2007 C180K W204 Timing Chain / Worn Sprockets Issue

[shaileen]

Hi all,

Apologies for another thread about this issue but I just want to know if there are likely to be future problems once this is fixed.....

I have a problem with my timing chain. The car wouldn't start one morning and after having it towed to an garage, it was diagnosed as having a loose timing chain and worn sprockets. The chain had slipped off and in the process destroyed half the engine! Cost to fix £3-3.5k!

Apparently this is down to wear and tear, even though it's only done just under 75,000 miles and I've just been very unlucky. The car has been serviced as per schedule but from reading around, MB doesn't want to take responsibility for this and it's down to the owner to sort out. Anyway, I've given the garage the go ahead to fix as I don't really have much choice in the issue.

My question is this:

Is there anything else major likely to go wrong on this car (i.e. should I be looking to sell it asap and at least try to recover some of the expense) or should it now run fine for the next 50,000 miles or so? I believe I read something about a problem with the automatic transmission but can't seem to find it again.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[kth286]

I trust it's with a Mercedes specialist that knows what they are doing, and has experience of doing one previously ?

 

[shaileen]

Yes it is (in Harrow - should I mention name)? I've had the car serviced there since 2010 so just got it towed there. He did say he's done a few of these but was not expected on this model but it's just come down to wear and tear and my bad luck.

 

[WG M-B]

Unfortunately it is wear and tear
And no I'm not the specialist

 

[shaileen]

Unfortunately it is wear and tear
And no I'm not the specialist

Yes, just want to point out that the garage is not a contributor on this forum as far as I'm aware, before I tread on anyone's toes!

Anyway, I'm (almost) past the hair-pulling, self-pity stage.....just want advice as to whether this was a freak occurrence or are there other major problems likely on this model?

 

[ernieh]

Yes, just want to point out that the garage is not a contributor on this forum as far as I'm aware, before I tread on anyone's toes!

Anyway, I'm (almost) past the hair-pulling, self-pity stage.....just want advice as to whether this was a freak occurrence or are there other major problems likely on this model?

I don't think there has been a 204 with this problem on here up till now; plenty of 203s though. Maybe some of the Indys have seen some that are not reported on here.

 

[WG M-B]

We have replaced a few chains on 204's. and we are finding more and more customers with 271 engines booking chain replacements in as a preventative maintenance precaution.

 

[shaileen]

Got the car back yesterday and running well so far. Thankfully valve heads were not damaged but the (mega expensive) camshaft adjusters were well worn so guess it had been going on for a while. MB really should put this item in their service schedule to prevent such damage - The garage has had 4 204s with this problem over the last few months.

 

[Halfdan]

Well I'm glad the repair wasn't too horrendous.

I did some research on the M271 timing chain wear before I bought my c class and it seemed that there was hardly a mention for the w204 so I wasn't too concerned. Maybe this is because being newer, they are likely to be lower milage but having said that, there were 204's that had done 150,000 to 200,000 miles still with quiet chains. This is puzzling. Why do some stretch and others survive?

I pretty sure the basics of the timing chain arrangement haven't changed over the years but what about part numbers? i.e. Have MB tried to resolve this in some way?

IIRC, when I did the research, the cam chain tensioner was modded three times. Pictures of the chain showed some with oil ways in the rollers and some without. No idea if anything changed with the sprockets.

Some suggested it was the cam solenoids jamming that stretched the chain.

I'm new to MB so any experts out there that know about these things?

 

[WG M-B]

Single roller chain. This lesson was originally learnt with the m102 engine in the 80's

 

[Halfdan]

Just found an old thread saying models affected were 2000 to ~2006 and related to the cam solenoids failing.

Didn't want to post the link as it was from another forum and I wasn't sure it was allowed.

 

[zenman63]

I am in the process of doing my wifes 203 200K, it slipped the chain and bent all the inlet valves, £12 each from MB parts, £28 head gasket and the sprockets, don't even go there!
£449 each!
100K and full service history.

 

[shaileen]

And my brother-in-law's 2006 W203 180K, although currently running okay, has been diagnosed as needing a new chain and sprockets after I warned him to get it checked following my experience! He's not impressed

 

[television]

And my brother-in-law's 2006 W203 180K, although currently running okay, has been diagnosed as needing a new chain and sprockets after I warned him to get it checked following my experience! He's not impressed

Apart from the 203 and 204 the SLK also uses this engine, it is a huge expensive problem worldwide. Forums only represent a fraction of what is going on. Perhaps when buying parts for this engine, one could ask the parts man how many sold, they have this info on their screen.