micbro100

First time poster here who could use some help with what appears to be the headbolt issue for my 2008 S63 AMG. I just bought the car for $5k knowing that it probably needed a new engine. After reading up and listening to videos on youtube I'm pretty sure what I have is the headbolt issue. The friend that I bought it off of said that the low coolant light came on and he continued to drive it and put coolant in it. White steam/smoke came out of the exhaust and water oil mixture was shooting out of the oil dipstick hole. The car had been sitting about 5 months before I towed it to my house.

I'm trying to decide if I should just go the replace engine route, or try to narrow it down to head gasket replacement. Knowing the issue with the headbolts, seems likely that this would be the issue and because my local mechanic is talking about charging me $4k for the head gasket replacement, seems like I should start looking for an engine. I am seeing used engines out of wrecked cars from around $6k to upwards of $11k. My mechanic wants to charge me $1,200 for labor to replace the engine. I also want to consider an engine with the new headbolts, which I believe started around 2010 and want to know if an engine from this year would fit.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Micheal

TECHNICIAN

If he's only charging $1200 to swap an engine in that car he likely isn't the guy for the job honestly. Find a reputable shop to spend your money at and have the car fixed properly.

micbro100

Technician, thanks for the advice. Any advice on finding a reputable mechanic in the LA area, what should I look for? To make it worth my while I need to keep the cost around $12k (engine, labor and parts).

My other question is if I should just pull the engine and get the heads redone. All signs point to the head bolts breaking, which is the source of a lot of the issues and lawsuit for this car (bad head bolts rust, break and coolant flows into the combustion chamber, low coolant light comes on, and water gets into the oil). The friend I bought it off, said it didn't overheat and the car only has 118k miles.

What would you do?
Thanks
Mike

TECHNICIAN

I don't personally know any shops in the LA area to recommend, sorry. A good measure of if they really know mercedes is whether they have a Xentry diagnosis machine. Any joe can buy a code reader or even a $5,000 "scanner" but a legitimate MB shop will have a Xentry, and hopefully a real one and not a laptop from china.

I'd likely pull the heads and determine what you are working with and find a proper repair solution. Usually the heads are fine and it just needs new headgaskets and the updated bolts. Should be well under $12,000. Again, find a shop who is recommended and has a ton of good reviews AND is familiar with your car. These are not engines that just anyone can rebuild due to special tools, service information, etc...

micbro100

Thanks again Technician. I've started looking for a reputable mechanic and am a little frustrated at how some don't want or have the time to talk with me. I found one that had good reviews on Yelp and was willing to talk with me. His thoughts are lining up with mine, which is to pull the motor and redo the heads while checking other things that make sense to replace or should be replaced while the engine is out. He did not however have the Xentry machine. His shop is very clean and his shop works on all German cars. I saw newer Porsches, BMWers, and Benz's. Rate is $125 / hour.

He said it was about 22 hours to replace the heads (leaving the engine in), and suggested I get the heads milled before putting them back in.

Question - what should be done while an engine is out to check the engine out, and what should be replaced while the engine is out. I'm thinking that worn belts and hoses should be replaced, but could start getting costly. My feelings are that a good mechanic should be able to tell me what needs replacing after the ending is out.

Any suggestion are appreciated
Mike

TECHNICIAN

You DO NOT machine the heads on modern Mercedes. As for other needed repairs let the guy doing the work tell you what he recommends. Belts and hoses for sure are not a bad idea.

micbro100

Its been several weeks since my last update. I've spent time looking for a mechanic that I trust. I have 2 in mind but am still not getting a good feeling about either of them. The 2nd mechanic says all the right things about taking the engine out and checking everything while replacing all the head bolts and tappers. Also said that there was much more room to work. 1st mechanic wants to replace the engine without even looking at the car first. What should a mechanic check before starting to pull the heads?

Also, I drained the oil out of the car and what came out was half water and half oil. I believe the prior owner was putting water in the radiator because the low coolant light was on and it bled into the engine. I drained the oil and put several liters back in just to get oil back in.

Question; how much damage can water sitting in the engine for 5 months do and is there a certain process to clean it out? I'm asking the mechanic to do a compression test and while doing so flush out the oil/water mixture. Is this a good idea, or should I just ask them to start on the heads?

Also, I was able to get the service record from the dealer and it did report that the owner was experiencing the car stalling out intermittently but starting back up. Attached the record if anybody is interested.

TECHNICIAN

With water inside for 5 months or more it now needs a total tear down to inspect for damage. Bearings do not tolerate oil/water mix

micbro100

knowing that there is no way to know how much damage the water did, would you recommend finding a replacement motor with low miles or tearing the engine down and checking everything out.

An engine and labor is going to cost around $10k. I'm not sure how much the cost to go through everything and check it out would cost. 1 of the mechanics I talked to estimated $5k to do the heads. My guess is the extra work and parts could cost up to an additional $4k (SWAG/Guess). To go through everything seems like the right way to do it.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

Also, do you do consulting, I would appreciate being able to talk with you for advice.

Thanks,
Mike

micbro100

HELP! trying not to get ripped off!

I found a nice S63 engine with 77k miles and decided I'm not going to replace the headbolts. The work would void the warranty I have.

My question is that the mechanic I've been working with says that it will take 33 hours to replace the engine. I've spoke with a dealer mechanic I know that lives in a different state and he said the book is for 10 hours to R&R. The mechanic wants to charge me $130 an hour or $4,290. Does this seem excessive to anybody? He said that he needed to sync everything up from the suspension, to the brakes and everything else that ties into the computer.

I was thinking maybe 20 hours, not 33 but if I'm wrong I will accept it.

Thanks,
Mike

TECHNICIAN

33 to swap seems high. I would guess 20ish is correct but would need to look it up to verify. 10 is possibly MB warranty time only for engine r&r without all the other additional required work. No shop charges warranty time to a customer. He may be adding time to make up for the fact that you are supplying the engine and he is losing out on parts profit, which is not unfair.

gregmills12

Hello Mike, I am currently searching for an engine replacement for my 08’ S63 and was wondering where you came across your engine listed for sale?

micbro100

I found a lot of engines on ebay searching throughout the country. The shipping fees are minimal if you find the right engine. I also found engines on the link below. Be sure you match the engine serial number with the engine that you find and not just to the car VIN. Also be aware of the head bolt issue that was a big issue with the engine.

https://www.car-part.com/

Best of luck,
Mike

JCasillas

A little late on this post but if you are reading this and are buying an ebay motor for a swap make sure you inspect your motor throughly when you get it. Story time: I bought a 2008 s63 with 64k miles on it. 2k miles later threw a valve, it got stuck into the head and ruined the piston(cylinder liner good thankfully). Looked on eBay to do a swap, found an engine for 8k got it shipped from LA to GA. Starting putting things together and decided we should roll the engine over and check the valves.. 3 different cylinders had valves that wouldn’t seat (this motor would have ran worse than the one I blew up). Called the guy back up and he tried to make some deals that just wasn’t worth that can of worms. Long story short the guy almost got me for 8K and a lot of wasted time. Sent the motor back and did a rebuild instead


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