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#31
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wow, i just got the dreaded CEL about 2 weeks ago. have some oil leaking on my garage floor. this is actually my moms car and was serviced not through MB. after reading numerous forums and this one being the most informative, its not looking good =( i will stay subscribed. good info guys keep it up.
actually the codes autozone gave me are p0016 and p0017. not 1200 and 1208 like you guys are getting. is it because their scanners are not "technical" enough or can i do something now and prevent the failure. thanks guys |
#32
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As per MB WIS. P0016=1208, and P0017=1200. Sorry.
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#33
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06 ML350 Balance Shaft Failure
There are a large amount of different make/models that have the balance shaft problem. I have a 06 ML350 w/55,000 miles that had the balance shaft replaced in Aug. 2010. We received a small amount of "goodwill assistance" through Mercedes for the repair because 1.they said we purchased the car new and 2. had all the regular maint. done through an authorized center.
Mercedes has known about this problem since 2007 and has failed to notify any owners of the problem. Probably because the repair is so expensive ranging from $4,000-$8,000 and with most, the problem doesn't show up until after the warranty has expired. So it's a win-win situation for Mercedes. I don't feel all warm and fuzzy inside because Mercedes offered to put a little "goodwill cash" towards a repair that cost me thousands that they should have covered in full. And their 2 "rules" for qualifying for "goodwill assistance" for the repair has nothing to do with the repair. It's not preventable. If your vehicles falls between the serial numbers, your balance shaft will fail. I've organized a group on facebook specifically for the balance shaft to try to get information to people and also get a number of vehicles affected. If your vehicle has been diagnosed, please join at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?gid=113581522026194#!/group.php?gid=113581522026194 |
#34
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Quote:
This is what warranties are for. If it didn't fail in 4 years/50K miles (or 5 years/100K miles if CPO) you got what you contracted for. You are perfectly free to purchase as much extended warranty as you want. The DTB contains the range of engine serial numbers affected. I suspect this is worldwide production, so if you count the engines and call it the number of cars, it may not be strictly USA cars.
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Kent Christensen Albuquerque '07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster Two BMW motorcycles |
#35
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as it is now there is a class action lawsuit over this problem and the case seems to be a strong one, but i have no legal training so i am not exactly qualified to say if it's win-able or not.
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________________ punkinfair |
#36
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Yes, but as with all class action lawsuits the lawyers get 50-60% of the $$$ OR more.
__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES) ASE Master Technician Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times) 44 years foreign automotive repair 27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer) MB technical information Specialist (15 years) 190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold) 1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold) Retired Moderator |
#37
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Quote:
putting myself in the shoes of the hapless owner, if i had this issue with a vehicle out of warranty, and MB refused to repair it, i'd sooner have 50% of the repairs paid for than none. it's all well and good for the independent service facilities to laugh about this issue (while they reap the benefits - i have seen this) but that doesn't help the customer who bought the vehicle in good faith. i am guessing MB took a calculated risk and decided not to remediate the engine issue proactively, at the expense of their customer's pocketbooks.
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________________ punkinfair |
#38
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I've got an R-Class in the shop right now that only threw the 1200 code ( we usually find 1200 and 1208). We didn't find any teeth from the balance shaft gear in the pan (which is usually the case) either, so I was a little suspicious right from the start. To make a long story short, the gear was definitely showing signs of wear, but the timing chain was stretched a few degrees. The chain was the root cause of the problem, but the gear was about to let go. BTW, MB picked up the entire tab.
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#39
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good to hear that. there seems to be a lot of discretion involved in these repairs, where some get covered even if a few thousand out of warranty, and some owners are SOL.
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________________ punkinfair |
#40
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Pays off for sure if you bought the car from the dealer and had it regularly serviced there. Cheapskates seldom win.
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Kent Christensen Albuquerque '07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster Two BMW motorcycles |
#41
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Mercedes knew about the balance shaft issue since 2007 and failed to notify owners...
Mercedes has known about this problem since 2007 when they issued the DTB! That was way before all of the warranties expired. They knew with all of these vehicles the balance shaft would eventually fail and did not notify owners of the problem. Mercedes did and are still hiding it from current owners because they don't want to pay for their poorly made vehicles. That's pretty shady.
Mercedes knew that my balance shaft was breaking way before my warranty ran out. Just because the code didn't show up until after my warranty expired doesn't mean it didn't break when I still had a warranty. The balance shaft doesn't break spontaneously, it's over time (when I still had a warranty) and Mercedes knows that in the majority of these vehicles the code won't show up until after the warranty is expired. Failure to notify owners and misrepresent their product for monetary gain is not a company that can be trusted and is like fraud. They should have notified all of us in 2007 when they knew our balance shaft was currently slowly breaking apart and eventually the CEL would come on and we would need it replaced. Mercedes knew about the problem and they didn’t notify anyone because they didn’t and still don’t want to pay for the repair. You would think with the name Mercedes they would stand behind their product. But then again you would think with the name Mercedes they would make reliable quality vehicles. Maybe the name Mercedes doesn’t have the same meaning of quality as it did 10 years ago. I have a feeling that Mercedes will soon regret the decision they made not to notify owners of the balance shaft issue. Anyway, I’m buying a new Jeep Grand Overland. I had a Jeep about 8 years ago and not only does Jeep stand behind their product but blows my ML away with the power of the Hemi! Oh, and I don’t have to buy an extended warranty. Jeep is in the “quality” group of automakers that stand behind their engine to 100,000 miles! |
#42
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Its not always out of warranty when they go- my first one was a 2007 GL450, gear failed at 17,000 miles in November of 2007. I can't seem to find any rhyme or reason as to why some fail and others don't. We have an 2006 ML in right now.. 160,000 miles, shaft was still original.
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1980 500SE/AMG Euro 1981 500SEL Euro 1982 380SEL 1983 300TD 1983 500SEC/AMG Euro 1984 500SEC 1984 300TD Euro 1986 190E 2.3-16 1986 190E 2.3 1987 300D 1997 C36 AMG 2003 C320T 4matic past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350 |
#43
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Quote:
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#44
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I just got my CPO 2008 E350 with 33K mile in Feb 2011, It ran fine but had the CEL on and off by itself, I took it back to dealer and they told me that the balance shaft needed to be replaced (under warranty). My engine serial# is "272964 30 784919" which is greater than "2729..30 468993" listed in S-B-03.30/08i, is It possible?
Thanks, |
#45
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The engine end number on that bulletin doesn't apply to the W204 chassis.
So yes, early W204's can have that same malady. Guess I need glasses. Thought you had a C-class, haven't heard of balance shaft issues with that high of an engine number.
__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES) ASE Master Technician Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times) 44 years foreign automotive repair 27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer) MB technical information Specialist (15 years) 190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold) 1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold) Retired Moderator Last edited by mbdoc; 03-23-2011 at 08:13 AM. |
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