ssalaria

Hello all.
I have been following this group for years but first time posting. I live in Philadelphia. I have had an issue with my GL350 for a while. Actually goes back to Sept 28th, 2017 when I first noticed the unholy message "check engine oil at next gas fill up or something like that". Car was under CPO warranty then. Took it I took it to the dealer and they said we see no leaks. They took the odometer reading, added 1qt oil and send me on my way. Nov 21st, 2017, same message shows up again. Took it back and the dealer added 1qt and stated that the car had driven 1000 miles and eating 1qt was under "Mercedes guidelines" as OK. Once again send me on my way. My GL ran out of warranty Jan 2018. Things got worse and I had to take the car in three times since (and I have a box of engine oil in my trunk that I keep using as the message pops up). Last I had checked it was eating around 1qt / 200 miles. My service tech actually told me to get rid of the car! Aaahhh! That hurt.
Finally I took it to a non-dealership reputable mechanic (high scores on google). He said the turbo was shot and pretty sure that is the culprit. Replaced the turbo with a Garrett turbo (which basically makes the Mercedes turbo is what I understand). I thought the saga was over. But as soon as I got home, the engine light came on. Went back to the mechanic, he said Diesel Particulate Filter is shot as well. Apparently the excess oil did it. Ouch, please shoot me! Filter cost alone is around $3000. I have been looking at companies that clean DPF. Found several. Best conversation I had was with a gentleman named Wayne today at DPFREGENERATION.COM 203.549.8606. He was very knowledgeable and after listening to my saga is not sure if he can clean my DPF (he was honest and asked me to check the core, which is a 2 inch diameter in the center after taking it off the vehicle before sending to him. He also asked me to get a 0.035 wire from a welding shop and poke the ceramic combs to see if I can penetrate. If not the filter cannot be cleaned). In addition, I am in conversations with the dealership since this is clearly something that was caught and brought to their attention twice while the vehicle was under warranty. I went to the dealership today and had them print our all of my service history (in case they somehow make it disappear). Service manager was out today. Will go back to him tomorrow. I am not too hopeful but I might have a case here! Meanwhile I wanted to ask you folks if you know of an aftermarket reputable company that makes DPF for GL350's? Apologies for the long write up but I wanted you to get the whole story and laugh at me! Please don't!

KrustyKustom

How many miles on this GL?

ssalaria

109600

quron_southwest

Great. I'm not the only one dealing with this at this very moment. I'm in the process of just deleting the d*mn thing. I have a delete pipe on the way from BuzzKen because honestly that whole emissions system is just lethal to the engine! When I got the car a year and a half ago I got a CEL code for the swirl flap actuator and didn't mind at all to get this fixed. I was in a hurry at the time for a cross-country move to a different state and when I got the car back from the mechanic they told me they changed the actuator but the light kept coming on and off and "maybe" it's a sensor wire or whatever and that I should be fine to drive it with no issues. Of course me being in a hurry I accepted that response and went on my way. But I didn't know if the ECU didn't have positive control over the air flow that it wouldn't launch DPF regens...

A month later I read the OBD codes and discovered that the DPF missed a lot and I mean A LOT of regen cycles and me being negligent I ignored it until earlier this month when my turbo started surging in LA traffic! GL went into limp mode at 80mph and that's just dangerous.

Anyway, replacing the DPF costs well over $3k which is absurd haha. Especially when it is doing nothing but killing the engine... I've been researching a lot and others have reccomended that I just delete DPF along with the BlueTEC system wholly, especially if you're out of warranty and it costs a fraction of replacing that stupid filter. I'm having the delete pipe here on Friday and am sending my ECU off to OE Tuning before this week is over. Just my .50 cents. I don't know if your state has emissions testing but just a better route you could take...

Added benefits (to the car at least lol), added exhaust flow, better performance, I've heard this car is a whole different animal with this done, and added engine longevity. Oh and a wider range of pills can be used. You should be using 5w30 or 5w40 ESP right now, if not that could actually be why your DPF failed.

abemiami

Wow, I feel better now I know I'm not alone, I want to remove the damn thing but I'm really having a hard time finding someone locally to do it, I found lot's of shops around the world that do it, but not in US, at least not in Florida for these type of cars.
What was the outcome in your case?

B Marques

That clean out DPF or delete it? What part of Florida are you at? I had Merc Werks in Pompano clean mine out.

abemiami

I'm in Miami, I want to remove DPF and ECU tuned, for what I've been reading, is the way to go.

abemiami

Hello all, great post, I wish I would have seen it before when my car first started asking for oil out of no where, and just like quron_southwest mentioned at the beginning of this thread, it started with 1 qt every 1000 miles down to a qt every 200 miles.

At this point and after reading all this, I will definitely opt for the DPF removal and ECU mod, but I'm going to have the existing DPF re-installed after opening it removing the guts, that way I will keep the same look as OEM, what do you think?

The muffler has the DPF and the Catalytic converter, the bypass pipe quron_southwest got is for both or just the DPF?

