Check Engine Light on 2018 S 63
#51
Good morning everyone. Still at the dealer after Germany said to do PICO Test on 5 of the cylinders which has now been done. That was an odd one I thought since they previously did compression testing and leakdown testing and all was fine. They wanted the PICO test to be done at idle and then half throttle and at full load. While that was in progress Germany sent another message to the Service Dept to do Borescope on the CATS. Did that and sent off the results to Germany. They came back and said to do back pressure testing on the CATS while driving. They did that yesterday and guess what -- the first time any of the myriad of tests done in almost 3 months and thousands of dollars of labor and parts, the result was failure. Came in as "above spec", presumably meaning clogged or restricted airflow. Hmmm. Might that be causing the CEL and misfires? If so, might this whole nightmare and most of the cost be erased by the 8/80 emissions warranty which my car would still be under? It is a 2018 S63 with 20,000 miles. Stay tuned. Would love to get it back by Xmas and would be a great gift to be told the whole mess is somehow related to the CATS and covered by MB. Maybe a pipe dream but miracles happen.
Edit: M157 has no pressure sensors in the exhaust🥲
Last edited by merctech20; 12-20-2023 at 10:07 PM.
#52
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Catalysts fail due to being fed the results of misfires. The air and fuel not burned in the combustion chamber WILL burn in the cat and will add a LOT of heat to it, melting one or both cats. Cats don’t just up and die as they did in the bad old days (1970s-80s).
#53
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2018 S63, 2009 SL 550, 2024 Rubicon 392, 1998 BMW 328 IC
Agree, that could be the issue but at this stage MB is not saying they are bad, only "out of spec". Not yet sure till after xmas what they come up with. Last time I saw my car was 10/6/23. Hope they sort it out before New Years.
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2018 S63, 2009 SL 550, 2024 Rubicon 392, 1998 BMW 328 IC
I should have said in my last post that the Svc Mgr told me that MB replaced one of the Cats about the time they bought back the car from the previous owner at around 14K miles. He said they were now going to do musical chairs with the injectors to see if they get misfires when moving a known troubled cylinder's injector to a new spot and vice versa. Given everything else they replaced, and having been in there once already, seems like they would have just replaced them all, but apparently not.
#55
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I should have said in my last post that the Svc Mgr told me that MB replaced one of the Cats about the time they bought back the car from the previous owner at around 14K miles. He said they were now going to do musical chairs with the injectors to see if they get misfires when moving a known troubled cylinder's injector to a new spot and vice versa. Given everything else they replaced, and having been in there once already, seems like they would have just replaced them all, but apparently not.
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2018 S63, 2009 SL 550, 2024 Rubicon 392, 1998 BMW 328 IC
Happy New Year! Car still at dealer. Yesterday's message from Service Manager is that Germany says to replace Gas Tank because of contaminants ( first I have heard of this one ), and that there is a kinked hose going to a fuel pump. Says the bill would rise to over $28,000 if they proceed but the MB Rep is telling them not to proceed until upper management somewhere in MB weighs in. Imagine taking your car to the dealer with a Check Engine Light and waiting three months for that news! They requested $5000 a month ago as they were throwing darts which I paid in good faith. The way I see it is that MB has responsibility for this debacle since they bought the car back from the previous owner and presumably fixed it before selling it to the outfit I bought it from. I had the selling entity ( reputable company that sells buybacks ) take it to a MB dealer for a PPI which I paid for and the car was declared to be perfectly fine. It literally looked and drove as new, with 14K on the clock. The explanation at the time for why it was bought back was that there was some minor software update needed and folks take advantage of Lemon Laws in CA all the time. As I recall, it had remaining warranty from MB and also from the selling entity when I bought it but that expired due to time by now. I've only put 6K miles on it in three years! So we will see what MB comes up with next. I'm open to trading it in with them but they have said they can't do anything on that front until they know what's wrong with it. I suggested dropping a new engine in and that would certainly fix the CEL -- but this gas tank and kinked hose is a new wrinkle. Oh yeah, they also want the dealer to put in all new injectors too. Obviously going to have to get a lawyer involved unless MB does the right thing by me. I doubt they need this crazy story out on social media and such. SMH!
