RickinNashvill

I was driving on the interstate at about 68 mph when all of a sudden the engine cut off. I pulled over and had to have the car towed to the dealership in Nashville. Two days later the dealership calls me and says the car is locked up and needs a new engine. Dayuuuuum... at $25,800. I have pampered this car. All the scheduled maintenance was done at Mercedes of Nashville. There was an oil leak at about 70k miles that the dealership fixed ($3200) in Feb 2016, and another oil leak repaired by the dealership in Feb 2017 ($1600). Then this happens. This is outrageous. MBUSA says they will give me a $2000 credit towards a new car! Lol, can't wait to take them up on that! The manager at the dealership has been out of town. Ill talk to him next week when he returns. Anyone have any ideas?

MJ50

moved to X164 forum...

alx

Engine lock up is usually oil starvation. What was the oil level when the engine seized?

If level was acceptable this is not common and I would expect the mothership to provide better good will assistance.

If level was unacceptable it is your fault for letting it go down regardless of how fast it happened. I know it sounds direct and very politically incorrect, but it is the simple truth by which your case will be judged.

The om642 is an easy swap. Find a used one and an Indy to get it done. You are looking at about $7500 total or thereabouts. And get in the habit of checking your oil level from time to time.

007_e350

This car scares the fuc* out of me... I always try to keep oil level full but just curious won't a light pop up if level goes low ??

Shadow5501

Not completely unheard of, unfortunately. The oil turns to sludge and then the engine seizes. Occurs in by-the-book dealer maintained vehicles. Seems to result from some combination of how hard the GL/ML works the engine, 10K mile oil change interval, oil pan capacity (MB is retrofitting larger capacity pans), and the formulation of U.S. diesel fuel. The same engine is used in the E-class sedan and Sprinter, but you don't see this failure in those vehicles. Here is a link to a lengthy thread on this exact topic: https://mbworld.org/forums/diesel-fo...ne-seized.html. Unfortunately what you'll find is 1) MB never admits liability, and 2) Nobody ever gets much in the way of compensation.

My $.02 - Read the above tedious long thread and then go through your maintenance receipts to determine whether your dealer used the correct MB oil when servicing the diesel. If not, ask them to file on their liability insurance for causing the failure of your engine by incorrectly servicing it.

chsu74

+1. Use that oil dipstick often if you are running on 10K oil change intervals.

N_Jay

We also have Bio-diesel in IL which can cause oil contamination with fuel.

What is your typical drive for the GL?

taeandji

I had the similar issue with my 2011 GL350, purchased in 2011 and still owns it. Luckily, i have purchased MB extended warranty and MB took care of it all although it took about 3 months.
It started with oil leak from the cooler like OP and it got worse then all of sudden, the RPM had soared to the redline although I had a very light touch of gas pedal and a lot of black smoke came out and it died... had to get it towed to Mercedes of Savannah and left it there from the beginning of October 2016. after a few months, MB of Savannah said the engine died and MB asked them open the engine all the way to determine what caused it.... it took nearly 2 1/2 months and i had to call MB USA just before X-mas holiday and after x-mas, got a call from MB of Savannah that MB approved the whole new engine that took another a months to get it installed. Mine had only 75,000 miles and all services have been performed as I have purchased 5 year prepaid services and has been maintained by local MB dealer in VA.

Later, i had some trouble with re-registering it with VA DMV as it could not pass the emission test and was told that intake manifolds were supposed to replaced with new ones when engine replaced but MB of Savannah didn't... so far, it has whole brand new engine (not just a short block), new turbo charger, new intake manifolds, all new air suspensions... need to find a way to replace the tranny now lol

all the repair cost could have been cost me over $35,000 and i didn't pay a single penny yet and I'm seriously debating either to keep it or sell it everyday... suggestions?