SL55/63/65/R230 AMG: 2004 SL55 misfire occasionally.. need help!!
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 3,703
Likes: 5
From: Arizona
SL55AMG, Ferrari 348, Ferrari Testarossa, Ferrari F40, Ferrari Mondial t, Ducati 916, Indycar
ok this is what happend:
my head gasket was bad and so were my valve seals and guides, causing more oil and coolant to get into the engine therefore causing misfire. the worst was on cylinder #8.
the cost and amount of work required to replace it:
in order to get the heads off, the engine had to come out of the car. Now this is per the mechanic.
I ordered all the gaskets, valve guides and seals from ebay and a company from Tennessee.. the total cost with shipping was $800, which was really good compared to located MB dealership of $2200.
The machine shop was right about $400.
THE LABOR. now if this was any other workshop, it would have cost me an arm and a leg. This guy quoted me originally $1000 to do the work; however, since it took him a lot longer then 1 week as quoted, he cut his price in half.. so $500.. the total job ended up costing me about $1800, which i'm extremely satisfied. just thought i'd let you guys know in case you run into something like this.
just a tip. The mechanic says he tried without taking the engine out and it was almost impossible due to timing cover not being able to remove it with engine in. he did say that this engine was one of the easier ones to remove out of the car.
thanks for all your input.
my head gasket was bad and so were my valve seals and guides, causing more oil and coolant to get into the engine therefore causing misfire. the worst was on cylinder #8.
the cost and amount of work required to replace it:
in order to get the heads off, the engine had to come out of the car. Now this is per the mechanic.
I ordered all the gaskets, valve guides and seals from ebay and a company from Tennessee.. the total cost with shipping was $800, which was really good compared to located MB dealership of $2200.
The machine shop was right about $400.
THE LABOR. now if this was any other workshop, it would have cost me an arm and a leg. This guy quoted me originally $1000 to do the work; however, since it took him a lot longer then 1 week as quoted, he cut his price in half.. so $500.. the total job ended up costing me about $1800, which i'm extremely satisfied. just thought i'd let you guys know in case you run into something like this.
just a tip. The mechanic says he tried without taking the engine out and it was almost impossible due to timing cover not being able to remove it with engine in. he did say that this engine was one of the easier ones to remove out of the car.
thanks for all your input.
I love to work on my own cars, but if I draw a blank, it's off to the expert!
Glad to see you got her put together and now you can enjoy it.
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 308
Likes: 0
From: Missouri
E500(Sold), SL500(Sold), C350(Sold), ML350, SL65
I just got my car out of the shop after three week of running test and they found that cylinder #10 that the injector wasn't seated correctly. That was my case for the engine light kept coming on.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
From: Des Moines Iowa
2004 Mercedes SL55 AMG.. Silver with 20's
Good to hear you have it all fixed ... and for good money too 
How did you know which kind of valve guides and seals to use? just new original or repairs? ..... also - according to STAR it's not necessary to take the engine out to do this but on the other hand it's much easier to work with ..... timing cover should not be removed ......
Did you have your heads machined? .... do you have any pics. of the heads before and after? ... and hopefully your mechanic also used Loctite with the new gasket?
How did you know which kind of valve guides and seals to use? just new original or repairs? ..... also - according to STAR it's not necessary to take the engine out to do this but on the other hand it's much easier to work with ..... timing cover should not be removed ......
Did you have your heads machined? .... do you have any pics. of the heads before and after? ... and hopefully your mechanic also used Loctite with the new gasket?
the heads were machined and all the seals and guides were replaced. on supercharged motors, they will wear out more then naturally aspired due to pressure being built up. My biggest issue was that I had smoke coming out everytime i start the car, like bad. now it's not there unless i just start the car and shut it off after 5-10 sec and then later start it again. this is very common with the way MB has the intake set up, which uses oil. so far, pretty happy with the car.
i don't have any pics, the mechanic does. will ask him to send me the pictures so i can post them.
he said that there was no way of getting those heads out without the engine being pulled out and if he knew that from start, it would have saved him a ton of time.
Newbie
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
SL55 AMG
2002 SL55 AMG - Misfire & ESP/ABS/BAS Warning ON
Hi All, I have a 2002 SL55 AMG.
I've got an engine misfire along with ABS, ESP & BAS Lights on. No Speedometer when Driving. Also Suspension dancing around playing up/down etc.
Anyone got any ideas??
Fault Codes:
P20CC - Rough Road Detection - Speed Signal From Control Module ESP Implausible (p1999)
P2068 - Electronic Transmission ECU - N15/3 Error
P2036 - No or Incorrect CAN Message from Control Unit N47-5 ESP Control Unit
P2047 - Misfiring (See Currently Valid STIP) (p0300)
P2047 - Misfiring of Cylinder 2
P2050 - Misfiring, damages TWC
I clear these codes, and they come right back. Could a faulty ESP Module cause this all? the last thing i did was program a new key and replace the starter motor which was easy. have anyone got any ideas on this??
I've got an engine misfire along with ABS, ESP & BAS Lights on. No Speedometer when Driving. Also Suspension dancing around playing up/down etc.
Anyone got any ideas??
Fault Codes:
P20CC - Rough Road Detection - Speed Signal From Control Module ESP Implausible (p1999)
P2068 - Electronic Transmission ECU - N15/3 Error
P2036 - No or Incorrect CAN Message from Control Unit N47-5 ESP Control Unit
P2047 - Misfiring (See Currently Valid STIP) (p0300)
P2047 - Misfiring of Cylinder 2
P2050 - Misfiring, damages TWC
I clear these codes, and they come right back. Could a faulty ESP Module cause this all? the last thing i did was program a new key and replace the starter motor which was easy. have anyone got any ideas on this??
