THIS can't be good...

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Bostonfj60

Bostonfj60

Joined
Aug 11, 2004
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www.rutherfoto.com
Soo....here's the situation:

05 Mercedes C230 wagon with 46,000 miles on it...

I opened the oil filler and found a gunky surprise.

-headgasket?
-sludging?

the car is under warantee, and has had every factory required service at a MB stealership.

cheers,

Jon
sludge.webp
 
Did you get a piece of your cast stuck in the engine?? Whassup with the hand??

No idea. What an odd substance though...
 
jsaltlick said:
Did you get a piece of your cast stuck in the engine?? Whassup with the hand??

No idea. What an odd substance though...
Click to expand...

haha..no, got my thumb stuck on a tree skiing the backwoods though!!!

yeah, I'm at a loss on this one...though I'm suspecting a HG problem.
 
Looks like a HG problem, whats the water level like? Whats the oil dipstick look like?
 
Wildman said:
Looks like a HG problem, whats the water level like? Whats the oil dipstick look like?
Click to expand...


WELL...the newer mercedes have no actual 'dipstick' for the oil...just a sensor you select on the dash to activate. You wait two minutes, and it tells you if the oil is ok or low.


With that said, levels look good. I manually checked coolant, which looked good.
 
It doesn't look pretty, for sure....but I have seen the same on oil caps before. Are you making a lot of short trips, like 1-10 miles and turning the vehicle off? If the vehicle rarely comes up to temperature then normal levels of water in the fuel and exhaust can coalesce in the oil...and cause such build up.
 
vtcruiser60 said:
It doesn't look pretty, for sure....but I have seen the same on oil caps before. Are you making a lot of short trips, like 1-10 miles and turning the vehicle off? If the vehicle rarely comes up to temperature then normal levels of water in the fuel and exhaust can coalesce in the oil...and cause such build up.
Click to expand...

hmmm...this is interesting. It's my wife's car, and her commute to work is *at best* 8 miles or so.
AND, I'm not sure it would help, but she's not great about letting the car warm up on cold days before
driving it...

Either way, it's going to the stealership this week to get checked out...
 
I have seen this on other threads before. the short commutes. general consensus is to run the car for 45 minutes preferably on the highway atleast once a week. might be smart to switch cars once a week or something
jason
 
Bostonfj60 said:
hmmm...this is interesting. It's my wife's car, and her commute to work is *at best* 8 miles or so.
Click to expand...

I had the same concern for my car & truck, my commute is only about 8 miles now. But, I talked about it with a co-worker that teaches about engine maintenance, he assured me that is plenty of time/distance to burn off any moisture. But he did say that it's really important to use synthetic oil, which I do.

Very curious to hear how this ends up...
 
My bet is head gasket, smell the sludge it may smell sweet/maple like. My wife's old buick had the same issue years ago. Your wife's EGR system will bite the dust soon if it has not already. BTW, that is not moisture condensate. Have it fixed under warrenty and trade or buy an extended warrenty to 100K.

Wow the idea that you have no oil dipstick is strange. How does the tech avoid over filling the system? Removing it must have been a Chrysler idea, just plain stupid.

Good luck.

edit

Got to add, have the dealer or you (preferably you) pull a oil sample and send it to blackstone for oil analysis.
 
Cattledog said:
My bet is head gasket, smell the sludge it may smell sweet/maple like. My wife's old buick had the same issue years ago. Your wife's EGR system will bite the dust soon if it has not already. BTW, that is not moisture condensate. Have it fixed under warrenty and trade or buy an extended warrenty to 100K.

Wow the idea that you have no oil dipstick is strange. How does the tech avoid over filling the system? Removing it must have been a Chrysler idea, just plain stupid.

Good luck.

edit

Got to add, have the dealer or you (preferably you) pull a oil sample and send it to blackstone for oil analysis.
Click to expand...

Yeah no kidding...If I have my way, we're going to fix the car, then SELL IT. It's absolutely insane that there's no dipstick. IN FACT, my wife had to go back to the dealership last time she had the oil changed...she kept getting an "oil level too high" indication on the dash.

Also very interesting is the fact that we've had some various parts on the EGR recently kick it...I'm starting to wonder if it's all connected.

*LASTLY* I noticed when I drove the car today, that when the car is in drive, and the car is completely stopped, there is a loud, deep-pitched clicking noise coming from the engine.

...more to come...
 