I will be having the muffler and ECU removed tomorrow and shipped same day if possible, any input will greatly appreciated, thank you.

B Marques

contact merc werks and see what they can do for you

AlexP198k

Hi abemiami,
Have you proceeded with the removal and ECU remap? Reason Im asking because I have done the same. Performance wise and fuel economy are great vs what is was but there is really bad smell now I'm trying to get rid of.
So I wonder if you installed anything to reduce the awful smell or driving as is?

Thanks in advance!

quron_southwest

There’s no way to get rid of the odor. I’m sure that’s what the emissions crap is for ultimately.

AlexP198k

I was thinking DOC converter would do it or aftermarket "Hight flow catalytic converter" of some sort... Im just having hard time finding the aftermarket cat. that would fit...

quron_southwest

It would work however it’ll get clogged quickly because of the soot/particles these engines emit...

NerdFirefighter

First post sorry if I am not following correct first post protocol. I have a GL320 Bluetec. I was wondering if anyone has attempted to hollow out their DPF and not tune the ECU? I'm sure it will cause some sort of check engine light due to lack of back pressure. My concern though is with the limp mode, I am currently experiencing a limp mode due to what I believe is a clogged DPF from a idiot previous owner using the wrong oil. If not I am going to attempt and report back within a couple weeks. Right now the only codes I have in my CDI ECU are 123900 - "The positive control deviation during boost pressure control is too high" and 13AF00 "The soot content of the diesel particulate filter is too high". Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Tyler

KrustyKustom

Tyler,

I think the only way to hollow out the DPF and get it by the computer is perhaps doing a engine tune to the ECU. Its a bummer but the cost of the emissions items and labor to change them out is the achilles heel in these vehicles as they get older.

NerdFirefighter

Gotcha,
To TuneMyEuro I go I guess. I am going to try and hollow it out and then have them tune it. Rather than pay $700 for a stainless pipe. Thank you for the input!

lkchris

This because it’s illegal for them to do so.

AlexP198k

My whole exhaust system was cut open and gutted out, welded back together afterwards. So it is possible if you will find a shop locally that will perform all that.

TGcville

I am assuming you did a tune as well? You gutted the DPF, and the cat or just the DPF? How's the smell?

ccrobin

I am also curious about your results? I just purchased a KTAG unit and DBM board so I can reprogram the ECU myself (I have a 2012 GL350). Debating on ordering the delete pipe or just hollowing out my existing DPF (though I am not a welder, so not sure if I can whack the guts out without cutting it open).

Sad, I would like to keep it emissions compliant, but spending $3-4K on a vehicle now worth only 10K is not a viable solution.

TGcville

Gutting the DPF shouldn’t be hard at all, not sure about the cat. But you could always leave the cat for now to cut down on smell, not sure how long that would last though.

What exactly is the KTAG unit/DBM board?

ccrobin

KTAG is an ECU programmer. The BDM board is a device with spring loaded pogo type pins to connect the programmer to the contact pads on the ecu (to avoid soldering). Most ECUs do not permit reprogramming via the OBD port or harness directly. The BDM adapter makes the programming safer.

TGcville

Gotcha. Yeah I was googling around a bit after your post. Which KTAG did you purchase? Looks like theres a wide selection and can get rather pricey. Are you looking to just do DPF delete or trying to see some HP/torque gains? Is it a rather technical process or fairly straightforward?

ccrobin

Most of what you see for KTAG is a Chinese clone. I have been told that for the EDC16 ecu these Chinese clones work OK. I am told by others they are all crap. From white I have gathered many Chinese are buggy so looked for "reworked" Chinese units or EU made boards. Problem is most Chinese boards falsely claim EU made. Best I can say is to buy from source with some reputation. I bought mine on Prime 2-day delivery so at least purchase price will be protected (not so much if I try my ecu i guess). Authentic KTAG units are upwards of $1500, so not an option for me.

I dont really care about HP gains (interested, but just want my truck to run properly at this point).

There are some YouTube videos showing the basic process (not tuning the file, but opening the ECU and pushing the file to the ECU). Its not for the feint of heart, but appears very doable.

Google krag edc16 dpf delete and you should see some videos that will give you an idea.

On the GL350, the ECU is located behind the front passenger wheel well. I think on the MLs they are in the back somehwere.i will post photos when I pull mine. It will likely still be a week or two.

I will likely hire an experienced tuner to make the file for me (pull and read my ECU, send then the file, they send back "tuned" file, then wrote that back to the ecu and re-install).

This will allow me to push the original back to the ECU if the tuned file has problems or if I ever want to go back to stock.

TGcville

Very interesting. I’ve been considering shipping my ecu off for a bench flash by Malone Tuning, but haven’t thus far due to down time.

So something like this:


and this:


I’d really like to do an EGR delete too, I’ve been looking at block off plates as opposed to simply leaving in place. Such as cb engineering’s kit, which is really the only Mercedes specific kit I’ve come across

CB engineering full EGR delete kit

After watching a video, that’s definitely something I can handle. I wonder if a used ecu could be used considering its being flashed anyways?