Daughters 240D just broke down, thank God for road side service. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

dmorrison · #1 06-03-2006, 01:19 AM

My daughter just called on the side of the road with an over heat situation.
Got to her 15 minutes later. Her water pump seal failed and she lost all the water. Bad part is that there was a puddle under her car in the driveway before she left. But we did not walk her out to the car the way we normally do. I would have stopped her, or called her to return.
We pay $4 each month on the 4 cars under our USAA auto insurance. The best $16 a month we spend. We have used the roadside assistance 5 times in the last 6 years. Once when the 560SL blew the oil filter off ( my fault over torqued the filter bolt) We had it towed form College Station to the DFW area ( $256 extra but worth it, A Friday night on a long weekend and no one could work on it )

So a heads up. With these older cars make sure you have road side assistance

Dave

Jim B. · #2 06-03-2006, 02:23 AM

I agree, and especially like the idea that they will come out for ANY Mercedes, even 30 years old and the 10th owner.

My best story was on a rainy day, the car would not start, and the battery was old, wouldn't take much of a charge. They sent an ML from the dealer and the tech installed a new Mercedes Benz battery, in the rain, for just the charge of the battery, no labor, and I avoided an appointment with, a trip to the dealer, and the labor charge and the waiting at the shop. Now is that cool or what?

I have also the AAA for flat tires and batteries and towing, but they only allow THREE service calls per year, so lazy owners won't call them every day for a dead battery.

Palangi · #3 06-03-2006, 10:38 AM

Dave

Do you know how many miles were on that water pump?

I am at about 110K on an MB rebuilt pump. Starting to think about just changing it as preventative maintenance.

Thanks

dmorrison · #4 06-03-2006, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Palangi

Dave

Do you know how many miles were on that water pump?

I am at about 110K on an MB rebuilt pump. Starting to think about just changing it as preventative maintenance.

Thanks

I do not know the milage on the pump. I just picked up a Mercedes rebuilt at the dealer in Dallas. $58 plus core ( Mercedes Banz Club of America price) .

Dve

dmorrison · #5 06-03-2006, 07:09 PM

New pump is on the the car with new Mercedes antifreeze. So all is well for now.

A couple of thoughts.

Last winter coming home the Gates belt I put on the car broke causing the water pump to stop, the car overheat and the radiator upper plastic crack.
The engine was OK and its been running ever since. The car has 160,000 miles on it. Did the water pump seal fail due to the over heating or the age. My 300TD got its new water pump at 195,000 miles. It's an 82. Or about the same age.
If you do have a 20-25 year old, 150,000-200,000 mile car. Is your water pump on it last legs, I don't know but I would keep an eye on it.

The Gate belt that is on the power steering pump is starting to fray at one edge. I will get a belt from Mercedes and install it. Not happy with the Gates belts I got from Oreilly's. 2 out 3 are failing within 1 year. so I'll return them for a refund.

Dave

#6 06-03-2006, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmorrison

The Gate belt that is on the power steering pump is starting to fray at one edge. I will get a belt from Mercedes and install it. Not happy with the Gates belts I got from Oreilly's. 2 out 3 are failing within 1 year. so I'll return them for a refund.

A couple of years ago my 300D was eating the inboard water pump/alternator belt about every 15,000 miles. There turned out to be a burr on the alternator pulley (like someone had grabbed it with vice grips) that was slowly shredding the belts. After replacing the pulley, all is well.