Fried glow plug module?

[bhehmann]

About two months ago, I took my 2008 E320 Bluetec to the dealership to fix an oil leak on the oil-cooler. They charged me a whopping $3100.

About two weeks later, the check engine light came on together with the glow plug light. The codes I got from the ODB II indicated a "U0106 Lost Comm with Glow Plug Ctrl Mod" code from ALL 6 plugs.

I started troubleshooting and found the ground lead of the glow plug module to be loose, the screw had been turned in but not tightened, leaving about 1/4 inch play, enough for the wire to rattle around, causing arcing.Based on my knowledge of electronics, such arcing can damage wires and electronic components, right?

I took the car back to the dealership and now the service adviser says the following:
"We did not find the code that you mentioned, but we did find codes for all of the glow plugs individually. We tested the glow plug module and it showed to be working properly. So there is an issue, but we’re not sure exactly what it is just yet. We are getting the shop foreman involved this morning."

Are they trying to fleece me again?

[mach4]

Originally Posted by bhehmann

Are they trying to fleece me again?

Seems like an interesting question...it is the dealer, right? You expected something else????

There's probably a note in your file...

[barry12345]

Some dealers habitually fleece everybody coming through the service doors. It is a way of life for them.

I think with the status of the brand there is the expectation that buyers have very deep pockets. There still is honesty and reasonableness out there but you have to find it. It usually will not find you.

The wifes Toyota car is getting close to it's 30 thousand kilometer or 18k mile dealer check up here in Canada. The bill will be about four hundred. That includes the oil change but does the car really need a new cabin filter? It is going to get one needed or not for probably seventy five dollars. Many small items like windshield blades will also get replaced even if they are perfect.

Way of the times I suppose. Someone or something has to pay for those large dealership buildings and ongoing expensives. That seems to be the cars purchasers even though you never get a percentage of the building to own.

To find out if they fleeced you with the oil cooler. Find the price of the parts and the flat rate time for the job. My guess is the total will be nowhere near 3k. I have looked at many service bills that bear no sense with reality at all. Even my mother seemed to get seriously victomised. In her mind the more you paid the better the job.

Certain work might be better handled by a dealer. An oil cooler unless somehow very complex is not one of them.

I started to look. Your oil cooler situation had it seems some form of recall if it leaked. Most do not get it but some suggest they do. Average dealer cost for the job appears to be about 2200. yet as high as 2700 even non dealer. It seems that the car is great when running right but overall it is not a good trouble free engine.

Oil cooler problems can repeat as well. The original seals for the oil coolers where also not up to the job was the reason some owners appeared to get some adjustment on repair prices.

If you could get a decent part back of what you have invested in the car now overall. If it where mine I would move it if needing to pay others for the services that will be required.

The engine setup appears to be both over complex and hard to work on in some areas. You should read up on owners experiences. They were far from impressive. Or at least the ones I read.

The oil cooler system leaks at between 57k and 149 K it seems the first time. Another later failure of the oil cooling system to be expected with that engine as well. Also at this time there seem to be no serious internal engine repair parts in the system. This may be erroneous but it was mentioned in a couple of areas I read some time ago. This may or may not have changed.

You did some of the members like myself a favor by posting. I will not be looking for a used one down the road even if pretty cheap. Complexity with high quality is not too bad. complexity with marginal quality is something else.

[tjts1]

Why go to the dealer with a car that's out of warranty in the first place?

[bhehmann]

The guy I usually go to told me he didn't have the tools to do the job and recommended I take it to the dealership. He stated the last one he got with a similar oil leak cost $1400 at the dealership. Someone in the forums told me it's a 10+ hour job and I don't have the means to do it myself.

As it turns out, they replaced one glow plug on cylinder #4 and the scan code is clear for #4. They quoted me $837 to replace all 6 plugs. How on earth can 6 plugs suddenly go faulty all at once? I'm dead certain the loose ground lead on the glow plug module caused this but they won't take responsibility for it.

I will replace the glow plugs myself and in the future I'd rather sell this car than go back to Park Place Motorcars in Grapevine, TX.

[barry12345]

Certain work appears to be better preformed by guys that do the same jobs on a regular basis in my mind on these particular engines. That oil cooler job looks like a seven to nine hour epic if careful while doing it.

Someone not really familiar might damage things while learning. Some of those things appear very expensive. It gets even worse. While everything is apart there are a few things to critically examine for their general condition as well. This should in itself not be an issue on lower milage quality cars.

[barry12345]

With the controllers ground loose. The plugs may have remained constantly on at times. Or may not of. When you remove the plugs at home you can check them out before purchasing some new ones. I would have thought if the are bad that they would now be throwing a code.

Actually a modern cdi diesel does not engage a glow circuit except for a second or two at best if at all. When outside temperatures are say 50F degrees . So even if bad at current temperatures they may not have been energized at all enabiling a code or codes to be thrown. My guess is this car is not going to be cheap to maintain even if doing the work yourself as it comes up. The price for a set of new glow plugs installed was somewhat interesting as well. You may need to plant some trees that money grows on.

Incidentally I am not really insensitive and feel your pain. For example we always liked earlier volkswagon diesels up tp 2004. The canadian system treats customers like dirt now and the potential for really expensive troubles to occur is growing with each evolution of the engine and the automatic transmissions. The transmissions where really bad before and there are still expensive issues. Now if you get a bad load of diesel it will be a fight even under warranty to get the car fixed and the fuel supplier to pay the bill. I hear it is 7-9 thousand dollars sometimes.

One problem is if the dealer states the issue is caused by bad fuel it is not under warranty. Why produce a fuel system this sensitive for countries where bad fuel is all too common?

Every time you fuel your cdi get a receipt and drop it into the glove box. The fuel suppliers will usually absolutely deny a claim with no receipt. The potential of getting bad fuel is increasing rather then decreasing. We will be buying no newer or new diesel cars. That 92 turbo model you had is about as new as we would purchase now for a Mercedes diesel.

[bhehmann]

But wait, there's more! Two days later, I go to the supermarket and upon returning home, about 2 miles to go, the steering suddenly becomes heavy and a red battery icon appears on the instrument cluster. I managed to limp home and upon further investigation found the poly-v belt in pieces.

Coincidence? At what mileage would one expect this belt to fail?

[Diesel911]

Originally Posted by bhehmann

But wait, there's more! Two days later, I go to the supermarket and upon returning home, about 2 miles to go, the steering suddenly becomes heavy and a red battery icon appears on the instrument cluster. I managed to limp home and upon further investigation found the poly-v belt in pieces.

Coincidence? At what mileage would one expect this belt to fail?

The Belt Tensioners or the area that the Belt Tensioner attaches to on earlier Models has been know to Fail.