ScottFlyHalf

I've been told by the gentleman I bought my 2004 SL600 that pretty much every car of this age has the bolt into the engine block broken off because the ABC pump has been replaced so many times. ( car has 117K miles on it) His mechanic noticed that the bolt was broken off and just slapped it together with the remanufactured pump and one bolt (the timing chain housing is broken also) this work was done after I bought the car by the owners mechanic.

My questions are... Is this true? Is there normally one bolt holding the ABC pump on? Do I have any recourse?

I bought this car about 7 months ago and have had nothing but problems. I've put 3K miles on it and almost 10K into it this is after the 19.5K I paid for the car originally.

TRUTH... I was really taken wasn't I? I've replaced a coil pack, the Valve Block (front), and just chased engine codes. Had to get a waiver because this car would not pass emissions.

Thanks Scott

ItalianJoe1

Not true, I've seen people that are incompetent break things, usually the threads pull out of the front cover before the bolt snaps, since it's the softer metal, but anything is possible.

Do you have any recourse? Small claims court maybe? It's a used car, not much you can do at this point.

FxFormat

Jesus where did you find this car? I paid $13,000 for a 2005 with 70K miles on her, clean carfax. Just had to fix a few ABC leaks and do brakes all around. You can buy these cars for next to nothing, sorry about your problems, when everything works, this car is one of the fastest, most comfortable car out there.

ScottFlyHalf

Bring a Trailer... On-line auction. (BaT) Got it from some dealer who basically sells these and other cars all the time on this site. He has been a bit helpful but obviously not to the amount that I've been paying.

ScottFlyHalf

This car has been in the shop 5 times at least since I got it.... with pretty major issues. It was supposed to be well maintained. A bolt broken off in the block and a broken timing cover doesn't seem very well maintained.

LGAFF

What causes the bolt to pull out?

ScottFlyHalf

Wasn't pulled out... it was broken off, in the block. about 1/4 - 1/2 inch deep

fooschnickens

Does BaT have any kind of buyer protection against bad listings? eBay and similar auction sites allow you to return an item or get a refund if it isn't as described in the listing, based on what you're saying these are pretty major flaws that if they weren't mentioned in the original auction listing, might give you enough recourse to try and back out of the transaction.

That being said, since you bought it so long ago, you may be SOL unless the car spent more time in the shop than on the road...

ScottFlyHalf

BaT doesn't help you at all.. I've asked. It's between the buyer and seller they say. UNFORTUNATELY. I think the mechanics have probably put more miles on it test driving it after repairing than I have.

That said. The place I have it now has been able to remove the bolt from the block and mounted the ABC pump correctly. German Motors in Golden Colorado is the bomb. (does anyone use that term anymore?)

The mechanic working for my seller couldn't bother with that.

Let me know if anyone interested in this seller. He sells a lot of Mercedes out of Pennsylvania. Don't get burned. Thanks Scott

ItalianJoe1

Was it Bruce M on BAT? He seems to be the only guy selling V12 benzes there regularly.

At this point, it's just bad luck but you can't do much about a 14 year old car you bought used other than complain online. You can fix it and keep it, or try to sell it back for what you paid for it, but there is little else.

Rudeney

No, because you'll get a visit from one or more government agencies.

Seriously, I'm glad it's fixed. Broken bolts are really not the end of the world, There are tools like EZ-Out extractors and HeliCoils for damaged threads. My advice to you is to not stress over paying too much for the car. You obviously thought it was a good deal when you bought it, so just give it the maintenance it needs and enjoy driving it.

ScottFlyHalf

Yes it was BruceM. I guess he has a mechanic he uses to 'fix' these cars before they go out. Guess should have done something different than taking someone's word for the level of maintenance on it.

The problem was that the bolt was not in an easy location to drill out. My mechanic had to fabricate something to insure he drilled straight down the bolt.

I'll never get outta it what I have in it at this point... It is a kick to drive when it's working.