Blue efficiency injector problems

[teddycatkin]

So many sad stories--Am I probably wrong but as a driver and owner of Mercedes cars for 20+ years and a member of this forum the only real Mercedes cars that interest me are pre 1995 ?---I drive a Vauxhall Astra as an everyday car .
If I had to lease a car for work or business use it would not be a Mercedes - just something that did the job for the best price cheapest running and 100% reliability ?

 

[rothbury]

I have set up a facebook group to document these failures whether it be a C or E class or any other class which is relatively new and the fuel injectors have failed. This group could be useful if enough members joined who have had these problems:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=109900435705187

Please join and document your fuel injector failures - if we all group together in one place we can give power to the people! Pass this on to any other forums you are involved in or people you know that have had the same problem.

I am not allowed by my children to go on Facebook as they say I'm too old! Anyway i think that as there are two extensive threads going back months dealing with all the trials and tribulations you are unlikely to get many takers.

 

[Garry1449]

W204 injector problem

I must be the lucky one. I bought my C220CDI Sport Estate from Mercedes Benz Shrewsbury 14Th October and it was a pleasure to deal with them. I had recently bought and quickly got rid of a Honda Accord Tourer (about 3 months 2,000 miles) because I hated it except the ADAS whic was wonderful.I had problems with the radio/CD from day 1 but this was changed with very little inconvenience to me. Last Thursday I was at Shrewsbury MB and was talking with the salesman about what I had read about the Injector problem, when I said I had done about 3700 mile Richard said that was about the time the problems started. I went to Wrexham on the Friday and low and behold engine management light less power than my wifes Aygo. I called MB Help and was told it would be OK to drive to my son’s house and they would arrange to uplift the car and get me a rental. All went perfectly well until it came to the rental company (Enterprise) who said they had only got an Astra if I could collect it,I was not impressed, I called MB again and they weren’t impressed either. MB called Enterprise I got a phone call back surprisingly they were now offering to deliver the Astra and to be honest I was pleasantly surprised with the Astra. MB wanted to send my car to North Wales MB I said I would prefer it to go to Shrewsbury and this was what happened I was told it would be about 3 weeks. In the post on Saturday I got a recall letter from MB. I called and told MB Shrewsbury on Monday and I was asked if I could Fax this to them as it could be that injectors were pre allocated to my car so I did this. Monday much telephoning to Enterprise re an MB hire car a petrol C class saloon was delivered on Wednesday and the Astra taken back. Thursday a call from MB Shrewsbury saying the car was ready. When I arrived to collect it it was beautifull clean and ready to go and the dealer said they would organise the return of the hire car.

To be honest I think the dealer has been superb and always courtesy itself. The car is a delight to drive if, electronically, a little basic compared to Honda but when I compare the way I have been treated this time, compared to the 17 warranty faults I had with my VW Passat was exemplary.

Well done and thanks to all at Mercedes Benz Shrewsbury who made this unfortunate experience as stress free as possible



Read more: http://www.carsuk.net/mercedes-blueefficiency-om651-injector-problems/#comment-5522#ixzz0lGdlemBE

 

[television]

Welcome and so nice to hear your story

 

[exbmbloke]

Good news and bad news

Earlier in this thread I recounted the tale of the failure of my C250 CDI. The car was eventually repaired with new injectors.

Since then the car has run faultlessly and the MPG has improved over what it achieved prior to the breakdown. I'm hopeful that I can now enjoy the car without further issues.

However the dealership raised a complaint with Mercedes Benz UK about the whole episode and so far not a word, not an apology, nothing.

I think Mercedes won a lot of new customers with these new C and E class cars, but it will be a one time flirtation. Mercedes do not care about their customers at all. BMW will once again see me at their door in the near future.

 

[Geezer]

My injectors are being replaced on MB Milton Keynes on Thursday.

 

[rothbury]

Earlier in this thread I recounted the tale of the failure of my C250 CDI. The car was eventually repaired with new injectors.

