Well, I took the car in last night to the MB service center because of loosing coolant, about a pint every 500 to 1000 miles. No external leaks, but it was going somewhere.

After sitting all night at the dealer's garage, they said there was so much pressure in the overflow tank, they were surprised the cap didn't blow off. Definitely a head gasket problem.

The quote on the phone said 17 hours of labor would be involved. That really seems excessive, does it not? At $80/hr, that adds up rather quickly. Also, that didn't include the machining of the head which is done by an outside shop.

Since the head and gasket were replaced about 70k ago, what could have caused this to happen? It didn't ever heat up excessively, at least not to the point of reaching the red area on the gauge (no warning light either)...


Am I being fed a line or does this sound about right?

that sounds very high to me I worked in an import shop some time back an figured flat rate every day. I would check with an independent shop , and I'll bet the head was poorly milled the first time unless car was overheated since 70 k on gasket dosn't sit right.......
William Rogers......

$80 A HOUR!!! Where do you live, NYC? My local Benz dealer charges $68. The shop I bought my car from only charges $50 per hour, cash/check. $80 a hour would definetly add up. I would get a second opinion from either another dealer or from an independent shop.

__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

I hesitate to think what a dealer in Manhattan would charge.

My local dealer charges $89.50/hour. This is in suburban
Dallas, TX. Needless to say, they have never done any
non-warranty work for me!

Once I was looking at Ferrari dealership websites and came across one that had a hourly rate of $70. I think it was Algar Ferrari in PA or Miller Motor Cars in Greenich CT. $70 for a Ferrari and a MB dealer has the stones to charge $80-$90 a hour. You know darn well the MB mechanic isn't seeing much of that $80.

__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

The benz dealers charge about $90.00/hour in st. louis.

Unfortuanaly my car is way past warranty and I have to pay out the a$$ everytime it goes in the shop.

The dealer quoted me $8500.00 for an engine. Im not going to spend that on a car that still drives, doesnt overheat, doesnt use coolant or oil.

Well, the car has been at the dealer for 1 day short of 2 weeks now. They haven't touched it yet...supposedly the "parts just came in". They are anticipating another 2 or 3 weeks before my car is done.

I was contemplating taking it somewhere else and asked if I could take the car home. I was advised "under no circumstances" should the car be driven. Is my problem this severe?

On top of the head gasket estimate, they said if the head is cracked, it would be an additional $2500-$3000 for a new one.

I've had top end work done on other vehicles before, one being a recent Ford diesel pickup and don't ever recall this much labor and parts costs being involved ($3k for a new head??!)

Am I overreacting to this situation?
Any advice would be appreciated.

I have the same engine in a 87 300TD that I am about to tear into to change the head gasket for an external oil leak. I am guessing that it will take me about 8 hours in my home garage. I have been known to under estimate these things before, but I will tell you , it looks a whole lot easier thatn the two heads I had to replace on my Ford 4.0 liter V6. This took about 16 hours to do both heads, including the removal of a lot of accessories.

Also, since the parts just came in after sitting for two weeks, why should it take another two weeks to do the 17 hours worth of labor? At most three days, one to disassemble, one to have machining done, another to assemble.

Good luck and keep us posted!

We are now into Week 3 with no word from the service dept until this morning. I'll start out by saying I'm thoroughly ticked off.

I called this morning to check on the car. The service writer told me they are short 2 MB mechanics and the last few vehicles they were working on took much longer than expected. But was assured "the car has been moved inside".

I asked about taking it somewhere else, they said it was partially torn down and would cost $500 if they were to put it back together enough to make it drivable.

Also, I am looking at "around 2 weeks" longer if they are to complete the job.

Advice please. Thanks.

MPlatt,

I know the feeling, I had a similar experince but not with head gasket problem.

It sounds like the infamous MB dealership service to me.

First, talk to the service manager, not your advisor. Explain to him or her the situation. They have had more than enough time to work on it. Its not your fault the cars took longer for them to fix and its not your fault there mechanics quit, etc.

Tell them to wave the labor costs to get it running and take it somewhere else or give you a discount of some nature (assuming if you still want them to work on it)

If that dont work, talk to mbna.

But if you waited this long, you might as well wait another 2 weeks, assuming they are not B.S.ing you.

I would worry that the techs might rush through the job and not do it right. Thats my biggest concern.

Oh i forgot to ask. Did they want an additional $3000.00 for a new head or is the total bill of $3000.00?

You can take it to a machine shop and they can fix the head for cheaper than that. Ask them when they remove the head can they take it to a machine shop in the area and have them redo it. I got quoted 300-1000 to have the head redone. $3000.00 is too much for a head.

MPlatt,

I am assuming that this is an M103 engine. I went through this last summer. I removed and replaced the head myself and was very impressed how well this operation goes on these engines. I'm not sure, but I think I could do this job TWICE in 17.5 hours and I'm not even a professional MB tech.

You, of course, want to see that a valve job including valve guides is done at the same time. Additionally if the head is cracked, in many cases it can be repaired. There is absolutely no need to replace with a dealer head for $2,500. If you need a head, and yours can't be repaired, you can find one on the internet from one of the large salvage yards for a fraction of that cost.

Good luck,

Never mind, I didn't notice, at first, that it was an SDL. My comments about repairing or purchasing a used head still apply though.

Good luck,

In answer to your questions (Johnson Chan)...

The $3000 figure was in addition to the already outrageous 17 hours of labor.

Hmm...lessee...worst case scenario...
17hrs @ $80/hr = $1360
Gasket and related parts = $ 400
New Head $3000
Total $4760

This seems absolutely rediculous. Correct??

you need to shop the places that take these things apart and sell the parts - you can probably pick up a good head, have it reworked machine shop and installed by an independent for less than $2k. Do it yourself and you should be able to get by for under $1500. Heck, I have even seen some MB cars for sale - the whole car - for under $1000 and these things don't even have any rust (BUT the one I am thinking about is a 240D (I may buy it just to get the interior out of it). Problem is, I purchased my 300D because I use it to drive back and forth to work and if I fix it up too nice I will not want to use it for my daily commute and would have to start carry something more than liability insurance ($250/year).

__________________
Jim