Recently, my father's SUV a 2010 ML350 Bluetec with the OM642 Engine seized with 271xxxKm on the odometer.
All the maintenance was done at the Mercedes dealership every 15000km.
The oil level were all good & the filter was not clogged, It did have metal shaving after the engine seized.
A fuel sample was sent to a lab for a check(still waiting for the result) due to the failure happening only 9,5 km after the Last Refill (Diesel).
A third party mechanic inspection is coming.

The event; Fuel up a Brand New Irving gas station, Drive north towards a very long and steep hill that usually the SUV has absolutely no problem going up at 110km\h in 6th gear, From what he say's the SUV had more trouble going up hill than usual & was in 4th gear. Then the engine Seized with no warning, no Check Engine, the end.
So Bad Fuel? leading to Hydrolock?(almost impossible), Oil pump failure?

I was just reaching out to see if any of you had a similar thing happened or dealt with a sudden OM642 engine failure on any Platform.

 

Catastrophic failure with no CEL? Had the timing chain been replaced? I think the OM642 is an interference engine, but that doesn't explain the power loss before grenading. That points more to oil starvation. Were the metal shavings ferrous?

 

Disregard.

 

**Update** All value in metric

After reviewing every service sheet since day one.(All done at MB)

Here's some interesting details Quantity 9 Litres
Oil used from day 1 to 17 Dec 2013 5W-40B ESP 229.51 (To me borderline too light oil used for a high heat engine) - 0k to 88k
Oil used from Dec 2013 Onward 0W-30 ESP 229.52 (Beside Arctic condition WAY too light for a high compression turbo(oil cooled) application). - 88k to Engine Grenading it self 271K

6 months later When in for maintenance In June 2014 - 103K Leak problems from there onward
Turbo Seal leaking (Orange) & Oil Cap Leak(Not sealed)

June 2014 to Nov 2015 Maintenance done, small other non engine related crap done at the dealership 103K to 176K

Nov 2015 Maintenance & Turbo seal *Orange* Replaced again ! 150K

Nov 2015 to August 2016 Maintenance & Filter 150K to 176K (Random Oil Smell in the cabin)

August 2016 Intake problems , Swirl flaps broken due to excessive amount of Carbon\Sout Deposit in the intake. - 176K
The whole intake needs to be replaced (Known problem), Oil change done with only 8 litres ???

December 2016 - Oil Change done At MB as usual - 193K
Maintenance sheet show a oil change for 12Litres of oil instead of the usual 9L
I can understand a extra litre but 3 .....

From December 2016 to Mai 2017 - 210k
- oil also changed a MB, Transmission had to be re-adjusted , Hvac smells like oil

September 2017 - Oil change done & A bunch of gasket needed to be replace, glow plug module needed to be replace - 226K
December 2017 - Major oil leak , replacement of Crankcase seal & also had a frond engine oil leak , Add of 1 Litre of oil(same 0W-30 Garbage) - 234k

February 2018 - Oil change - 242K

11 Juin 2018 - Oil change done

9 of July 2018 - The engine granade it self

I left all the unrelated maintenance as it had nothing to do with the engine & Yes fuel filter were replace numerous times.

To answer the Question above - Not the starter that's for sure
- No the Timing chain was never replaced

 

Are you absolutely 100% sure that it was filled with Diesel?

Was the underground Diesel tank at the station filled with petrol by mistake?

I would test the fuel remaining in the tank.

 

We had problems like the one described above here in Brazil when the ML CDI started to be marketed here in 2008 or 2009. Mercedes's solution was to reduce the oil change period from 15,000 to 8,000Km and the adoption of a cheap oil, but that is used in trucks.

 

Thank you for sharing the story, Mercedes is as responsive to Question on their decision of certain oil & schedule as the Gestapo.
I'm sure it's all for legal reason.

Keep them coming

As for the Fuel, Yes it was a diesel pump
A sample from the vehicle tank is out to the lab for a check up & we have a extra 5 litres from a sample taken from the same pump 4 hours after.
That being said the sample, I took in a 5 litres tank don't smell as strong as diesel usually do but I'll let the lab be the judge of that

 

I don't know if the OM642 uses a similar o-ring on the oil pick-up as the AMG e-55 but this would certainly explain the oil starvation.

This could be the culprit...

https://www.idparts.com/oil-pickup-t...42-p-7410.html

 

Check this part
https://www.idparts.com/oil-pickup-t...42-p-7410.html

 

Please post back here once you know the results.

 

Funny about the concern for gasoline in a diesel, people have a misconception that since gasoline seems so volatile that in a diesel its going to blow it up. Sorry that is not true. Oh and by the way there are multi fuel diesel engines that will run on gasoline, and to do so it is highly counter intuitive what is done to accomplish that feat. Gasoline especially high octane resists self ignition that is how it stops detonation, while with diesel fuel, it likes self ignition and is why it will light off so easily in the average diesel engine on the road now. Other than lubricity for the fuel system, gasoline will not cause your diesel engine to seize.
And I'm probably the only one here to agree with your assessment of the low viscosity oil that MB recommends. If there are components that need the thin oil they should have used a bit more thought and made it so you could use what a big highway truck uses for lube oil, or long lasting railway engines.

 

@exhaustgases - this person also agrees with you: http://www.stephensservice.com/bluet...issuesproblems

 

Any news about the results, please?