My wife told me yesterday that the GL350 was having problems accelerating. Today she called me saying that she couldn't reverse and was having problems accelerating and it was banging. I told her to take it home (only 1.5 miles away) and the check engine light came on during the trek.

I drove the truck when I got home this evening and noticed some weird things. Yes, it slips out of reverse after about 1 second. It has a hard time accelerating,but revs go up. It hard shifts multiple gears. When the hard shifts happen, the Blind spot malfunction light" comes on and an triangle points to every potential transmission letter. What does the Blind spot indicator have to do with the transmission, is this a faulty error?

The truck has 74,000 miles on it. Engine was replaced less than 6-months ago (maybe 3-4,000 miles) with a new crate engine under CPO warranty. Torque converter was replaced less than 6-months ago under CPO. I'll need to look at all my documentation, but I've complained about hard shifting for over 2-years and the transmission has been "flashed" and received a software update and told that there is nothing wrong with the transmission.

Truck has had oil seals, turbos, DPF Pressure Sensor, NOx sensors, adblue heater, adblue tank, timing chain, Command, 3 of 4 electronic door entry handles, air shocks (x4), rear struts, bushings, tie rods and other things I'm sure I am forgetting replaced. When I put stats together, I determined that the truck was in the shop approximately 6-months out of the 4-years that I owned it.

Planning to get it towed to the dealer tomorrow and fight with MB USA to fix it. Anybody have any thoughts?

 

i have a 2011 Gl350 which has been similarly awful - about $50,000 of repairs, mostly to the diesel motor and related emissions systems, all covered by various warranties. It’s pretty clear you need to get rid of it and never buy another Mercedes diesel ever again. That’s my strategy. If you want to stay with the GL or GLS, the folks who own the gasoline variants report much better engine reliability.

As far as your transmission, the dealer will be able to hook it up to the computer to diagnose. But I really think this is just another sign you need to get rid of it.

What let to Mercedes agreeing to replace your engine?

 

Sounds like it went into limp home mode and locked in first gear for some reason. A known failure pint is the vehicle speed sensor on the transmission valve body getting dirty and triggering limp home.

let’s hope the banging your wife reported wasn’t her overrevving the new engine stuck in first gear, which would have caused engine damage.

let us know which codes the dealer is able to pull

the x164 diesel is such a piece of crap, but the gasoline versions are great cars.

 

Yes, I saw your thread detailing your issues, and it seems that our trucks are very similar in what's been replaced. I'm not sure I'm in agreement about getting rid of it. It is a nice truck and wonderful when running properly. Basically, the truck is brand new if a new tranny goes in.

Truck is currently at the dealer awaiting diagnosis, we'll see what they have to say.

Engine was replaced as there was no explanation for the catastrophic failure we encountered. Vehicle was only ever serviced at Mercedes and everything was performed within the specified service intervals. No real reason for them to not warranty it, though I did see the document where they highlighted every recommended maintenance performed and its mileage when performed; so I believe they were looking for a way to not cover it. So, I now have a brand new crate engine warrantied for 5 more years.

 

I thought it may be in limp mode as well, but the vehicle will eventually get up to speed. It was definitely getting out of first gear.

I've asked the dealer to send me the codes once they hook it up to star.

I don't quite understand all the hate on the x164 diesel. I know they get a lot of flack here on the forum, but nobody typically comes on here to praise their vehicle, they come on when they have problems. Now, I do believe that our truck has had an excessive amount of issues in the 4.5 years we have owned it, but, I like the truck and hope to have it for many many more years. My theory is that a lot of issues people have may be due to bad diesel.

 

Well - I have had an 08 GL320CDI from nearly new to about 60k miles and I had the same experience as you - harsh shifting, random shut offs and random limp home events. No codes were ever stored for any of these events and no dealer ever figured it out. As you can imagine, that behavior is not suitable for a family vehicle and we dumped it first chance we got. I didn’t stay in it long enough to start experiencing mechanical breakage due to leaky oil seals, clogged EGR tubes etc. - but there’s no question it would just have gotten worse. EDIT: I gave this car some praise once when I got 30 mpg on the freeway.

i now have two 07 GL450s that are the complete opposite of that car - capable, reliable and economical to maintain. So that’s my perspective when I let loose on the OM642.

The car is good - the integration of the Diesel engine and it’s supporting emissions equipment is not; which leads to premature power train failure.

 

Except that about 90% of the issues that happen to just about all OM642's don't seem to me to be fuel-quality related. Oil cooler seals. Stretched timing chains. Swirl flaps.Turbo failures. DEF heater death. Engine mounts. How do any of these relate to fuel quality?

I personally blame the EPA. They made the emissions standards so hard to meet that it makes for impossible engineering standards for the engines. To meet emissions standards, the engines have to run super hot, which leads to all kinds of failures, and they have the need for complex emissions oriented add-ons that also lead to expensive failures like the DPF and the SCR systems.

What OM642 failures are you aware of / have you had that you think are diesel fuel quality related?

 

It's not the EPA. It's the carmakers (VW and Mercedes) who designed their cars for home market (Europe) fuel quality and emissions testing criteria. They attempted, and failed, to adapt home-market-tailored technology to a market with different fuel characteristics, emissions regulations and emissions testing protocols.

VW and Mercedes grade for this course: F.

They flunked.

 

Is it possible your transmission fluid level is low? Maybe there is a leak?

