2014 GL350 Bluetec Timing Chain
 

2014 GL350 Bluetec

94,500 miles.

Started making a short (1 second or so) timing chain rattle in the morning when the ambient temperature reaches about 30F. I did the easy thing and replaced the adjuster with a new MB original part, but it is still there. Only does it if the vehicle is parked overnight. Always serviced on time at the MB dealer with the correct oil.

Anyone else experiencing or have any thoughts? If the chain was stretched, wouldn't I experience it all of the time?

Thanks.

I will check with my techs... give me a bit..

fabbrisd1 -- Thanks!

My guys have done 3-4 "adjuster" replacements on 2014 GL350's - it's a oil pressure activated system - and you have covered that.

With VIN in hand - your dealer can double-check if there were any specific campaigns for your vehicle.

That said - my guys have done 1 chain replacement - on top of adjuster repalcement - which was done under CPO warranty,

There is a MB special tool that measures chain stretch - and on that particular 14 GL350 the chain did measure over spec - kindof a intense job - like 15 shop hours.

Overall - my guys say - check VIN for campaigns - and they say keep rational mental track of the length startup noise - at same external temp - if noise starts lasting "longer" then you may have to dig into chain issue.

My guys have no idea why that particular chain - that 2014 GL350 - was over spec -

Keep the beat !

Thanks much for the reply.

It definitely only lasts 1-2 seconds, and never at temperatures above 30-35 degrees. I believe it is related to leak-down of the oil overnight as I can leave it parked all day (8-9 hours) and no noise at startup. Just seems to be first thing in the morning under those conditions above when parked for 12 or so hours. If I park it in the heated garage overnight.. no problem. The old tensioner did not appear to have any obvious damage, and still seemed to have good tension. I've also tried both 229.52 oil viscosities, 0w30 and 5w30 and it doesn't make any difference. Other than that, this GL has been a good one, just tires, brakes and service...

fabbrisd1 - Are you an MB tech or a shop owner?

He is a sales person for one of the Mercedes Dealership.

Thank you Dreamszalone

Does this seem to be limited to 2014 gl350, or should I be worried about my 2013 gl350?

Thats a great question. There was a major issue with chain stretch in the 2010-2011 cars. This is the third OM642 I have owned (2013 GL, 2013 ML, 2014 ML) and the first one that this has consistently cropped up in; although I seem to remember it happening once or twice on the ML as well. I think it is a poorly designed tensioner that leaks down when left for longer periods of time. If it was chain stretch, I am of the opinion that you would hear it all of the time regardless of temperature, but strangely, changing the tensioner has not seemed to make any difference in the consistency. Nobody really seems to have a good idea.

Several failures....
 

You are hearing the wearing/stretching of your timing chain. Mine got noisy around 60 k miles. Dealer changed out the timing chain and tensioner, fortunately under CPO warranty. My buddy wasn't quite as lucky, he waited too long after the noise started and MB ended up having to replace the engine. At least he also had the CPO warranty but dealer had his GL for 9 weeks! Both of us are conservative on the OCI, I go about 7 - 8000 miles.

I have read about a few other cases of the timing chains failing on our engines.

I have to wonder if the desire to meet emission with the DPF and DEF combined with the push for fuel economy increases aren't detrimental to our engine life. They are running hotter and hotter to drive thermal efficiency to reduce emissions and fuel consumption.

The new Mobil 1 ESP 0W30 oil (229.52 spec) recommended by MB makes me really nervous. Besides the water like viscosity, things like HTHS have dropped from 3.7 on the 229.5 oil to 3.6 on the 229.51 oil to 3.5 on the 229.52 oil. The TBN has dropped from 8 to 6.3.

My understanding is that the drop in viscosity is to get the engine up to temperature faster to get the emissions system working efficiently. The reduction in wear additives is to try to get the DPF to last longer. But what about engine life?

Anyone have similar concerns?

I'm considering using a 10W60 Grade 4 full synthetic from Lucas that has the 229.52 approval. This is an approved viscosity in our owners manual. I am also considering cutting the OCI back to 5000 miles.

Thoughts?

BTW mine and my friends were 2012 models that had the timing chain failures.

Tomcat - Thank you for the reply. When my vehicle was originally produced 229.51 was still the recommended specification. The dealer switched to 229.52 when MB amended the BEVO. However.... keep in mind that although 229.52 is now recommended with the DPF, 229.51 is still an acceptable spec. for the 2014. If you look through the WIS, the older (2013/2014) models still show 229.51 as valid. That being said, about 12 days (and 1400 miles) ago I switched back to a 5w40 229.51 (specifically German manufactured Pentosin)... The result? Interestingly it hasn't made the noise one single time. Even when it was 8 degrees F here for two mornings, with the car parked outside all night... even not being started for two days. Totally quiet. I have 0 explanation for that. If the chain was stretched, the chain was stretched, I would think it would still be noisy...

