First of all I am new here and to the world of MB issues. Recently I have had an escalation of events with my vehicle that has had me racking my brain and my wallet trying to figure out what is wrong with my 2013 GL350. This might be a fairly long post but it is necessary to make an attempt to fully describe the issues the best I can.

We have own this vehicle for about 2 years now after buying it used. Everything was great for the first year or so but then it started "shuttering" at about 1200 RPM. This would only last in a very small RPM band and would go away. We took it to the dealership after a check engine light came on. They told us that either the DPF needed replaced or a sensor, which for the life of me I cant remember the name of, needed replaced. I think it was a pressure sensor or something like that on the DPF system. I know that is probably not very helpful. Anyways, this did not help the issue and the check engine light came back on a few weeks later. I refused to replace the DPF filter itself since they told me it would be about 10 grand to do and the vehicle only had about 85000 miles on it. I bought some fuel additive that was supposed to help clean out the filter and it didn't seem to make much difference.

Fast forward a few months...The check engine light is still on. I did not want to take it back to the dealership since I felt they ripped me off and it is the only dealership within reasonable driving distance to me. The problem is still present but now the vehicle has started going into what I found out to be limp home mode. It would only do this every now and then and was more of a nuisance than anything. However, it became increasing more frequent getting to the point where it was almost impossible to drive without it going into this mode. I tried googling the issue, which lead me to this website, but couldn't find anything that was helpful.

This is when the AdBlue issue started and things seemed to start coming together. About a month or so ago, the AdBlue light came on stating that we had 16 starts remaining. We bought some fluid, put it in the tank and the message never cleared. Eventually, unbeknownst to me, the vehicle locked us out from being able to start it. I guess they were serious when they said you only have so many starts remaining, LOL. Luckily, it was at home when it happened and didn't leave my wife stranded somewhere. I had to have to car towed to the local dealership so they could clear the code and getting it running again. This was on a Thursday. The next day (Friday) we did not go anywhere and didn't drive the car until Saturday. Half way to Chicago, which is about a 3 hr drive for us, the AdBlue light comes back on, this time saying 10 starts remaining. Worried that we were going to get stranded in Chicago over the weekend I called the service center there and they got us in. They cleared the code and got us back on our way.

This is when they told us the left MAF sensor was failing and needed to be replaced. They did not have the part and I did not have the time so we left it at that. After checking with my local dealer after getting back home I decided to schedule with Chicago service center since there was a significant price difference for the work. At this time I bought an iCarsoft MBII code reader and tried to do some troubleshooting of my own to verify this problem. All the codes present were left MAF related with the exception of one. It was the NOx sensor has a short circuit. All the codes were cleared. I unplugged the MAF sensors on both sides and ran the car for to see if this made a difference. The car ran fantastic with the sensors unplugged...no issues what so ever. I rechecked for any codes and the same ones were present and the only new code was related to the right MAF, which made sense due to it being unplugged. This help give me peace of mind that getting the MAF replaced was going to fix the issue (the service center said it was possible that the MAF sensor could cause the AdBlue issue due to faulty data).

Yesterday (10/24/20) the MAF sensors were replaced at the Chicago service center. Upon starting the car there was no check engine light and everything seemed fine. We made a quick stop on the way out of town, and when we restarted the car the check engine light came on and the shuttering issue was present again. The service center was about to close for the weekend so I couldn't go back but did call and report the issue. While driving home the AdBlue warning comes back on stating that only 10 starts remain.

On a side note, during the drive to Chicago, the engine started running extremely rough especially when going up even the slightest incline. This issue was not present on the return trip.

I just checked the codes this morning (10/25/20) and there were 2 codes for AdBlue in addition to the following codes: The efficiency of the diesel particulate filter (cylinder bank 1) is not sufficient, Component Nox upstream of the SCR catalytic converter has a short circuit (this is the one previously mentioned), and The upper limit value for long term adaptation of the SCR exhaust aftertreatment system was exceeded.

At this point all I know is that I am a few thousand dollars in to trying to fix this problem and seem to have gotten nowhere. Does anyone have any advice other than just getting rid of the damn thing, LOL.

 

No. Get rid of it. The sooner the better. This is just the beginning of your diesel nightmare.

 

What have you done to address the possibility of the DPF being clogged?
You say you refused to replace it because it only has 85k miles....how is that relevant?

 

Don't abandon hope. Mercedes is about to gift you a 4 year warranty on your 350's emissions system as part of the Dieselgate settlement. If you can wait, hold off on repairs and get it fixed for free hopefully in a month or two.

You will also get a fat check from MB USA, between $2.4K and $3.5K, depending on whether your vehicle's former owner files a claim too.

https://www.hbsslaw.com/press/merced...ails-announced

 

Probably good advice above but the emissions system is only part of the problem with the OM642. You will soon have timing chain failure, oil cooler seal failure, and possibly failure of the crank bearings. There's also a good chance that, when the oil cooler seal fails,your low oil light will not come on since it will be covered in sludge. If that happens, your engine will seize. Wait a few months, have MB fix, sell, and never look at another OM642 again.

 

Please take the "Dump the Car" posts with a grain of salt. Most (but not all) people who tell you to do so have never owned the diesel and are members of the forum who own the gas powered version. They are repeating unfortunate sentiments of people who have had issues and posted here. While there are many people that have had issues, others, like myself, have put 90,000 miles on the vehicle without a hiccup. I rarely post because I never really have any issues.

Just think....UPS owns 119,000 diesel Sprinters.... FedEx 100,000.... Amazon 20,000. If the engine was total trash, these companies would not buy huge fleets of them and they would be rotting in a junkyard somewhere.

My suggestion... replace the DPF once MBUSA pays up next month. Also your emission warranty should have been 8 years or 80,000 miles. If the problem was documented prior to you reaching those milestones, perhaps you can get it replaced for free.

 

Good comments @tfabrizio My thoughts are based on running a TDI VW Touraeg (Dieselgate) for 238k miles, living through nearly the same incidents as MB Bluetec owners are experiencing. The common denominator between VW TDI and MB Bluetec is Bosch, the emissions technology supplier. I see options for Bluetec owners as:

- dump the vehicle
- plan for a more expensive than average ownership experience with issues that are never fully resolved

The choice of options is up to the owner. The GL and GLS vehicles are nice looking and have a lot of positives, however the OM642 is not one of them.