Mechanic says engine is "Locked Up" GL350 Blutec with 55k miles

[arcticathlon]

My brother in law just texted me saying that their 2013 GL350 died on an on ramp and the engine is toast. Meticulously kept with oil chances every 3k miles.
It gave no warnings and after it died the oil light came on. My sister tried to start it and it turned over a few times but then stopped. Mechanic "opened the top of the engine and tried to turn it over" and says it is locked up. It was not low on oil at all. I cant imagine that this engine would just randomly lock up and be a paperweight.

Codes are seen below. Can these not be the cause, but more of a symptom of the engine stopping?

I told him to take it to another mechanic to get a second opinion and to have the oil pan checked for metal parts, maybe something else could be making it seem locked up? How is it possible to have an engine lock up with oil in it? I am in Texas and he is in Nashville, so i cant go there, and he will be lurking and can respond to any questions you might have. I am hoping to either have specific things to check for the mechanic and/or have it towed to a different shop. Any suggestions in Nashville?

Thanks for your help.

[Diesel911]

Is there a way to look inside of the Oil Pan? What was the condition of the Oil. Meaning does it smell burnt is there coolant in it and so on. Looking for something abnrmal.

No one mentioned if before it died there was smoke, steam, coolant smell, burnt oil smell and so on.

If you can see inside of the coolant recovery tank what does it look and smell like?

If coolant got into the cylinder it creates a hydraulic lock and the Engine won't turn but eventually the coolant passes through the piston ring gaps and into the Oil Pan.

I could have missed it but was there any odd noise before the failure.

Something happened to the timing Chain and or gears.

[MudSlideSlim]

I'll have them check the oil pan and the coolant recovery tank this week but there was no steam, smoke, coolant smell or anything abnormal prior to it dying. Didn't notice any odd noses and it was running great.
Also, I doubt this shop will even admit if it was anything smaller since they've already jumped to complete engine replacement for $15k. I'll give them the chance though. Thanks for the quick reply!

[dkr]

Just on the face of it, it sounds like the mechanic either isn't competent or good at communicating. For a $15K repair job, I would expect to know *exactly* what was wrong with the old engine and why it can't be fixed for such a low-mile engine.

Assuming it is something serious, I would think a broken chain, jumped timing, valve to piston contact or something of that nature. If the mechanic pulled the head off, that sort of thing should be pretty obvious.

Is there a way to look inside of the Oil Pan? What was the condition of the Oil. Meaning does it smell burnt is there coolant in it and so on. Looking for something abnrmal.

If there isn't anything obvious when pulling the head, I would look at a used oil analysis to try to pinpoint some of these details.

Dkr.

[MudSlideSlim]

Originally Posted by dkr

Assuming it is something serious, I would think a broken chain, jumped timing, valve to piston contact or something of that nature. If the mechanic pulled the head off, that sort of thing should be pretty obvious.

If there isn't anything obvious when pulling the head, I would look at a used oil analysis to try to pinpoint some of these details.

I will see what they come back with on Monday and have those potential issues queued up to make it seem like I know what I'm talking about.

[arcticathlon]

Originally Posted by dkr

If there isn't anything obvious when pulling the head, I would look at a used oil analysis to try to pinpoint some of these details.

Dkr.

MudSlideSlim will need to clarify if the head was even removed or just the valve cover was taken off. I dont know the extent of the investigation that was undertaken.

[oldsinner111]

if it's paid for I refit, with a better diesel engine

[MudSlideSlim]

Originally Posted by oldsinner111

if it's paid for I refit, with a better diesel engine

It is paid for. What would be a better engine to throw in it?

[Usaguy]

Originally Posted by MudSlideSlim

... What would be a better engine to throw in it?

A 617 in a GL350 would be fun to look at

[dkr]

The kicker is - How much do you want to pay for a diagnosis just to find out that you still need to pay $15-20k?

It's a fairly new Mercedes, not a Hyundai. I would think if you could afford to buy the vehicle, you could at least afford a proper diagnosis unless you just consider it to be a disposable piece of junk that gets tossed out when something goes boom. I would still pay a good indy to do it at their shop rate, not the dealer. Otherwise, someone else like rollguy is going to get a really good deal. I would also argue without the diagnosis, you don't really know if the replacement/repair cost is a fair price and you don't know what caused it. Perhaps if it is a design problem you might want to just junk the vehicle. Or if it was oil related or something like that, you would want to adjust your maintenance procedure. It would really suck to have it happen again after spending the $15K.

Dkr.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by dkr

It's a fairly new Mercedes, not a Hyundai. I would think if you could afford to buy the vehicle, you could at least afford a proper diagnosis unless you just consider it to be a disposable piece of junk that gets tossed out when something goes boom.
Dkr.

I wasn't suggesting he junk it. I suggested he think twice before paying an Indy who doesn't seem to know what he is doing $1500 just to take the oil pan off. Get it to someone who could fix it once the diagnosis is done. Probably a dealer. And get MBUSA involved.

Just spoke to the technician and he stated that he was not sure what the actual cause of the seizure was and that it would involve dropping the oil pan for approximately $1,500 to properly diagnose

.

[pawoSD]

Originally Posted by christuna

A 617 in a GL350 would be fun to look at

Looking at it would be all you could do since it would be too slow to safely drive it.

A GL weighs 5,550lbs+

I am glad I went with the OM651 as my modern diesel ownership experiment. Engine has been flawless, a few emission system issues (exhaust) but overall good experience so far 2 years/21k miles into it. And double the MPG my 420SEL used to get, can't compain!

When you think of how many OM642s are out there roaring around all day these failures amount to a fraction of a percent of total engines in operation....you never hear about all the ones running just fine.

[Usaguy]

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Looking at it would be all you could do since it would be too slow to safely drive it.

...

Let's see

240D: 3250lb / 68hp = ~48 pounds per horsepower

617 turbo swapped GL350: 5467lb / 125hp = ~44 pounds per horsepower

It should accelerate slightly faster than a 240D which in my opinion is fast enough

Although because of a 3.27 axle ratio and taller tires in the GL you would have to stay in 3rd gear to get any acceleration on the highway

[jay_bob]

Originally Posted by pawoSD

When you think of how many OM642s are out there roaring around all day these failures amount to a fraction of a percent of total engines in operation....you never hear about all the ones running just fine.

Yep I own 4 of them all doing fine, one of them up to 210k

Every day the FedEx and Amazon vans come through my neighborhood, a good many of them are Mercedes Sprinters and guess what's under the hood. Yep an OM642.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Looking at it would be all you could do since it would be too slow to safely drive it.

A GL weighs 5,550lbs+

They used OM 616, 602 and 617 in these:


About same weight as a GL350?

With the 87 bhp OM617 non-turbo, it could do 79mph and 0-100kph in 27sec! The most recent G400 provided 326 BHP out of same displacement engine and could do 0-100kph in 6.4 sec! Some of them had Bluetec engines, which I think was a big mistake for a vehicle that needed to be 100% reliable.