 

@91stealthes , any more word on this?

 

Serviced

 

Not likely. Transmission fluid was changed in September and again in October by Mercedes. Dealer indicates it is the Valve Body and that I need a new battery. See below for more info.

Sorry for the delay in responding, but I have been awaiting a response from MBUSA and Daimler regarding this. Don't seem to be getting very far. Dealer states the valve body needs replaces, as does the battery. See below for more info.

Haven't done the repair yet. Dealer states I need a valve body and new battery. They haven't provided me with codes, even though I've asked multiple times. See below for more info. Did you figure out what was wrong with yours?


So, again, sorry for the delay in following up. Truck is still at the dealer while I await a response from MB USA management or Daimler management. I've complained about hard shifting and transmission issues since late 2015 and there is documentation that I have complained about and brought the vehicle to Mercedes on 9 different occasions regarding it. Most recently (October), they replaced the torque converter and here we are today. It took he Executive Referral Manager quite some time (12-days) before I or the dealer was able to get a hold of him, but he states that the case was reviewed and Mercedes USA is offering to cover 20% of the repair cost (as supposedly part of my rear suspension repair was put through as "good will" in October and is affecting this goodwill offer).

I had escalated my complaint for review (with a brief email (13 sentences), but with enough history) to Christian Treiber. I emailed him 3-times in a 7-day period and was finally contacted again by the Executive Referral Manager after my last email to Mr. Treiber. I emailed Mr. Treiber 5-days later informing him that I would like him to review the case and provide me email confirmation that he agrees with Mercedes USA stance after reviewing my multiple complaints regarding the transmission. I never heard from Mr. Treiber.

Two days later, I escalated the case to Nicolas Speeks. I emailed Mr. Speeks 3-times over a 6-day period. I never heard from Mr. Speeks, nor an Executive Referral Manager.

Twenty-four hours after my last email to Mr Speeks, I escalated to Ola Källenius. I emailed Mr. Källenius 3-times over a 9-day period. I never heard from Mr. Källenius. I received an email on the 10th day from "Daimler Team for the Board of Management" indicating they have forwarded it to Mercedes-Benz USA , LLC and that if it is a duplicate correspondence, I will only be notified by MBUSA if there is a change in the determination previously decided. I've sent 2 emails to that address over a 6-day time asking to make sure that Mr. Speeks or Mr. Treiber receives the request for review. And this is where we stand today.

Of note, the Executive Referral Manager told me that he could not inform me of who from Mercedes USA was on the team that reviewed my case indicating they cannot share their protocols. I personally do not believe that anybody at MBUSA reviewed the extensive history and complaints on the vehicle. Of note, I did include the date, Invoice #, description, and the Mercedes dealerships response to each of the 9 visits in my formal complaint to the Executive Referral Manager.

So, this is where we stand. Over 12-days for the Executive Referral Manager to respond (even though the dealer and I tired to contact him numerous times). Over 33-days since first email to management at MBUSA with no response from management.

Any thoughts?

 

So I didn't see it explicitly stated, but is the vehicle still under CPO warranty or has the warranty expired but you are trying to get them to fix it because it was a "pre-existing" condition prior to expiration?

 

CPO expired 6 months ago. I believe it should be covered being they've thrown multiple things at the issue and never fixed it. Been taking it in since 2015 with transmission complaints. They've flashed it, they said it was the DPF, they've said it was the torque converter, now they're saying it's the valve body. They've also driven the vehicle to confirm the complaint on an occasion, but since there were no codes they said there was nothing they can do. Extremely frustrating.

 

Got it. Based on your description, I think they obviously *should* cover it, but that doesn't mean they will. Either way, I hope that they do the right thing. Given that they are throwing parts at it, it seems clear that they don't really know what is wrong. Dealer techs these days seem to rely too much on the scan tools to give them a code rather than troubleshooting. That's fine as long as you're not paying for all those new parts, but it's not ideal if you are. This transmission is in enough cars that you'd think they'd have somebody there that knows it well enough to determine what is really wrong.

 

My best advice is to pursue one of two routes.

1. If you love it and can afford to wait it out, then keep pressuring the dealership to honor the repair.

2. If you cannot wait, immediately negotiate with the dealership to give you a very generous trade in value and move on.

 

Turns out you were partially right. Transmission was 1.2 quarts low. Also, the ground cable wasn’t connected. Took the car back from the original dealer (who indicated it needed a new valve body) and to another who found the ground cable wrapped around the drive shaft and transmission low on fluid. Original dealer had transmission removed and drained and refilled less than 2k miles ago.

Yes, my prior update was incorrect. I pulled the car from the first dealership due to their lack of working with me more on pricing and other dealerships being cheaper for the valve body replacement. Other Mercedes dealer diagnosed the car being 1.2 quarts low on transmission fluid and the ground wire disconnected. Original dealer removed the transmission and refilled it less than 2k miles ago.

what ended up being the cause of your issue? See above for mine.

Dealership actually informed me to come pick up the vehicle due to the time it was in their presence. I tried to negotiate more on price, but they wouldn’t move. Other Mercedes dealers were significantly cheaper so I picked up the car and took to another dealer who diagnosed the transmission being 1.2 quarts low on fluid and a disconnected ground.

 

What ground wire was disconnected?

 

I’m was told it was an engine ground, but paperwork states the transmission control body.