Skeeter

Noticed HUGE power loss after a spirited drive on the freeway yesterday. Like she's lost all torque all of a sudden, seems to downshift like crazy and build RPM to get any power down. Not so bad when she's cold, but after a few bursts of speed on the freeway poof, no torque.

If I put the car in 'M' and leave it in 4th gear on the freeway at ~60, I can floor it and get virtually no thrust. Definitely something wrong. Drag! 2005, I've got a Renntech pulley and ECM, otherwise stock. Funny how passengers say, "seems fine to me", but how painfully obvious the lack of power is now that I'm used to all that torque.

I've read lots of posts here on probable causes, mainly the S/C clutch or pump. Can't say that I'm hearing the same clutch chrip, but that comes and goes anyway, so no way to be sure what the problem is. Engine temp is nice and low, and it is cold outside... Seriously painful not having the endless power that we've all grown so addicted to.

I'll post results once the dealer takes a look. Hope it isn't anything big...

Skeeter

AdamG@NorCal

Skeeter, come in to EuroElites immediately. We will take a look. when are you free?

jangy

Don't confuse a crappy clutch with the chirp. The chirp is a simple noise, and has very little (if any) impact on performance. On the other hand, the clutch turning off will make it feel like it has about 250hp.
The key is to find out WHY the SC clutch is not engaging. Assuming that all mods (and yours are mild) are clean, I'd feel comfy taking it into the dealership for a look. Beware, they may reflash your ECU, depending on what work you get done and so you will need to re-do the RENN ecu.
Definitely not a big deal (as long as you have warranty). Many have had that issue and had it worked out completely. In all honesty, I say take advantage of the opportunity and get the updated clutch anyway.

zdkdeeier493

Without a doubt its your S/C pump. Same thing happened to me and many others on this forum. Just take it in and tell them exactly what happened. They should know. Have it swapped for a new one and you'll be good to go.

ROCKETW19

i agree with elanor owner its the I/C pump. skip the dealer take it to adam at euro elites and get the renn I/C upgrade with extra heat exchanger. you will love it even in the summer when its hot.

john89011

It's most def. you I/C pump. Same happend to me when I floored it trying to pass two tractor trailers and almost got killed when the SC gave up on me

Lysholm Master

Make sure you get the updated IC pump part number. The new part number, A000 500 03 86, was last updated in April of 2006 and is called a Circulation Pump by the folks at MB. The issue was originally addressed by MB in December of 05, so my guess is that if your car was built before December of 2005, your IC pump is a failure waiting to happen. If you have an shop invoice from your MB dealer, it should show the production date of your car on it. I'm currently waiting on mine to fail based on its February 2005 build date . . . .

Skeeter

Great info! I'll make sure they use the new part if the pump turns out to be the problem. No surprise it failed if it is a weak part, I'll admit I'm a bit heavy in the foot. Basically the pump fails, meaning the blower quits b/c the air coming out of it is too hot?

e55 baller

When the clutch engages not only do I hear the chrip but I can feel the car load up, for 1/10th of a second it will jar my head about 1-2 inches forward in my seat...very very subtle feeling but I can always tell when it engages...about 5-15 mph when I am driving normally.

Get an IAT gauge best darn diagnostic tool you will ever get for your car....along with a boost guage.

Hope you solve your problem...I have been there and it sucks

jangy

Yes.

E55VegAs

I know im behind in responding to this post, but the same thing happened to me like a month ago. I was driving home from the club one night and i was toying with the car on 95N when all of a sudden the car started high reving after i took my foot off the gas. I floored it again didn't go anywhere... my heart dropped!!!! Me being new to AMG i pulled the car over and turned it off and waited like 2 mins and turned it back on. I punched it pulling back onto 95N and the supercharger kicked in<--- lovely As soon as i took my foot off the gas it did it again.. Now im pissed!!!

Well to make a long story short i took the beast in the next morning and indeed it was the I/C Pump. They changed it and the beast is better than ever!!!

Skeeter

Interesting update on all of this...

Took her in to a mod-friendly dealer back on Thursday of last week. Still don't have it back!

