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Purchased a GL320 here in Australia around 9 months ago. Really liked the car but had an unfortunate case of black death and subsequent issues.
Took the car to a recommended local mechanic a couple of weeks back.. he was busy so didn't get it back until last Wednesday.
Wow... It was fantastic. The Fuel Economy was improved and the Throttle Response etc was much better with all the work finished.
(He replaced 6 x Injectors, All Seals and did the re-seating/cutting etc). ~$3300AUD in Parts and Labour overall.
I noticed a bit of a Diesel Smell on Sunday... I just figured it was some residual gunk being burned away from the Warm surfaces on the Engine considering the work required to remove Stuck Injectors etc.
Fast forward to this morning and I was driving along and noticed a bit of smoke from Engine Bay when it traffic... didn't think much of it... figured I might have a small leak somewhere and it went away after a while so kept driving.
Was almost home from my Job when there was a bit of shudder/miss in the Engine, and quite a bit of smoke was in the Engine Bay.
Pulled over the Car to find quite a lot of smoke, and the Engine Bay in Flames.
I worked to get my belongings etc out of the car and we did some fire extinguishing until the Local Fire Brigade but there wasn't much we could do.
So I got to enjoy about 400km of GL320 "As it should be".
Wow, what a bummer. It sounds like you werent hurt which is good. I assume your insurance company will pay for replacement cost. When my wifes A6 was totaled the insurance company wanted to low ball us. Dont let them.
Find similar condition, milage and model from a MB dealer if possible to get replacement cost. Insurance companies like to look at wholesale prices which isnt what we pay for a used vehicle.
I believe the Mechanic is at fault also, but it's a difficult thing to prove.
I spoke to him and honestly he started talking about various things leaking "Into the V" of the Engine near the Turbo etc.
Honestly the Car has never had a smell of diesel etc until it went to him for Injectors. Once It was back it would smell of Diesel as soon as it was turned off in the driveway.
Obviously in retrospect I should have sent it straight back on the truck, but it was running so well and using less Diesel etc I couldn't think it was such a major thing to cause this.
Surely in a Diesel the only things hot enough to cause a Diesel Spill Fire would be Exhaust Manifolds and the Turbo itself.
Anyhow at this stage I hope Insurance just pays out... the is a scarcity of GL's around here currently and the market has risen a bit so I won't be settling for nothing.
While hard to prove I would press the mechanic. You still could have a lawsuit on your hands. Not sure about Australia. And boy that's not something you see often on the side of the road (a burned up Mercedes). American cars much more common.
Sorry friend...that is terrible. I had my 2008 GL320 CDI worked on by one mechanic who did **** poor work. They replaced the oil cooler rings and gaskets. But in doing it, they bent up all kinds of valves and fuel rails. So needless to say, I never went back. But all in all, they cost me about $10000 USD for a $1200 job. Glad you are safe. It could've been much worse.
06-16-2020, 03:33 AM
