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E-Class (W213) 2016 - 2023

Massive oil loss @3000miles

Old Jan 2, 2018 | 06:30 PM
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Massive oil loss @3000miles

Hi Newbie here, love my W213 until today, about a month old. Driving to work (5hr drive) -15F here in Wisconsin, and all of a sudden massive smoke and steam coming out the back of the car. No warnings or engine codes. Had to press on and pulled into gas station, car took 6 quarts of oil, smell of oil everywhere, especially noted dripping out of exhaust pipes. Long story short, could not continue and eventually engine light (amber) came on, pulled into nearest gas station and called MB connect, car towed 3.5hrs to dealer, stranded....etc etc.....not too say at least quite unhappy!

Call from Enterprise Mercedes Benz (Appleton, WI) told it was a frozen crankcase breather valve that "forced oil to escape through any seal it could" and oil in exhaust ruined 02 sensor. Will fix and clean, will be good as new?

anyone had experience with this? My concern is oil being forced though engine into exhaust (around pistons, gaskets etc?) cannot be good for a brand new car, should i accept this fix?

thanks

btw photo attached is smoke coming from rear of car seen through rearview mirror. And yes the lane keeping assist is on......I love it!!!!


Last edited by hubby63; Jan 2, 2018 at 06:47 PM.
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Old Jan 2, 2018 | 06:41 PM
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Oh boy...I'm sorry that happened to you. How did they not test these valves in the cold?

Yeah I would be concerned with the pistons, valves, turbo, seals, etc. I would at the very least demand a free extended warranty because of this. So you're covered 80K miles down the road.
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Old Jan 2, 2018 | 09:55 PM
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It won't hurt metal parts to have oil on them, they normally have oil on them.

Did you start driving the car without letting it warm up at all? That may be something to consider in the future, if there's a part that freezes up anyway. Seems strange that they can't allow for that, engine heat should be in the PCV system sufficiently to keep it flowing freely.

It's in the mid 70's here though, I don't know much about cold weather issues.
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Old Jan 2, 2018 | 11:39 PM
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Originally Posted by hubby63
Hi Newbie here, love my W213 until today, about a month old. Driving to work (5hr drive) -15F here in Wisconsin, and all of a sudden massive smoke and steam coming out the back of the car. No warnings or engine codes. Had to press on and pulled into gas station, car took 6 quarts of oil, smell of oil everywhere, especially noted dripping out of exhaust pipes. Long story short, could not continue and eventually engine light (amber) came on, pulled into nearest gas station and called MB connect, car towed 3.5hrs to dealer, stranded....etc etc.....not too say at least quite unhappy!

Call from Enterprise Mercedes Benz (Appleton, WI) told it was a frozen crankcase breather valve that "forced oil to escape through any seal it could" and oil in exhaust ruined 02 sensor. Will fix and clean, will be good as new?

anyone had experience with this? My concern is oil being forced though engine into exhaust (around pistons, gaskets etc?) cannot be good for a brand new car, should i accept this fix?

thanks

btw photo attached is smoke coming from rear of car seen through rearview mirror. And yes the lane keeping assist is on......I love it!!!!

Your car will be just fine! What is however a sign of impending engine death is having an internal coolant leak which could be a cracked cylinder or head. Sloshing oil around can be concerning but its not a big deal at all. I live in WI too, the last couple of weeks can make any car cranky, luckily I installed a heater in the garage a few years ago worth every penny and then some. One question, did you go through any deep water before it happened? One of the reasons MB forbids any type of fording on its sedans is water ingestion on that same valve!
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Old Jan 3, 2018 | 06:19 PM
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That stinks OP - both literally and figuratively. If you don't get any CEL or emissions test issues later on, you should be fine. Good news is that you have a good bit left on your warranty to worry about a recurrence or emissions issues.
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Old Jan 3, 2018 | 06:50 PM
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At -15 the car should not freeze up. Have left cars out at -30 and nothing froze up. Something is not right.
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Old Jan 3, 2018 | 07:06 PM
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yeah from Alaska and that has never happened in 40 years of driving up there minus 50-60-70 etc weeks on end
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Old Jan 4, 2018 | 06:38 AM
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lol the oil on metal comment got me....

OK, places oil shouldn't be in a forced induction gas engine: Turbo compressor blades, exhaust system, O2 sensors, combustion chamber, valves, and anywhere else that was sealed by a gasket that could have been over pressured like the engine block water jacket (cooling system).

You need to demand a full flush of the coolant system and check for oil in it while they do so, a full oil change, new O2 sensors, new turbo, and a free extended service and warranty. AT THE MIN. In fact, they should tell you they are doing this without a prompting if they are worth a lick!
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Old Jan 4, 2018 | 11:13 AM
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Originally Posted by NFAREVIEW
lol the oil on metal comment got me....

OK, places oil shouldn't be in a forced induction gas engine: Turbo compressor blades, exhaust system, O2 sensors, combustion chamber, valves, and anywhere else that was sealed by a gasket that could have been over pressured like the engine block water jacket (cooling system).

You need to demand a full flush of the coolant system and check for oil in it while they do so, a full oil change, new O2 sensors, new turbo, and a free extended service and warranty. AT THE MIN. In fact, they should tell you they are doing this without a prompting if they are worth a lick!
You are correct on all the places it shouldnt go however, in this case it didnt, if the dealer is right, essentially it just sloshed around and spitted some out since the crankcase valve froze. Its an unusual failure but sounds entirely plausible. It very easy to see if there was any contamination of the cooling side(which would mean an entirely different and more serious problem as I stated above) you simple open the radiator cap and see oil or frozy goo mixed with the coolant. Mercedes uses electric oil pumps that run even when the car is off so some wierd stuff can happen when there is a malfunction somewhere.
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Old Jan 4, 2018 | 01:47 PM
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Originally Posted by c4004matic
You are correct on all the places it shouldnt go however, in this case it didnt, if the dealer is right, essentially it just sloshed around and spitted some out since the crankcase valve froze. Its an unusual failure but sounds entirely plausible. It very easy to see if there was any contamination of the cooling side(which would mean an entirely different and more serious problem as I stated above) you simple open the radiator cap and see oil or frozy goo mixed with the coolant. Mercedes uses electric oil pumps that run even when the car is off so some wierd stuff can happen when there is a malfunction somewhere.
All I'm saying is it's a premium luxury car thats a month old. The least they can do is a full system flush and extend his warranty. If they had any class......
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Old Jan 4, 2018 | 02:12 PM
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Originally Posted by NFAREVIEW
All I'm saying is it's a premium luxury car thats a month old. The least they can do is a full system flush and extend his warranty. If they had any class......
Its crappy to have a scare like that on a new car but as we all know..... **** happens Up here you have to have a winter kit in your car; cell phone, extra clothes, munchies, booster cables, shovel, tow strap, basic tools, ice scrapper (my 10mm Glock is optional ). When it dips below zero a minor car issue in the boonies can turn into a major disaster particularly since cell service can be spotty as you go further north even on major highway.
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Old Jan 4, 2018 | 05:33 PM
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Your winter kit is about the same as my travel kit except I keep bottled water and a sat phone instead of an ice scrapper and shovel. A class 3 short stainless steel 12 ga is not optional because it is needed offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Old Jan 4, 2018 | 08:19 PM
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Damn boys... a G20 and a SBS. Loving it!
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