3 bad camshaft magnets... Help
 

Brought my friends 06 mb c230 into the shop cause the engine was ticking. They said 3 of the 4 camshaft magnets were bad and two camshaft plugs were leaking oil. They want $882 to repair which she can not afford at all. I've worked a lot on cars but am unfamiliar with this. I want to help her out and fix it myself but need some guidance.

Does anyone know how difficult it is to replace all the magnets and plugs? Is there a tutorial about it somewhere?

I found a camshaft magnet on here for like $30 something. Is it the same magnet for all 4 areas? Tools required? And possible time involved?

Thank you for any and all help I can get!

Do you have diagnostic equipment? Not sure the magnets going bad would cause the ticking but it would throw a ck engine light. What kind of oil is she running and how long has it been since the last oil change?

Dealer list price is about $32. Easy DIY job. Doubt it will help the ticking .

I do not have diagnostic equipment... Yeah I don't know why all three are bad. Synthetic 10w 30. Just recently changed... Is it ok to drive from dealership or could it possibly mess up the timing? They of course said do not drive it...

Bad camshaft magnets will not cause any issue, other than slightly restricted performance & the check engine lamp.

Labor to replace all 4 magnets is less than 2 hrs! & about $35 each

We need to define " bad " .. Have the magnets lost magnetism or are they swelling / coming out if their holders and contacting the sensor causing the ticking? I don't know what they look like so I can't offer specifics.

Some domestic cars ( like a late 90's GM truck 4.3 V 6 and 5.0 5.7 V8 ) have an issue with the crank sensor swelling, crank bearings wearing and the trigger wheel contacting the sensor.

Also, this person needs to get out of this car if they can't afford a $ 1000 repair and into something less expensive to repair. Maint costs are only going to increase from here on out as the car ages.

Bad= the parts were crap from day one. I've replaced enough of 'em to fill a small house. :D

That still does not give an accurate description as to what their failure mode is.

How parts fail matters just as much as that they have failed and need replacing.

What matters to the majority of DIYer's, as well as the clients who patronize my dealership, is that the car is fixed. Failure analysis is best left to the manufacturer/engineers. That's what they get paid for.


Concerning your original statement, "We need to define " bad " .. Have the magnets lost magnetism or are they swelling.......", I don't know how any technician would be able to determine this. I've had quite a bit of MB technical training over the course of my career, but I've never been trained how to determine "magnetism" performance!


FWIW, the issue with the cam solenoids (as I've been told by MBUSA), has to do with manufacturing tolerances/hardening of the magnetically actuated plungers inside the solenoids. Movement of the plunger either directs or restricts oil pressure flow within the cam timing device. Over time the plunger surface can become scored, eventually resulting in the plunger becoming sluggish, or completely stuck. When this happens the cam position sensors report the data to the engine management system (ME 9.7). Once ME 9.7 determines one or more camshafts out-of-position via mapping software/logic chain, a fault code is set.

All this tech-talk might be interesting to kick around on the Forum, but IMHO it doesn't really help fix the car. ;)

I agree that most people who patronize a dealership for repairs only care that the car is fixed. But DIY'ers like myself do want to know why and how parts fail. The explanation was appreciated, but not the lecture.

DIY people _need_ some concept of how a part works and how it failed.

As for clients, those with a engineering bent would want to know something about the repair. The stock broker probably would not.

It sounds like you are randomly changing the magnets not knowing why then need to be changed. What prompts you to change them? Is there a light on the dash like a 80's Oxygen sensor / Emission mileage counter?

A similar situation would be telling customer a tire is " bad ", then when asked what is wrong, you reply " It's bad and that is all you ( or I ) need to know" . For a tire there is a range of bad, worn tread, bulge, sidewall cut or something as simple as it needs air because it hasn't been checked in a while.


Now this info brings new terminology to the mix. When someone says " Magnet" that is generally considered to be a ferrous materiel with a north and south pole. Like a fidge magnet.

Now, you are speaking of "SOLENOID ", as in ELECTRO Magnet . , that is an entirely different entity. Remember, in my first post I said I didn't know what the " magnets " looked like and played it like the _Crankshaft_ position sensor that looks at magnets on the flywheel.

The description you gave is what I was looking for , wasn't that hard was it?