#57
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Good Morning Quadcam,
I've mentioned your story to our shop foreman here at my dealership. We have an E63s that we've replaced full pumps, injectors, fuel rails, engine control module. All at the hands of Mercedes telling us to replace parts according to them.
My shop foreman just ran to me to let you know, double check the main body ground, went from the transmission bell housing to the body. Ours was corroded and needed attention ASAP. foreman has cleaned that up and already completed his AMG test. Currently producing CAT efficiency codes now.
Maybe this helps..
we have had this car for over a year regarding performance issues
I've mentioned your story to our shop foreman here at my dealership. We have an E63s that we've replaced full pumps, injectors, fuel rails, engine control module. All at the hands of Mercedes telling us to replace parts according to them.
My shop foreman just ran to me to let you know, double check the main body ground, went from the transmission bell housing to the body. Ours was corroded and needed attention ASAP. foreman has cleaned that up and already completed his AMG test. Currently producing CAT efficiency codes now.
Maybe this helps..
we have had this car for over a year regarding performance issues
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2018 S63, 2009 SL 550, 2024 Rubicon 392, 1998 BMW 328 IC
Thanks C43, curious what year yours is. Assume it is same engine? MB Germany wants the gas tank and all fuel injectors replaced now. They say the tank has contaminants in it. Good news is that MB has agreed to pay all labor cost for this fiasco. I'm still stuck with paying for all the parts that were exchanged for new, most of which were perfectly fine I think. Those included ECU, Fuel Rails, Coils, some Injectors etc.. They are convinced mine is a fuel contamination issue and they previously checked all grounds. We will see in a couple of days after they replace the tank and injectors. I appreciate that they are covering the labor costs, but still feel salty about all the parts that they say were necessary to replace in order to assess what the issue was. Clearly it is a buyer beware on Mercedes cars IMO if they are not under warranty because the CEL does not reveal to the Dealer what the heck is the problem. I may get rid of the car after it is declared fit out of fear that something like this happens again, and because the car has been out of service for over three months. Additionally, the engine has been taken apart multiple times and this gas tank removal is another major surgery that requires taking the rear end apart to extract and replace.
#59
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I would tell the dealer you want all of the old parts. I would guess most are still fine and you can sell this stuff online to recoup some of your money if you are so inclined. Particularly the ECU. I would probably sell it at this point as you are right that a lot of stuff has been disturbed multiple times with more to come.
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2018 S63, 2009 SL 550, 2024 Rubicon 392, 1998 BMW 328 IC
We are almost 4 months at the Dealer now and they tell me the car is finally fixed. Mercedes NA and the Dealer worked together to significantly reduce the bill which had mushroomed to around 30K. This was for my 2018 S63 that had a Check Engine Light and misfire. Unbelievable. At the end of the saga, it was determined that the gas tank had foreign material in it and that led to problems with the injectors which were all replaced along with the gas tank. At the end of the day, they are telling me it will cost me almost 8K. I will be given no parts as MB requires that all of them be sent back to Germany as part of this deal.
How did foreign material get in the tank and what was it? Mystery.
It's been a horrible experience on a 20,000 mile car that would otherwise be an amazing machine. Now I'm wondering about keeping it. I suppose I will, since all the parts they replaced are under a two year warranty now including labor I think. If I put my foot into it again and that damn Light come on with the misfire, that will be it for me with this car.
Best to all
How did foreign material get in the tank and what was it? Mystery.
It's been a horrible experience on a 20,000 mile car that would otherwise be an amazing machine. Now I'm wondering about keeping it. I suppose I will, since all the parts they replaced are under a two year warranty now including labor I think. If I put my foot into it again and that damn Light come on with the misfire, that will be it for me with this car.
Best to all
The following 2 users liked this post by quadcam:
carlosinseattle (02-03-2024),
chassis (02-03-2024)
#62
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Thanks for the update. I am really surprised that the fuel filter did not catch whatever was in the tank unless it was a liquid. Weird. Glad it kinda worked out for you. Enjoy the car.