Spoke to them today, they indicated that they are replacing more than the pump, they are swapping out the entire supercharger. WTF?! Sounded like a standard case of I/C pump. Hope they are telling me the truth, and that they'll replace everything with 2006 parts! That'd be GREAT. No more chirp, for starters.

They didn't even guarantee that I'd have it back tomorrow! OMG. So far 4 working days they've had it (open Saturday), and they'll need 1-2 more days to complete the job? Glad she's under warranty. But if all they do is swap out the pump, I'm gonna be one ANGRY customer. Doubt they'd jerk me around, the service rep seems like a super-nice guy, but has anyone had a car out of service this long? Anyone had the entire S/C replaced in a 2005 with 36k miles on her?

I'll keep you posted,

Skeeter

psk145

make sure you get your engine builder's plate back and put on the new blower.

Im having the same issues, but I hope its just the pump

AdamG@NorCal

Most likely they will remove the Renntech pulley and flash the ECU.

jangy

You are lucky they are not being ****ty about saying the RENNTECH pulley and ECU caused the SC to die.

I would have the TB upgraded, since you are removing the SC anyway.

AdamG@NorCal

I dont think the dealer will want to upgrade the TB. Even if they wanted too, probably charge alot of money for it.

jangy

True. You ever heard of SC issues? That seems odd to me. i hope the RENN has nothing to do with it.

AdamG@NorCal

Nope, never heard of it. I dont think the dealer knows what the problem is either.

jangy

That sucks even worse (that they don't know). I hope they at least tried the pump first. I know at least ten guys that had the same symptoms and all got fixed with a simple '06 pump upgrade. I hope the dealer isn't looking for fault codes, cause there won't be any.

The car has also been out long enough that they have the info they need. MB is known to swap out entire components until they get all the bugs worked out, like they did with the 7g tranny.

Skeeter

Update:

Got the car back on Tuesday. So they had the car for a total of 3 full and two half working days.

The good news is that she feels good as new Fast as ever, the torque is back in town!

Here's a list of the more interesting stuff they did:

Replaced the voltage regulator (open campaign). Part #003-154-51-06.

Replaced the coolant pump, part #000-500-03-86 (thanks Lyshom Master).

Replaced the Turbocharger (?!), part #113-090-05-80-70

Replaced the Turbocharger (?!), part #113-090-05-80-88

Notes:
During service technician found SBC pump failed.
During service technician found programming failed.
Replaced SBC pump to repair. Part 005-431-81-12, Hydropneumat.

Of course also a bunch of misc. stuff: hoses, tape, fasteners, etc...

I asked the service rep if they had killed the Renntech code and he insisted that they did not. He said that they did update SOME of the ECM settings, but nothing that Renntech alters (shift points, timing, etc). Seat of the pants verifies this, but hard to be precise with this much power. I'll Dyno her eventually to double-check. They did leave the Renntech pulley and belt in, so I'm good there.

So my guess is that they went overboard and fixed my 'chirp' problem with the sledge-hammer solution, swapping out the entire supercharger. Odd that they call it a turbocharger... Sure enough, no chirp any more, so no complaints.

Any idea what this would have cost me if I'd been out of warranty? And as a BTW, we get 4/50k on the standard MB warranty right?

Thanks to all, I'll post when I get the dyno numbers to confirm that she's putting out as much as she did after the Renntech stage 1 was installed.

Skeeter

Jrocket

During service technician found SBC pump failed.

Yikes,thats not a good one to hear about.

If indeed they did replace the entire SC not just the clutch,that would have been a pricey bill had the warranty not covered it,plus replacing the SBC pump cant be cheap either.I bet the replaced the SC clutch is all.Good to see you have a mod friendly shop working on your car.

psk145

how did you get a twin turbo E55? Makes you feel good that the techs working on your car know the difference between supercharger and turbocharger

Skeeter

What's an SBC pump? Is that the intercooler pump or something else?
Thanks!
Skeeter

clum553946

Skeeter,

What dealer did you take your car to?

MB_Forever

Glad the power is back.
Don't forget to post the dynos...