Today's update: The service advisor said that the shop foreman was sending more information to Mercedes. He confirmed that the swirl motor stuff was done but that this separate issue cropped up. The computer and an actual test are conflicting. They're hoping software will fix the problem but Mercedes always wants a bunch of tests done.
I felt it necessary to apologize on behalf of der Scheißwagen.
It's a wonder to me that Mercedes hasn't done a buy back program on these vehicles...
Standing in the garage right now. In theory, they're bringing my car around to me....
Here's a thought: The night after it gets back burn the f****** thing to the ground. I don't know what happened. It just caught fire right after you returned it. It's covered under warranty right?
Haha!
I have actually berated myself out loud on a couple occasions for taking evasive action and not just letting the person who would be 100% at fault hit me so I could total it out.
Part of me wants to get rid of this thing pronto. Part of me loves it (we call that part "Stockholm"), and part of me just wants to see how the whole thing ends!
Made the drive home perfectly. Dropped the middlest kid off at her job, got diesel at Costco, and then drove over to Costco proper to shop for Challenge snacks. Check engine light remains off and all seems good. For now.
I was told that the basic problem was that they couldn't get it to regen and wound up having to go through multiple levels at Mercedes to get a password to force it.
At some point they reset the computer - the "since reset" on the dash was way lower than it should have been - and after that point they drove it for 30 some miles and ran it for 8 hours!!
I asked if they were going to post my picture by the door and not let me back in, but they said I was welcome back any time.
Be careful what you wish for...
And when I started it up to leave Costco... Check engine light is back on.
wae said: Part of me loves it (we call that part "Stockholm")
Needs to be a Swedish car for that. Seems like you are on the right track there, too.
wae said:And when I started it up to leave Costco... Check engine light is back on.
Well, hey, that was 18 minutes of bliss according to the postings...
wae said:And when I started it up to leave Costco... Check engine light is back on.
You know it's absolutely real when 'Glutton4Pain' tells you to burn it down. That guy is a glutton for pain...and even he is like, "Nah, that's too much." - That's like going to a therapist and them telling you, "I think you need a...better...therapist."
Went up to some sawmill in Indiana to pick up some lumber for Dad. On the way back, hit a pothole and the new air spring basically exploded.
If nothing else, you are getting a hell of a story out of this comically terrible ownership experience.
But the old Swedish car that you dragged out of a shed just drove to Florida and back with little issue.
I don't think der Scheißwagen shoulders all the blame here. This is the same bag that was drooping occasionally, so I think that it may have had something else going on with it and this was just the final straw. It got it good, though!
"Where's your air spring, men?"
"Blown up, Sir!"
Oblique 'Stripes' movie reference.
I know the air spring suspension has it's advantages, but I'm pretty happy with my sheissewagen steel spring ride & towing quality.
It turns out that I installed an Arnott bag on the other side! This blown one is an OEM Mercedes. Whoops!
I check in on this thread every so often, and the news doesn't ever seem to be good. I do appreciate you documenting the adventure, but it does reinforce my plan to never own a modern Mercedes, or any modern German car for that matter. I hope you get to enjoy it for an extended period soon.
Alright, so the air spring is now replaced.
The old one came out looking something like this:
I really thought that I had replaced the left side spring last year, but now that I think about it I do recall that both bags were folded over on themselves and the right one went bang while the left one inflated but came out of its position and went mostly sideways. So I guess I'm not completely surprised that an 11 year old air spring that spent 3 years with the car's weight folding the bag over itself went bang when I hit a nasty pothole.
Replacement of these is pretty simple, really.
In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
Adventure is really the right word!
I figure that I'm doing a public service so that anyone that decides to get in to this experience has some idea of what it's going to be like. Honestly, though, this latest problem with the air spring can't really be blamed on Mercedes. I blame Ohio.
I have done those on our R class and the rears were a breeze, for the most part. When we got it, 12 years or so ago, I was worried about the air suspension after reading post on various MB forums but it really has been solid and easy to work on when need be.
The warranty is four years like mentioned. It includes a lot more than emissions equipment. I own one and it was one of the last to be done on the extended date for the campaign. Mercedes was sending me letters the parts weâ??re available and the dealer was saying no. Finally they said they were all there, they picked up the car (65 miles) and then they said I needed to send proof of ownership because they had to order a replacement computer. Finally they brought it back and it left a puddle of fuel on the floor. They said they noted a small leak at the filter. I made them take it back and fix it since they had all that equipment off in the first place. They called a day later to see if I be around so they could return the car. Then the next day they called again and said it lost compression on one cylinder. They dropped the engine and replaced one head and all the valve train. The story goes on
Our ML350 continues to impress & disappoint.
On the impressive side, it's gone 6000miles in the last year since the engine was refreshed, with at least half of that towing something. The driving and towing has been excellent with my only complaint being the lack of trailer brakes (because HAL doesn't want to provide the +12V signal to brake control plug).
The good towing manners are especially impressive in light of a recent trip across the CAT scales which showed the rear was about 80# over GAWR. Some hitch adjustment and trailer weight shifting should fix that.
It came in the shop for the first annual oil change. I knew the engine was losing a little oil, though it hadn't needed topped off. When the belly pans were removed, the oil loss looked much worse than expected. Just half a litre of diesmal oil can be quite messy. Everything underneath is black & drippy.
The sound absorbent foam bellypan lining was saturated. Since the pic was taken, the foam has been scraped off and draped over the firewood pile to be burned in the fall. We'll see how much oil actually drips outta the strategically placed low point holes in the pan versus oil previously absorbed into foam.
Note to self: don't absentmindedly drain 8.5l of diesmal oil into 2.5gal drain pan. Use bigboy pan next time.
Other than oil creeping out of valve covers & pan, it looked great. All fluids nominal, belt is still new, brakes are 75%. Based on the success of the oil change, I spliced together the previously snipped brake signal wire at rear body module & plugged in brake controller, just hoping it might decide to play nice. No joy, it lights up to indicate power & ground, but doesn't get a good brake light signal.
I'm thinking of installing a physical brake switch to apply +12V to the brake controller. Will post up here if it works (or doesn't).
Need to go back through this thread to find WAEs notes on attempting to reseal the oil sump . At 1/2 litre annual loss, IDK if it's worth attempting?
In reply to FJ40Jim :
It's kind of a PITA. You've got to lift the engine off its mounts to be able to sneak the lower pan out. And, of course, it's a lot easier to sneak out the old pan than to sneak in the new one with its fresh bead of Loctite.
I didn't have much choice with mine - it was leaking more like a half liter a day. Before you do that, though, are you sure it's not the front or rear seals dribbling down? I've got a little drippy drip that is either the front main or the timing cover but I haven't had the energy to run it down. Apparently the oil filter housing is prone to leaking as well.
In reply to wae :
The oilpan lip was getting drippy a few days after the engine had oil in it. The surrounding area was totally clean & dry at that time.
The valve covers are definitely leaking because oil is dripping off the exhaust manifold heatshields on both sides, and the little bit of VC visible at the front is wet at the gasket & cam plug. Oil is also dripping out of the BH, which is likely valve cover oil directed through the drainports in the heads & block. It's like M-B knew this thing was gonna leak, based on how carefully they designed the sewer drains that go down from the center of the heads and from the center of the block, all funneling together inside the BH.
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