and chain tensioner repair costs

Old Oct 28, 2021 | 12:46 PM
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Check valves and chain tensioner repair costs

I just got my car out of the shop and had the check valves and chain tensioners replaced due to the rattling/knocking sound on startups. I ended up having my turbo coolant lines replaced aswell as they due tend to deteriorate as you approach 100k aside from that I also had him do an oil change on the car. The total with parts labor and a diagnostic and of course taxes it came out to right above 2,400 Obviously nothing I can do about price at this point but I’m more curious about if this is fair pricing for the work. I brought the car to one of the most reputable European mechanics in the area to ensure the quality of the work. Should I continue bringing it back there or did I over pay for what I had done? Can also post pictures of paperwork to show exactly what was done.
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Old Oct 28, 2021 | 01:15 PM
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local good indie shops here charge $120/hour for labor and the dealers are more like $150. where are you located, huge geographical differences in base costs. hopefully at those prices, they used all real Mercedes parts and not Worldpac grab bag stuff. I bet replacing those timing chain tensioners required pulling the front end off the car and the radiator, although I dunno, I haven't looked up the shop procedure. without seeing the papwerwork on what specifically was done iand what they charged for the labor and parts, its a wild card.
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Old Oct 28, 2021 | 01:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Left Coast Geek
local good indie shops here charge $120/hour for labor and the dealers are more like $150. where are you located, huge geographical differences in base costs. hopefully at those prices, they used all real Mercedes parts and not Worldpac grab bag stuff. I bet replacing those timing chain tensioners required pulling the front end off the car and the radiator, although I dunno, I haven't looked up the shop procedure. without seeing the papwerwork on what specifically was done iand what they charged for the labor and parts, its a wild card.
im located in Milwaukee wisconsin, and will post pictures of the paperwork today so you can see exactly what was done and what I paid for each. I’d also hope it was real Mercedes parts he uses as he also had a e63 amg wagon and cls55 amg that he was working on at the same time.
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Old Oct 28, 2021 | 01:58 PM
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Originally Posted by BigBax
I just got my car out of the shop and had the check valves and chain tensioners replaced due to the rattling/knocking sound on startups. I ended up having my turbo coolant lines replaced aswell as they due tend to deteriorate as you approach 100k aside from that I also had him do an oil change on the car. The total with parts labor and a diagnostic and of course taxes it came out to right above 2,400 Obviously nothing I can do about price at this point but I’m more curious about if this is fair pricing for the work. I brought the car to one of the most reputable European mechanics in the area to ensure the quality of the work. Should I continue bringing it back there or did I over pay for what I had done? Can also post pictures of paperwork to show exactly what was done.
With turbo, the process gets more complex very quickly, and it seems the 4Matic makes it even worse (not a clue why). Here are two online estimates (in the past those have not been that far off)

Base 2013 E550 Timing chain tensioner ONLY

4Matic 2013 E550 Timing chain tensioner ONLY

It would be great to know the reasoning for such differences. For the V6 w/o turbo, $2400 is too much for the check valve+chain tensioner even at the dealer.


Here is a video of replacing the solenoid, which is trivial compared to the tensioner. The timing covers must be removed as well, and the driver side is usually a bit more difficult than the passenger side.


Last edited by JCM_MB; Oct 28, 2021 at 03:03 PM.
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Old Oct 28, 2021 | 04:20 PM
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Originally Posted by juanmor40
With turbo, the process gets more complex very quickly, and it seems the 4Matic makes it even worse (not a clue why). Here are two online estimates (in the past those have not been that far off)

Base 2013 E550 Timing chain tensioner ONLY

4Matic 2013 E550 Timing chain tensioner ONLY

It would be great to know the reasoning for such differences. For the V6 w/o turbo, $2400 is too much for the check valve+chain tensioner even at the dealer.


Here is a video of replacing the solenoid, which is trivial compared to the tensioner. The timing covers must be removed as well, and the driver side is usually a bit more difficult than the passenger side.

https://youtu.be/l7SVMeAiHhM
thank you this provided a lot of insight on my situation and the job he had to do.
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