W211 AMG Discuss the W211 AMG's such as the E55 and the E63

Car got towed into MB San Diego today

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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 06:56 PM
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Unhappy Car got towed into MB San Diego today

Driving down 163. Got off freeway at Friars and got to stop light..... smoke was coming from engine thru vents. Immediately pulled over at Fashion Valley behind the Firestone right there and opened the hood to let it cool (I thought worst case scenario, Firestone should have a fire extinguisher...) and got my whip towed to MBSD. Looks like fluid was leaking and was going onto pulley and that is where is was smoking..... whatcha think? Not sure if it was oil.... transmission fluid or what.... probably find out tomorrow
Attached Thumbnails Car got towed into MB San Diego today-dsc00181.jpg   Car got towed into MB San Diego today-dsc00182.jpg   Car got towed into MB San Diego today-dsc00183.jpg   Car got towed into MB San Diego today-dsc00184.jpg   Car got towed into MB San Diego today-dsc00185.jpg  

Car got towed into MB San Diego today-dsc00186.jpg  

Last edited by jicl55; Apr 6, 2009 at 08:39 PM.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 06:58 PM
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more pics... sorry took them w/ camera phone
Attached Thumbnails Car got towed into MB San Diego today-dsc00187.jpg   Car got towed into MB San Diego today-dsc00188.jpg   Car got towed into MB San Diego today-dsc00189.jpg   Car got towed into MB San Diego today-dsc00190.jpg  
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 07:55 PM
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Originally Posted by jicl55
more pics... sorry took them w/ camera phone
That sucks. Hopefully they can take care of you without the rapeage.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 08:08 PM
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Do you see a leak at the bottom of the car? If it's red that should be tranny fluid. I'm guessing it's more like engine oil. Maybe bad valve cover gasket? Keep us updated. Hope it works out.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 08:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Max.H
Do you see a leak at the bottom of the car? If it's red that should be tranny fluid. I'm guessing it's more like engine oil. Maybe bad valve cover gasket? Keep us updated. Hope it works out.
+1

I think most likely engine oil too, hopefully nothing too major!

What color was the smoke?
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 08:28 PM
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Originally Posted by bobgodd
That sucks. Hopefully they can take care of you without the rapeage.
Yeah, bought extended warranty through mbsd last time i got "rapeage" (3500 outta pocket for ABC pump installed and that top pulley that is covered with oil went bad..... the bearings got fried.... forgot, like $800 for that one too).... cool part is didn't have tow hook so someone drove from mbsd to give me one so I could get towed..... hopefully isn't too crazy and hopefully don't have to put any stock parts back on.... Got a slow as hell c300 now with the big old "courtesy of mbsd" on the window....

Last edited by jicl55; Apr 6, 2009 at 08:41 PM.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 08:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Max.H
Do you see a leak at the bottom of the car? If it's red that should be tranny fluid. I'm guessing it's more like engine oil. Maybe bad valve cover gasket? Keep us updated. Hope it works out.
Not red.... think it is oil but not sure.... might be oil from the supercharger? Seal right there possibly? Clutch? No oil on the bottom of the car. It looks like it just leaked all over the interior engine parts on the front side. Like I said, they did replace that top pulley (whatever the hell it's called?) cuz my bearings were completely fried last November, so if its that, it would still be covered..... hopefully find out tomorrow... in the meantime
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 08:41 PM
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Originally Posted by ECBAOBAO
+1

I think most likely engine oil too, hopefully nothing too major!

What color was the smoke?
White smoke coming from top of that pulley where most of the oil had leaked onto the belt..... right on top under the engine cover.....
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 11:14 PM
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Looks like a valve cover gasket blew out. If so, it's a cheap fix for DIY. About $80 in parts and 2-hours of labor for DIY. But the dealer is likely to charge an arm and a leg for that job. It's not exactly easy because you have to take off a number of things.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 11:35 PM
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Originally Posted by AZIPOD
Looks like a valve cover gasket blew out. If so, it's a cheap fix for DIY. About $80 in parts and 2-hours of labor for DIY. But the dealer is likely to charge an arm and a leg for that job. It's not exactly easy because you have to take off a number of things.
thank god for extended warranty..... as soon as it is up, I'm going to throw the car away Nah, on second thought, never ever could do that... luv this stupid thing too much..... maybe get my 80mm throttle body put in while I'm there? (still have to get a couple of parts tho..... Mr. Brenton, where r u?)

