RSRAMGLLC

1 Check engine light 2 rough running 3 hydrolocked # 8 cylinder = LUNCHED ENGINE

My now (less precious) 2008 E63 Wagon lost its engine yesterday, the dealer removed the injectors and spark plugs re-installed and starter will barley turn over engine number 8 has serious damage, bent rod, broken rings are at the top of the speculation list. Any other members have this problem? My real concern is that the heart and soul of an AMG is the hand built engine, one man in a clean room environment now being broken down by a young guy in a shop setting, this alone is not ideal never mind the Car Fax ramifications, Bought $6,000 extended warranty that is about to amortize by a factor of at least four times, but what can I expect from MB corporate who is committed to keeping warranty claim costs to a minimum? Should I hire the lawyer now, or give them a chance before hiring the lawyer. Is it unreasonable to expect a new complete engine from the AMG monster factory, they are talking short block if cylinder is scored and just new rings if no scoring.

FIRST MERCEDES FIRST AMG HELP PLEASE

Ruti Robart

NickE63

Omg that sucks GOOD LUCK hope they do the right thing

vdubpower

How did water get it

I seized my c320 engine. Insurance did a engine swap. Never showed up on car fax.

goalie_k

This is a KNOWN problem Mercedes has with the 63 motors. It's there dirty little secret. Give them a chance first before getting lawyers involved.

lunarx

Are you still within the original 4/50 warranty?
I have seen MB send a completely new M156 engine assembly on a car that was still within 4/50.

MB is good at taking care of AMG customers.
Do let us know what happens.

verteu

What goalie said, it is a problem with the m156 engine. I'm interested to know what happens tho

lunarx

^ If that's true, at what service interval should injectors be changed?
It would be cheap insurance.

otakki

Hopefully they will swap in a new engine for you.

RSRAMGLLC

Meet with service manager this morning, my dealer is Prime Mercedes of Westwood MA, they have been fantastic in fact they have restored my faith in real dealer service, we will see however this is as they say "a horse of another color". The dealer's position is that they have to breakdown the engine to diagnose the extent of the damage and then they escalate the repair to MBUSA who tells them what they are willing to authorize. MY position stated this morning is two fold. 1 We have a diagnosis a stuck open fuel injector caused a hydrolock and a "catastrophic engine failure" 2. My AMG engine was hand built by one man who does nothing else than build engines, using matched and balanced components in an assembly environment akin to a clean room, in order to be made whole I need a replacement engine from the same facility.

I have asked the dealership to not break down the engine until such time as the regional service tech can meet me at the dealership with the service manager and a plan of action can be agreed upon.

The service manager Tim has been very nice to far, however what he wants to do is repair the engine up to and including a "short block" if the damage warrants. The idea of a AMG engine being repaired, I mean rebuilt in a shop (albeit a clean gorgeous shop) drives me NUTS

Here is the question am I being unreasonable I have a factory extended warranty, 52K on the motor, so at least so far the dealership has said I covered.

Just heard from from Andrea of MBUSA told her that I have de-authorized the repair, she is supposed to speak with the dealership and the area service rep and call me back stayed tuned as the drama unfolds

Please reply need advice

Ruti

otakki

With the AMG's well known "One Man One Engine" slogan, I really feel all failed engine should be pulled and sent back to Affalterbach for repair. I agree with you: it is nerve wracking to think that the engine is now taken apart and put together like any assembly line mass-produced engines.

RSRAMGLLC

>>>>>>>>>> "All's well that ends well" <<<<<<<<<

To recap, a fuel injector stuck in the open position and hydro locked the M156 AMG engine in my E63 wagon. The check engine light came on and the engine starting running rough and I shut the car off in less than two minutes, I parked went to do something and when I returned the car would not start. The upshot was when I tried to re-start the car the starter motor could not turn over the hydro locked engine and instead sheared teeth off the pinion gear of the started motor, a new starter motor and very luckily no damage to the engine so far.

JonMBZ

It is a known issue I seen a CLK63 Black in our shop for the same thing with only 36k miles. I doubt they would send any engine back to Germany for repair and doubt they would replace it with a new one unless it was completely necessary. The dealer would be losing a ton of money if this was done and I doubt they would push for it.

lunarx

So the extent of your rebuild was swapping starter motors?

Are they going to replace your injectors, to avoid a reoccurance?
If not, I would suggest that you pay to have them changed and then argue for reimbursement later.

lunarx

I know of complete engines replaced under warranty.
But you are right, that it was completely necessary.

BTW - The dealer would not loose money on an engine replacement, but MB would.
I think the dealers parts department even makes a profit passing it thru.

Although dealer labor charges are higher to rebuild an engine, I doubt a dealer wants the responsibility of that and would push for an exchange if they can justify it.