Since then the car has run faultlessly and the MPG has improved over what it achieved prior to the breakdown. I'm hopeful that I can now enjoy the car without further issues.

However the dealership raised a complaint with Mercedes Benz UK about the whole episode and so far not a word, not an apology, nothing.

I think Mercedes won a lot of new customers with these new C and E class cars, but it will be a one time flirtation. Mercedes do not care about their customers at all. BMW will once again see me at their door in the near future.

Well if you want to buy a less visually appealing and more ubiquitous car fine but I think you're giving BMW and their dealers more credit than they deserve!

 

[dieselman]

I'm confused by all the wrath in this thread.

MB built engines using injectors that weren't durable enough so broke. After lengthy investigations and modifications MB are replacing the duff injectors to effect a fix.
During the time of trouble MB have supplied hire/loan cars.

Anyone buying a new model car needs to consider that there will be more failures as a result, it's the risk you take for having the latest model.

 

[harper2712]

Thanks Dieselman for expressing the truth about new models. It is always great to be driving a new model, new car, but the reality is teething problems occur. Even with the most extensive testing us consumers manage to find faults that get through testing.

My E250CDI coupe is currently with the dealership having the rear parking sensors replaced (inexplicable, never seen before etc) and the recall replacement of injectors. I hadn't encountered any problems regarding the injectors, except the economy is nothing like expected. I am not holding my breath for any improvement though - I am taking full advantage of all my gizmos!!!!

I am not disappointed as I expected some issues and MB Blackpool have been pretty good managing the issues

 

[chrisnation]

Always go to the top

Certainly not my experience and I know several cases where much was done in response to a letter to him.

Sorry yours was not successful.

But cc it to everyone you can think of in the organisation - local, national, holding co and all. The lower ranks will get the yips knowing that the higher-ups know about it. The higher-ups should be hacked off that this stuff is rattling around, down in the depths.

Also, copy to your local trading standards office. This stuff is meat n potatoes to them.

Two egs of how this works [neither car related but it is the same across the board. Note that once above a certain level, execs are inter-changeable across industries]

Scot Wids 'lost' my one-off max annual bung into my pathetic pension pot. After doing the above, some weeks later I received :-

1] Confirmation that they had 'found' my dosh and added it to the pitiful pile.
2] Added to it the interest that would have accrued had they bunged it into the pot when they received it.
3] Paid my invoice [Yes! Invoice the blighters for letters and phone calls!] for my end of what it took to get it sorted.
4] A bung of £250 for aggro caused.

Builders

1] Letter from Trading Standards had electric effect on building co messing me about with shoddy work/work not done. I was then able to dictate terms [within reason] to completion of works.

The key to this sort of thing is

1] Keep meticulous records of in-person discussions, phone calls, letters etc.
2] Do not lose your temper or get personal [negatively]
3] Keep feeding the big-shots with progress reports - esp if 'progress' is unsatisfactory
3] Keep it 'on topic' until resolutions are offered. That's the time to go for extras.

A word about invoicing organisations. It's a while since I have but I used to charge £20 for a letter and £10 for a phone call. I have never had an invoice rejected. I also won massive credit when I got the HMB [High Maintenace Blonde] to follow my m.o. with her bank, including an invoice. When all was sorted, the cheque arrived. Boy! was I flavour of the month!

 

[Garry1449]

Try looking at the CarsUK site.

I had this problem at 3.5K MB reacted quickly in my case but this does not appear to be the case with many on this site. The biggest cause of complaint was that no one was told about the problem before purchase although it was well known

 

[srdennis03]

Sunday Times on the case

For all us unfortunate enough to have a car affected by the fuel injector issue, you might be interested in the following article in yesterday's Sunday Times motoring section: -

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/news/article7118350.ece#comment-have-your-say

I'm sure if there is sufficient comments posted, there will be a follow up article.

I was especially interested in the statement that "Mercedes has written to affected owners offering compensation. . "

Has anyone on this forum received such a letter?