Last edited by jicl55; Apr 6, 2009 at 11:39 PM.
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 01:07 AM
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Hopefully your extended warranty covers whatever happened!

Did you ever get a video of a driveby outside the car? Haha
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 02:42 AM
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Originally Posted by ECBAOBAO
Hopefully your extended warranty covers whatever happened!

Did you ever get a video of a driveby outside the car? Haha
Actually, they may not if its a gasket.... we'll see tho, hopefully not too bad.... and no, haven't done the outside vid yet. Thought I'd wait and do the throttle body, then do the outside.... but ain't gonna be doing nothing in the slow *** c300.

Last edited by jicl55; Apr 7, 2009 at 07:19 PM.
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 02:19 PM
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Any info from the dealer yet? The more I look at your pic, the more I'm feeling that its an awkward place for oil to be coming out (gasket is on the V cylinders, but your oil is coming out near the SC clutch). But not withstanding a complete failure, I can't see how oil can blow out other than from the valve-cover gaskets.
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 03:23 PM
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What did it smell like? Coolant has a distinctive sweet smell while oil(s) are going to smell like, well, burning oil.
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 04:12 PM
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Supercharger front seal?

Could it be the seal to the input shaft on the supercharger? Am not a expert on these superchargers but if they are like typical Roots blowers (ours is a twin screw), they use gear oil in both the front and rear case. Perhaps this is gear oil from the supercharger? A hot engine would cause the oil to smoke. I had a seal go out on a centrifugal Procharger once and it did something very similar. At least you noticed it. Would be a b*itch to have the blower seize on you.

While on the subject, does MB have a recommendation on changing out the oil in our superchargers, or do they consider it to be "lifetime" as they did with their transmissions for so long?

Best of luck at the stealership, hope this is a minor seal or gasket fix...
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 04:29 PM
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That's a leak on valve cover gasket. W211 is known for having that leak.

You should see some kind of oil on the sides of the valve cover. Replacing the valve cover gasket alone is more than $1k. Its not the parts that is expensive here, its the labor. Alot of things has to be remove before you can even take the valve cover out. I already got mine replace using my extended warranty.
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 05:00 PM
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Sorry to hear that..I hope you got it taken care of without costing you and arms & legs.
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 05:57 PM
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...still no word
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 07:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Roehl
That's a leak on valve cover gasket. W211 is known for having that leak.

You should see some kind of oil on the sides of the valve cover. Replacing the valve cover gasket alone is more than $1k. Its not the parts that is expensive here, its the labor. Alot of things has to be remove before you can even take the valve cover out. I already got mine replace using my extended warranty.
What are you smoking?

The gaskets for both banks is less than $80. To remove the valve covers, you have to take off the ignition coils, valve cover bolts, and a few hoses here and there. It's not a easy DIY, but it's completely do able at home with basic tools. It's a 2-hour job.

It can't be $1000 labor to do it. If you are right, then I am surely in the wrong business!
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 08:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Roehl
That's a leak on valve cover gasket. W211 is known for having that leak.

You should see some kind of oil on the sides of the valve cover. Replacing the valve cover gasket alone is more than $1k. Its not the parts that is expensive here, its the labor. Alot of things has to be remove before you can even take the valve cover out. I already got mine replace using my extended warranty.
I think you should check your source again..Roehl..What kind of gasket is it that cost $1k.? Is it made of gold..? Valve cover gasket runs $25.00 each side..
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 08:10 PM
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Needs new supercharger!
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 08:39 PM
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That isn't cheap...What did you do to have your supercharger blown out?....ouch!!
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 09:00 PM
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Originally Posted by jicl55
Needs new supercharger!
WTF what happened
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 09:09 PM
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Originally Posted by JoelE55
That isn't cheap...What did you do to have your supercharger blown out?....ouch!!
Drive it I don't even take the thing to the track.....
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 09:14 PM
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Originally Posted by shardul
WTF what happened
Some kind of seal in the interior of the supercharger broke that they basically can't get to = need whole new supercharger (think he told me preliminarily $4800 for new supercharger) Should be covered under mb extended warranty (chrysler). Find out more tomorrow.... you know, there is only a couple of more parts to replace and I think I'll have replaced everything Ok, back to my other comment, when this thing is outta warranty, I am gonna throw it away.....
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