Halifan

2012 GL350

There she sits, where the tow truck dropped it off 😞 Sadly a few weeks ago while my wife was just running to the store, car suddenly shuts down on the highway. I'm pretty sure the OM642 is seized(can't turn it over with a breaker bar on the crank). The worst part is it only had 70k miles and it's my fault. It's not driven very much, about 12km a day so I've kind of neglected oil changes. Oil cooler seal started leaking 2 years ago and I never got around to fixing it, I did however check the oil every month and kept it topped up I'm torn, I absolutely love it. I have 2 small children and it's old enough that I don't really care when they spill stuff or get the backseat insanely dirty. It's excellent in the snow, which is important here. It tows better / more comfortably than my F150 Platinum. I would love to get 5± more years out of it and then replace it with a newer AMG.

I'm leaning towards fixing it. I've got a lead on a 2011 R350, if I can get it for the right price, I might swap the engine and scrap the hideous R350. But I have to be honest, I'm scared of another engine going boom even if I'm diligent with maintenance.

Max Blast

Great post mortem.

if you have a two post lift this is manageable.

rapidoxidation

Diesel engine, 12Km/day, neglected oil changes and it went boom?
Dood. Seriously, the diesel is NOT meant for that environment (short drives and neglect).
That sucks about the car, but get a gasser. Don't get a diesel. They're great engines when in their element (long trips!)

I'll be curious how much oil you can drop from the pan if/when you go there. Signs of sludge?

BlownV8

Don't blame yourself. It happens frequently to the OM642.

Chrome988

The bluetec om642 from 2009 to 2013 are notorious for seizing. It's not entirely your fault.
Especially as you were adding oil every month.
I had a 2010 ml350 bluetec which seized right on the highway, and I used 229.52 oil as recommended, and there are a HUGE number of seized bluetecs on this forum and also on Kijiji/Facebook marketplace.
I do not know why the bluetec technology makes the engine oil sludge.
I also had a 2009 r320 bluetec and the engine consumed a huge amount of oil, so I sold that car.
Avoid the 2009 to 2013 bluetecs.
I have not seen the om651 have much trouble, they seem good but of course only limited to glk and e class size wise but those cars are unfortunately look ugly.
Maybe look into a 2007-2008 gl 320. Watch out for torque converter shudder though, you will get a vibration between shifts if the TC is dying.
The 2007 and 2008 om642 don't seize, they were pre bluetec. I have a 2008 gl320 with the om642 engine and it has 296 km on it. It runs amazing so far.

Max Blast

The EGR adds so much heat to the intake side that the oil in the heads cokes up and clogs oil passages.

This, in conjunction with chronic oil leakage from oil cooler seals, acts to both reduce the lubricity of the remaining oil, as well as reduce the volume of remaining oil to the point where the engine seizes.

ltpro

Do you know if you can use an 08 gl320 engine in a 2011 gl350 ? Just got offered the gl320 engine but I'm sure though they look alike many things have to be different . Any insight ?

vesiadog

Here is a link to more 642 reads
https://mbworld.org/forums/diesel-fo...ngevity-2.html