Luckily this engine only needed a starter.

tv434

Wowwww... The same thing happened to me! Fuel injector got stuck open on my 2008 CL63 with 56,000 miles. I ended up needing a new rod and piston. I was told that this is a known problem on M156 engines. Instead of just replacing the one bad injector with the new updated one, all 8 are being replaced to prevent any future occurences from happening. A couple of days later, while I'm at the dealer getting an update on my issue a guy has his CLS 63 towed in for the same problem, but his car hydrolocked. Who would think that one little injector would do all of that damage?

JonMBZ

I didn't mean they would lose money on the complete engine replacement, they would lose money if they bypassed the dealer and had the work done at the AMG factory.

rbrooks027

My 08' E63 was just flat bedded to the local MB dealer. I hate hearing it, but mine did the EXACT same thing (54k on it)! I thought it was bad gas at first, but it looks like this problem is a trend with these engines.. I'm out of warranty (purchased used), and am wondering if there is any course of action for me besides coming out of pocket for the repairs/rebuild. Any suggestions?

lunarx

If it means anything, I feel for you.
Please let us know the extent of damage and how things go regarding repairs.
I really hope Mercedes is willing to help you out on this.

My experience has been that they totally take care of you when under warranty.
I hope that they can extend their great customer service to be fair to owners of out-of-warranty cars, that fail prematurely from known issues.
At the very least, it should have been recommend, during service visits, to replace parts with known issues to the updated parts.

otakki

It would be excellent if MB will replace parts with known issues, like those headbolts! But they don't. To minimize cost, MB would rather let the few engine hydrolocked than having to spend much more doing preventive works. It's all about cost-effectiveness.

Thus my approach to not getting ripped off by the "stealerships" is to go to a trusted indy for maintenance works, but have a full factory extended warranty in place. And before the full 7 years factory warranty runs out, I trade it in.

Keep us updated. Best wishes!

lunarx

I get that MB won't change these parts on their own, however they should recommend it as a customer-pay, for customers who are out of warranty.
If it saves custromers from blown engines, its better for MB and the customer.
A string of blown engines is not good for a manufacturers reputation.
The repair costs, on a severely dammaged engine, could be worth more than the car.

New injectors and headbolts, would be cheap insurance.
The updated lifters might be a good idea also.
If a customer declines, then at least MB could say they offered a solution.
For people taking their cars into dealers for service, the expectation is that MB is going to be doing their best to help owners keep their cars running and performing properly.

Has anyone priced out this work?

AHI63

Wow, this is brutal... Did they update these faulty injectors at some point? Do 2009+ have the same issues?

lunarx

New Injectors are $96.
https://www.genuinemercedesparts.com...onent=INJECTOR
Seems like cheap insurance.

rbrooks027

Hi all -

I just wanted to post an update on my situation. Ive held off for a few days on this because I didnt want to jinx anything before it was actually done and finished, but I think it may be safe enough to do so now.
To briefly recap, my 08' E63 (M156 engine) stopped running and I was afraid it was due to an issue that may be a recurring issue with these cars. My car has 54K on it, and is 6 months out of warranty, so I feared the worst in a total engine failure. I took it into the local Mercedes dealer last week (flat bedded, and not starting), just hoping for the best. They called a few days later and said they think it was a head bolt failure/ and or stuck open fuel injector(s), and they were able to get Mercedes to fully cover the initial attempt at repairs which included a starter, 8 fuel injectors, O2 sensor, plugs, and a few other parts that I cant recall but I think fuel rails, and maybe heads(?). I cant recall exactly because I was just so ecstatic at the time that I didnt hear everything except "Mercedes was going to cover it". They said they would try that first, but wouldnt know if there was any internal damage done or not until they got in there to do it.
Well, I crossed my fingers again, but felt a bit more relief than when I brought it in to them, cautiously thinking that if they were willing to cover that much, then they probably would cover (at least in part) anything else that may need fixed/replaced.
They called this afternoon and said it is all fixed up, and they were going to deliver it directly to my door this evening.. I was/am on cloud 9, and cant wait to get my baby back! I still have to actually drive it and make sure it is in fact "right", but I cant see them bringing it back if it wasnt . So at this point I want to give kudos to Mercedes and their customer service, especially for going above and beyond in this situation (even if it was a know problem by them across the M156 band of engines, they at least did the right thing in this case).
When I get it back and test it out I will update on everything, including the work performed and parts replaced.. Im a happy fella right now!

AHI

Holy crap !!! Great news !!!

lunarx

Very nice news to hear.
Please do let us know the extent of the work, when you get the paper work.

It looks like MB really is proud of their AMG engines.
Its the sign of a great company to take care of their customers.

Do keep your warranty up though, so you dont have to take a chance.
I went with the 7Y/135K plan.