Bostonfj60 said:
*LASTLY* I noticed when I drove the car today, that when the car is in drive, and the car is completely stopped, there is a loud, deep-pitched clicking noise coming from the engine.

...more to come...
Click to expand...

sounds like there might be water in the base, and thinning out the oil... hows the ticking sound? like somebody beating on the crank with a small metal hammer? Pull the plugs and look for coolant discoloration too. Was the oil just changed? could the tech have topped off the coolent?
 
Ok, so here is the dealerships response to my issues:

-the "mayonaise" found on the oil cap is caused by condensation, which is especially bad during the winter when the car is only driven on very short trips. This a common thing for ALL Mercedes. They changed the oil, and handed me a bill for $167.50.

-the ticking is the main bearing in my ac compressor, and they want $1700 to replace it! The thing that really bothers me is we have had the car in, well before the warantee ended, with complaints of a ticking noise coming from the engine. They have always told us it's a 'normal' sound from the EGR system. I know for a FACT it's the same sound, caused by the same thing (AC compressor), but now the car has no warantee so we're screwed. Thanks MB.

I called Mercedes Benz US and opened a complaint ticket with them, so we'll see if I get any response or help with this one. It kills me because the car is *Just* out of warantee.

The bottom line after all this is that we are DONE with Mercedes. It was our first, and will be our last...I think we're going to check out the VW Jetta Diesel Wagon, Subaru Outback, Highlander (my choice) and possibly the Volvo T5.

Good-bye Mercedes!!! :mad:
 
Sorry to hear about your troubles. Those German cars - they are sooo sweet, but def seem to require lots of $$ to maintain.

My .02 cents - definitely check out the Subarus. The Outback and Legacy Wagon are very reliable and alot of car for the money. My DD is an 05 Legacy GT (=turbo) wagon 5sp. It's a blast to drive (very quick with the turbo), has had no issues whatsoever (now at 75k miles), is AWD, and gets decent mileage for a "performance" car - avg 26-28 mpg - and that's rush hour commuting (I drive the 2 LC's on the weekends). My brother has an Outback and loves his - no issues.

Good luck on the search...
 
Ok, I just head back from Mercedes.

It seems my pleading worked! They are covering all but $25 for the repair, and giving me a one year warranty on the labor and A/C compressor.

I guess they want to keep us as customers! Though, the major disclaimer here is that my inlaws have purchased three new Mercedes in the past year and half, and I'm sure when I mentioned that, it only helped.

Despite this great service we just got from Mercedes, we're still not buying anther one, the service costs are just insane, even on their entry level C class...were off to drive the highlander this weekend.

JR

PS> I was chatting with a Subaru sales guy, and he mentioned they've caught wind of a possible diesel soon...in the Outback and the Forester...not THAT sounds awsome...
 
SwampYankee88 said:
Sorry to hear about your troubles. Those German cars - they are sooo sweet, but def seem to require lots of $$ to maintain.

My .02 cents - definitely check out the Subarus. The Outback and Legacy Wagon are very reliable and alot of car for the money. My DD is an 05 Legacy GT (=turbo) wagon 5sp. It's a blast to drive (very quick with the turbo), has had no issues whatsoever (now at 75k miles), is AWD, and gets decent mileage for a "performance" car - avg 26-28 mpg - and that's rush hour commuting (I drive the 2 LC's on the weekends). My brother has an Outback and loves his - no issues.

Good luck on the search...
Click to expand...

X2 on the Subaru... I'm on my fourth- 1981 wagon; 1991 wagon; 2000 outback and (now) 2008 outback. I also own a BMW X3- which I love, but plan to get rid of it before the extended warranty is up- for the same reasons you are not going back with Mercedes- maintenance costs are insane!

Go with a Subaru- especially if they come out with a diesel- first I've heard of that.

Good Luck man.
Jamie.
 
Just curious... have you considered the new Venza?
 
KLF said:
Just curious... have you considered the new Venza?
Click to expand...


...we haven't really looked into it. I was hoping they would have one on the showroom floor when we go check out the highlander.

...it looks pretty interesting..
 
Venza

I like the look of the Venza and have been curious about them ever since seeing one at the local Toy dealer. The Wall St. Journal car guy (who is decent, IMO, despite what you might think of the rest of the paper) panned the Venza in his review this past weekend. He said it was a bloated Camry - and waaay over priced. I think he also said it was the worst AWD vehicle he ever drove (!).

Anyway, good to hear MB accomodated you.
 
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