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GL320 DIESEL TRANSFER CASE FAILURE? ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS AT 50K MILES?
Transfer case went out at 52000 miles. Bought an extended warranty for $3200. supposedly they cover bumper to bumper. We shall see. Needs a new transfer case. There is a chain in there that ate up the drive sprocket. I started hearing a whine in the drive system. I thought it may be normal wear and wondered if at 50K miles I was going to have to live with it and also wondered if it would get worse.
Well, I made a U-TURN and it made a loud banging noise when I gave it the pedal and it did it when I tried it the other way too so I took it to the dealer. I had to pay $500.00 for a tear down and they discovered the problem.
I have 22" Carlson wheels and Continental tires and Brembo big brakes. The insurance company is trying to say I modified that car. Hoping that they pay. I would hate to take them to court.
ANY ONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM??
Thanks in advance, Bert
What was the outcome of your transfer case issue? I have a friend with a 2009 GL, just started making a terrible noise/shudder under acceleration. Seems to be in the transfer case area. Fluid was dark/burnt smelling but very little debris. Would be interested to know more about the symptoms your car had and whether the transfer cae got repaired or replaced.
Hi Bertsboat
Old thread I know; but I have a Mercedes GL 420 CDI (2008) and with just 21702 genuine miles on the clock, Transfer box has failed catastrophically!
Mercedes think either the chain, or chain guide has failed but they can't be sure. Loud bang & no more drive, hoping to visit Mercedes garage and get some pictures in a day or so. As an Engineer myself, I will be very interested to try and pinpoint the exact cause. Replacement including labour is just over £4K.
These fail quite often. It is the chain guide (/tensioner) that fails.
The problem is it is screwed into the case at both ends. The stud where it's screwed into breaks. What I mean is, a piece snaps off the case on the inside.
Therefore the case is junk, so you can't rebuild them. The cost of the new chain and tensioner is 1/2 the price of a good used unit anyhow.
Some people had luck changing their own, but I couldn't get a few bolts out. Indy shop charged me a couple of hours and swapped mine with the good used one I bought.
I think I paid $800 (Canadian) for one with very low mileage (40,000km?) My truck had over 250,000km at the time it failed (150,000 miles) and it was mostly unnoticeable unless you hit the gas hard (ie. in an emrgency manouevre).
There is a video on youtube. Search "ML transfer case noise" or something like that. It is a distinct noise. Hit the gas at the same RPM in your truck and see if you get the same noise.
If you do, shop around for a used unit and just swap it. Make sure to drain and fill the new one with the proper fluid!
I figure that mine is good for another 10 years based on the mileage I got on the first one.
Here's how I fixed mine.
First, It's a GL350 2010/ 85K miles
Symptoms were popping noise during hard acceleration/tight curve.
I ordered a replacement chain via eBay, (Borg-warner) I think.. (notice chain stretch in pic)
Split the case, and cleaned it up. Found needle bearing making a bit of noise, and ordered it too.
My tensioner was ok minus a broken stud.
TIG welding that stud was risky, so I opted for a stainless bolt all the way through the case.
I drilled it out, and used 2-part epoxy all around it as it was assembled, so to seal and strengthen it. (from the back and left as much threads as possible in case)
Drilled broken piece all the way through.
Double-nutted and scored the threads as to lock in place.
Also pooled up a bit of epoxy under the stud to the case to hold chain stress to wall. (sorry, no pic of that)
Allowed 24 hours to cure.
Resealed, and installed.
Happy to say it's been working well 15K miles without an issue. I've even towed our 4500LB boat a couple times.
Drilling through the case was unnerving, but I figured it's junk if I don't anyhow.
380$ total costs. fluid/sealant/bearing/chain
Pics below.
Hope it helps!
Last edited by WvBlackbear; Sep 28, 2016 at 05:36 PM.
Reason: spelling
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