So I brought in the car for the prepaid Service B with a Check Engine Light. Turns out the CEL is for a short in some wiring harness from the control unit to the oil pump. Turns out this is a 15k engine out repair to replace a wiring harness. Anyone else heard of this before. Dealer has submitted a request to MBUSA to help cover the repair but this is an absurd situation on every possible level. Any ideas appreciated. Also taking "thoughts and prayers" for anyone interested! :-)

 

4.0TT? What specifically shorted? Where in the harness does the problem exist?

 

No clue. I haven't gotten the service detail ticket yet. This is for the G63 engine. My Service Advisor is contacting MBUSA to see what they will do to accommodate. I'm into this for $7500 for full brake replacement and potentially 15k for this repair. I will post more as I get it. But this got so expensive so fast that they just went direct to MB.

 

Wow hope MB steps up. Also may want to check to see if there are any TSB's about it, I don't think there's a recall for that:

https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2020/M...Communications

Can search whatever year your vehicle fits. Keep us posted on what MB says!

 

Did you have any previous CEL codes that are related when it was under warranty? If it’s documented then they will likely cover it. I had a similar issue for a cylinder misfire. Was in the shop 4 times and they thought it was a ground wire issue. Then they suspected a wiring harness issue after a full wiring diagnostic test. Ended up replacing the fuel injectors on 3 cylinders. I had everything documented but granted I am still under warranty. It was at least a $10k job and MB covered everything.

 

Wow...

Sorry to hear this and keep us posted, which MY is yours? I sure hope Benz steps up because that is steep

 

Sorry to see your situation and ridiculous service quote.
help us understand your situation. How many mile on the vehicle? Are you the original owner? Is your G stored in a garage or outside? What state/region are you located? Why is the wiring harness faulty, and was it caused by a rodent chewing the wire? Did you get a second opinion from another dealer or independent mechanic? How can others avoid this problem?

 

Always need to have an extended warranty on a G63 if you keep it beyond the 4 year warranty period

 

Ouch man, im sorry to hear that and i truly hope MB steps up.

 

2019 G63 Purchased in July 2019. 30k miles. Parked outdoors mainly in SF. I have no details on the service issue or what exactly is the problem other than a 5min high level call. The service advisor was obviously aware this news was not going to be well received so they proactively reached out to MBUSA to help. I'm waiting on the feedback. I don't think I have a prior CEL but I'm not sure. I'm thinking MBUSA has to cover this one. Will update as I know more.

 

Interesting to hear that considering the marketing ethos of the car being "stronger than time" and built like a tank..

 

Exactly what I thought when reading that. This guy's car has 30K miles on the clock and is 5 years old... $15K repairs shouldn't be a thing until many years down the line.

 

2019 with 30k miles? Could be just in time for the rear main seal as well.... That'll be another 8-12k

MB needs to get their sh*t together.

MB told me on that they would not cover a dime of it. Even though it's caused by an emissions component (oil vapor separators get clogged, blows out rear main) , it's one of 2-3 emissions parts NOT covered by the 8yr 80k emissions warranty.....

Good luck to the OP, I hope they do the right thing. They told me to F off in that scenario, and it was an even cheaper repair. My warranty had been expired for about 3 months also, and issue started at about 33k miles +/-

 

This does not give me a lot of hope. It's been since Monday and still no word back. Stronger than time*.

*time is money.

 

From what I gather on this forum it seems the RMS is a common and expensive problem that appears to mostly creep up when warranty has just run out. Anyone know if its possible to get MB to look at the RMS while its still under warranty around the 3-4 year mark? Or would they just tell me to eat rocks if it hasn't failed yet? Seems like the camshaft adjusters/cylinder head bolts of the M156 all over again.

 

hind sight being 2020, what I would do is tell them youve seen some oil Leaks intermittently. Have them look at it even if there is no oil leak. Just to get it logged in their system. Also tell them there was some sort of issue and you smelled burned oil, or a random noise that an independent shop , or your "cousin" who is a master technician for MB across the country and said told you the noise is "oil separators" , so you brought it in to the dealer for them to look at it, its now logged that you expressed concern and requested a oil separator diagnosis , as well as a minor intermittent oil leak that you only noticed because of a "now dried up" oil spot on your garage floor.Just play stupid, and ignorant , "IDK man, a couple people that know cars and MB really well said I should have it looked at ASAP, because of some type of problem these have, and it sounds like maybe the same issue im having, but im just a guy, I dont know sh*t about cars."

That way it's at least in the system BEFORE the warranty is up, youll have a better chance of a good will repair at that stage.

My dealer told me once the transmission is dropped to look at the RMS, the way the RMS is leaking will tell MB wether it's caused by the oil separators, or something else. Apparently the pressure either "sucks" the RMS in, or blows it out in a certain way that is a tell tale sign. I dont recall what he said exactly, but it's something like that.

