Isobelle

I had been driving for 40 mins in town when suddenly my car starting driving rough and smoke was pouring into the car as well as out of the hood. It smelled like burning plastic. I tried to pull over to the side of the road, but it completely died. I called MB roadside assistance and was on hold for 20 mins or more only to be told it would be 1.5 hrs till someone could come into Boston and pick up the car! I had to pay a towing company to drop the car off at the dealership because the police officer was freaking out that the car was in the middle of rush hour traffic and didn't want to wait for MB to come through. When the tow guy came he was able to get it to start but he had to have his foot all the way on the gas to get it to move 10 ft. I've have it for 5 months and have 4,000 miles on it. It was so freaky. I don't even want the car back no matter what they fix. Has anyone else had similar issues?

MBRedux

This is very odd... a complete failure before the 5K mile mark???? There has been a recent surge in coil pack failure complaints... It is an inconvenience and I'm sorry to hear that this episode may have tainted your love of the car... but if this is what's happening, don't fret, it's easily repaired...

Typical MB Coil Pack.... If you don't know what it is, these packs are what fires the spark plugs... your GLK has six.

venchka

Little comfort when there are vehicles on the road that don't behave like this after a toal of 260,000+ miles and still going. Come to think of it, I have NEVER had an episode like this in 50 years. I must be very lucky.

Wayne

Isobelle

Still waiting to hear what the dealership has to say but I'm seriously getting rid of the car. Mechanical issues already?!!! I was once in a car that caught on fire and happened to get out just seconds before it completely went up. Not that this was the case here buuut all the smoke scared the crap out of me and brought back all those awful feelings. I have so much anxiety just thinking about getting back into that car.

venchka

Understandable and justified.
Good luck with the next one.

Wayne

MBRedux

Actually... if you were to Google "Coil Pack Complaints", you will find that EVERY car manufacturer has had issues with these over the last few years, (Since they were first introduced around the year 2000) especially Toyota, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Honda, VW, and Audi.... Mercedes Benz is not even on the list.... until now. No big deal though, and it is by far no reason to trash your car for another... you will take a huge loss on a brand new GLK... it happens all the time and chances are good that any new car you may buy will suffer from some kind of issue, even the same Coil-Pack failure!

bop11

Smoke doesn't normally come from a coil pack. You probably had a bad hose or leaking coolant espansion tank and lost the coolant. This has probably been leaking for a while. No puddles in your garage or parking spot?
Why did the tow truck guy need to start it? He should have just put it on the truck. With 4k miles, the dealer should clean the whole engine and interior after fixing the fault. Bad hoses are not that uncommon in all makes of cars.

MBNA109

Tell me about it! Our Camry basically had 1/2 of it's 6 coil packs replaced!
@ about $300 a pop we are talking about $900+ in new coil packs.

Usually, your CEL will come on to urge investigation.
That said, it is something you can't ignore & is mostly bad luck usually.
Driving with a malfunctioning coil pack can cause damage to the catalytic converter, increased wear on the cylinder wall and early wear on the bearings. These things are caused by unspent fuel being leaked into various engine and exhaust parts.

If an engine is experiencing coil failures, the coil may be working too hard. The underlying cause is usually high secondary resistance (bad spark plug wire or spark plugs), or in some cases a lean fuel condition (dirty injectors, vacuum leak or leaky EGR valve).

Future coil problems can often be avoided by cleaning the connectors and terminals when the new coil is installed. Corrosion can cause intermittent operation and loss of continuity, which may contribute to component failure.

Isobelle

Sorry I don't understand any of this terminology but the service department said the coil packs were arced out that is why all the smoke and some other things I can't remember. Not sure what this means but they are replacing coils, lots of wiring and water plugs. Why the tow guy wanted the car started I have no clue. He didn't care that it was smoking either!

MBRedux

Yup, these new packs must be a defective batch... but don't worry, once they're replaced they normally don't quit.

Isobelle

Good to know. You guys knew exactly what the issue was from the beginning! Thanks for the reassurance =)

phil17

Glad it worked out Isobelle. I had a bad thermostate when my car was new but since replacement it's been the best car i've ever owned

MBRedux: I have no clue how you were able to diagnose the issue over the internet but you are one knowledgeable and awsome dude. Thanks for always contributing and helping us owners out

MBNA109

Isobelle -

1) Glad it worked out & you can regain your love for the GLK
2) Sorry for the technical jargon as after 3 coil pack failures on my Camry, I've been well learned on this subject.
3) One way I was told to look at it was simply: coil pack failure is when your gas is not being lit on fire & therefore leaking into other parts of the engine.

Isobelle

Thanks for explanation. I can't believe you've gone through 3 of these! There was only a few seconds notice and then my car completely died and stopped in traffic. I can't imagine if this happened on the highway. I'm picking up the car today. They said there was some sort of electrical failure too (not sure if this is related) so they took it out on an OVERNIGHT test drive. Wonder how many more miles will be on the car =/ Maybe I can at least get some free winter mats =)

dgiturbo

This is why I love diesels... No spark plugs, no coil packs no worries.
Now if MBUSA would just bring the GLK diesel here.

Oh, on my wife's E320, we have replaced 2 of the coil packs so far.

MKenM

That's what happens when you are on a forum that has knowledgeable people like MBRedux. IMO MBRedux has been spot on in most cases so I always appreciate when he chimes in.

iride

I can relate to how Isobelle feels, yes this type of stuff happens, but to a brand new MERCEDES with only 4,000 miles, I wouldnt want the car back either. Mercedes claims to be the best with quality cars and for this to happen already.

Metaxa

A coil pack went out in our old 2.0T VW Tiguan at about 42k about 3 weeks ago; this is one of the reasons we traded in for the GLK ($600 repair). It was fresh off of an injector failing too.

MBRedux

Merc's have the same failures as VW/Audi's in this regard.