BTW- My mileage is now 97,500

jpeter6981 - as Spock would say "Fascinating..." Glad such a simple thing seems to have addressed your issue.

I was using 229.51 5W40 per your reference when the timing chain went in mine. It would be interesting to know how many of the current "noisy" timing chains would quiet down with 5W40 rather than 229.52 0W30. Our 2012 is yet to have the 229.52 in it. Maybe the timing chain issue is not as frequent, its just the thin oil?

Seems counter intuitive in one respect as the 0W30 should build pressure faster and pump up the tensioner faster. Perhaps is is just noise from the chain due to the thinner oil?

On ours they tried a replacement tensioner and like many others the noise was worse. The tensioner has a limit of travel, the new ones have a shorter limit apparently.

We pick up a new to us 2014 GL 350 next week. I bought an additional 24 months of CPO warranty. I've ordered up some of the Lucas 10W60 (229.51 and 229.52) and plan to put it in before we head south pulling the car trailer. hopefully it keep things quiet!

That was exactly my thought on the 0w30 vs. the 5w40.. it should have pumped up the tensioner much more quickly (relatively) and thus the noise should have been reduced. Who knows. This 2014 GL has been really good reliability wise. I've had it for 31 months, and its basically only been tires, brakes and regular service in 97k.

I have a 2011 GL350 that I now have 106k on it. My timing chain started the slap on cold start at 40k, had it replaced at 64k with new tensioner. Oil for these back when new was the Mobil 1 5w/40 which is now gone, been using the MB branded 5w30 since around 75k and it seems fine, no consumption and engine is quiet. I keep drain intervals down to around 5 to 6k, 10k plus is just too far...

Weird issue that has been around since 2010 and I am not aware of any year since that has not been affected.

FY 10w60 does not meet MB 229.52
229.52 Approved by MB only exists in 0w30 or 5w30

Timing chain replaced at 64K
 

Just had my timing chain replaced at 64K on a 2014 GL350. Same issue as others with 1st cold start of the day resulting in a 2-3 second chain rattle noise.

Had the work done at a non-MB dealer; they replaced the chain, tensioner and a few other parts. Cost was close to $2k all in.

Luckily I had purchased a 3rd party warranty which provided $40/day for rental car and a $100 deductible. Could not purchase MB ELW since it was not a CPO.

chain, tensioner and a few other parts... do you remember what the few other parts were? I saw a timing chain kit on eBay for $250 that can't be legit is it?

Had to have the stretched timing chain replaced on my late 2013 GL350 at 79k highway miles. Always serviced at MB dealer at recommended intervals and never used for towing. Per two long time MB dealer techs the chain is stretched and shows no abnormal wear (I kept the chain). My MB dealer tech, 30+ years with the same MB dealer, is a friend and always advises me when something should be repaired/replaced as opposed to could be repaired/replaced. I picked up on the cold start (overnight) noise and he confirmed it was the timing chain. His advice was to have it replaced immediately instead of risking the chain jumping and catastrophic engine failure even though he has heard worse. This was 15k ago and the engine remains strong, gets great fuel mileage (better than advertised) and has never had to have oil added between services. In my opinion, I wouldn't risk not correcting a known issue that could cause catastrophic engine failure.

anyone have a detailed procedure to replace timing chain on a 2014 gl350 ? my engine seems to make rattle noise for 2to3 secs and fades when I start in the morning.

Thanks

Check the X164 forum. As I recall, a member did the chain himself. MB should be embarrassed at all the issues from the OM642 engine. 20 years ago, you would be laughed out of the room if someone were to question MB's diesel reliability. Now, not the case. Good luck and know you are suffering one of the common issues with the 0M642 engine.

Did they replace the chain? This has been my preventative maitinance on a 2010 ml bluetec. 10k km oil changes (6k miles) and amsoil esp 5w40... 5w30 on a diesel is stupid. I add ceratec every third oil change. Do a flush before every oil change.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...4e4a0a9a02.jpg
Oil flush, idle for 15mins beforehand
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...455addf8ee.jpg
No 5w30....229.51 spex amsoil 5w40 .. Wiah they made a bypass filter kit for this engine...

I was told that it's the low zinc in the MB-spec'd oil, which is obligatory due to the EPA regulations.

I run Amsoil stupid ;) 5w30 oil in the winter, 10W30 spring and fall and 20W50 Competiton series in the summer.
I was changing oil every 5k km, but I think that now with my over-sized oil filter, I'll roll it back to 10k km changes. I also flush prior with Liqui Moly, but keep the filter, re-flush after filling with cheap oil and running the engine for 10-15 minutes at idle or above. Then I dump the oil, replace the filter and refill with the good stuff. I'm sure I'm over-doing it, but I've evidently decided to become OCD on the engine

As an aside, I got back the results from Blackstone and they were stellar. But to be honest, I wonder if the frequent oil changes painted a rosier picture than reality

didn't mean to post, oops