The fact that there is internal communication with in MB that actually points to there clearly being an oil separator issue that causes a very specific type of RMS failure tells me they know exactly whats going on, they just refuse to step up to the plate. And like my dealer's smart *** (PENSKE MB NORTH SCOTTSDALE) told me, " ya I look at the forums too, that stuff is all anecdotal, we use real metrics to figure out diagnosis, blah blah blah" ... LOL. when I first dropped it off I said "already diagnosed for you, rear main seal is leaking, due to O.V.S." ... followed by him saying " how do you know that? that would be VERY odd, we haven't seen ANY RMS failures, and certainly no knowledge of OVS issues causing RMS leak"..... apparently they had "never seen it before".... ALL Lies... because 2 other dealers, and an independent MB shop knew all about it, and said it's VERY common on certain years of the 4.0L TT V8, same motor in G63, E63, AMG GT 63, etc..... Then the service manager at penske told me separately that it is indeed known issue, and the service advisor didnt have a clue. SO if youre reading this N. Scottsdale MB, we all know, and it's NOT anecdotal bud. LOL!!

 

The RMS is not the problem, the vapor separators are the problem. Checking the RMS has no preventive benefit.

The E63 RMS threads on this site have evolved to the notion that replacing the vapor separators as regular maintenance items is the only identified remedy. I would do this approx 40k miles, and not less than 60k miles.

The job is time consuming depending on the vehicle platform because the intercooler and induction details are different per model. Maybe on the G it would be less difficult because there is more underhood space to work with. C63 intercoolers are stacked in front of the vapor separators and behind the radiator so it’s a time consuming, but not rocket science, job.

Parts cost for this job does not seem too egregious.

Expensive repair at the dealer, to say the least. Less expensive at an Indy, and affordable DIY. I would start the job on a Friday night and finish up with the Italian tuneup Sunday afternoon.

 

Yes, correct the OVS are the issue.... I was quoted over 6,000.00 to replace just the OVS. Not that I would pay that and im sure indy would be cheaper. But thats quite and expensive preventative maintenance.... MB should properly fix the issue.

I was basically mentioning to have the RMS checked for fun, and basically indicate there was RMS leak, or oil leak. Get a record of you mentioning an issue that will be tied to that dealer and VIN number. Keep the paper work, and records for it. For when the time comes that the RMS blows out, you can at least say "hey I had this looked at and it had an issue a year ago, you did nothing, now its a bigger issue, now its on you" may or may not work, but all you can really do other than pay 5-6000.00 for OVS every 2-3 years.

The parts for OVS and RMS are probably less than 500.00 total.

 

Appreciate the detailed input in this thread, would be crazy to think that a preventative maintenance OUTSIDE of regular traditional maintenance is replace OVS and/or RMS even with Benz internally knowing all of this... and if parts are $500 but the actual job or repairs range anywhere from $5-6-10-12k....

 

Agree'd, I went around and around with the dealer and MB corporate, they did nothing. The RMS they wanted around 5900.00 to fix, and the OVS was another 6-6200.00.

I told them NO, to the OVS replacement... Why? Because MB, and dealer said OVS failure is "purely anecdotal" remember ? LOL....

Soooo, when the NEW RMS blows out again, that repair IS actually under warranty now....

Since MB requires franchise dealers to offer a 2 year, unlimited mile warranty on their repairs...

So the RMS leaks again in 2 years? 'Ill be swiftly bringing it into the dealer for a free replacement... LOL. When they say," well you declined replacement of the OVS", ill say... "nope, anecdotal buddy, you couldn't guarantee that was the issue and wouldn't cover it under warranty back then, its not the OVS now either, was improper install, or faulty RMS seal... After all I cant imagine a REAR MAIN SEAL blowing out, simply due to some 200.00 emissions item right? that makes no sense! Must be a defective RMS, or improper install... " LMAO...

Yes the oil vapor separators (2x) are I think 150-200.00 each, and the RMS seal itself is about the same I believe. ITs all labor.... Some recommend dropping the entire engine to do the OVS, but at the very least both intercoolers need to come off, and a bunch of other parts in the way to access them, as well as a lot of fluids having to be changed and drained. The RMS the transmission def comes off to access that, at the very least.

 

There are YT videos showing vapor separator removal from above, engine in the car, on M17x.

Details of the procedure are quite different between W213, W205, W463, C190/C192 and others, because of intake duct and intercooler arrangement.

 

Cinematography is tough but it gives the general idea of vapor separator replacement on a 2019 G63. It doesn't look too bad imo, just requires a long sequence of step-by-step.

 

Quick update. MB initially offered to cover 20% labor and all parts leaving only a balance of $13k to repair the wiring harness. I've resubmitted a good will request direct to MB so not sure if this will yield anything different on the second go around.

 

Welp. Looks like I'm out 14k. Buy the extended warranty.

 

Holy ****... I haven't yet found an SUV that is half as fun, half as extraordinary as the G but I am sorry to hear this

So the takeaway for us G owners is to replace the vapor separators preventatively every 3 years or so....?