 

[wrigb]

As an update. I eventually got my 4 new ejectors after the car was off the road for 3 weeks and got back on the road.
I resisted posting an update until I got good mileage up on the car. I now have 23,000 miles up on my E 250 CDI Coupe. Other than a turbo clamp coming loose a couple of weeks ago,which MS fixed within 1 hour when I called in on Mobilo. my car is running well and giving good economy.
MS gave me a free service voucher as compensation which I need to use within 2 years.

 

[exbmbloke]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but an important update for anyone who might be thinking of running a BE 200, 220 or 250 CDi after the warranty expires.

Don't do it.

Right at the start of this thread I, along with many others reported failures of the injectors at around 5K miles. In Feb 2010 my C250 CDi sport succumbed to this issue and the car was sidelined for 3 weeks until a replacement set of injectors was available.

Don't get me wrong, I love this car, looks, performance, economy and servicing have been great; but ........

On Friday returning from London and around 15 miles from home, cruising in heavy traffic at around 50MPH, the car gave a shudder and a thump and the amber engine light came on.

I was on the M42 with no way to stop so continued with difficulty to the next junction. The car was vibrating the gearbox would only change using manual mode and the thump when changing gears was significant.

To cut a long story short, I made it home, the Mercedes engineer arrived and confirmed that the injectors had failed (he said one but added notes that suggested perhaps imminent failure of another)

The car is 30 months old and had covered 45K miles mainly motorway. This means the replacement injectors installed in 2010 lasted 39K miles.

I don't know how much these cost to replace, (perhaps someone on here knows), but it doesn't leave me feeling confident that I can keep the car beyond its warranty.

Anyone had anything similar?

 

[Steve@Avantgarde]

It seems that some of these injectors are lasting 80kmiles and some give up after 500 miles, there seems to be no pattern. Some friends who are techs on the inside tell me this isnt the only problem with the BE 4 cylinder engines.

 

[exbmbloke]

It seems that some of these injectors are lasting 80kmiles and some give up after 500 miles, there seems to be no pattern. Some friends who are techs on the inside tell me this isnt the only problem with the BE 4 cylinder engines.

Now you've piqued my interest. Any specifics?

 

[hawk20]

Anyone had anything similar?

Haven't seen any reported here or on the other main MB site.

 

[exbmbloke]

Just an update:

The car has been repaired again. Complete set of injectors (they said one was faulty).

Had the car not been in warranty the cost for the parts would have been £985 including VAT.

The service as usual at the dealer was excellent. He did assure me that given the issues with the injectors Mercedes would be open to discussion if they failed outside of warranty. I'd like that in writing, but I can't fault the dealer.

Mercedes Benz Derby (Pride Park)

On another tack, the car I had as a courtesy was a newish petrol c class estate.
It was quiet, responsive, rather thirsty at av 30mpg ( my usual is 41 in the diesel)
The interior was better than the 09 car except the steering wheel with the garish, reflective chrome trim. (very Vauxhall Insignia (the wheel)).
The instruments were strewn with differing fonts, multi coloured icons, and a layout that was muddled within the dials.
The stop start ECO mode I switched off every time. It works fine but with an automatic I like to gently release the brake to slowly move away in queues. With this as soon as you start to release the brake the engine starts....in gear and lurches forward. Not nice. Probably better with the manual box.

 

[Choboy]

Hi, when I had my C250 CDI 2 years ago, I asked the sales rep about the recall of this model. I was informed that the car I'm having has been recalled already when it has reached 6k miles whilst at Tamworth Dealership as a managers car. So it gave me the satisfaction that they have managed to replaced the whole set of injectors. Alas, I received a call just after 6 months that they need the car back at the garage to replace the harnesh of the injectors. Less than a year at 1:00am in the morning while picking up my wife from the train station, the engine just stop while on our way home, re start it and went into limp mode, engine management came off I had no Idea what had happened I just got this less than 2 years and I had a problem on my engine. Called the merc breakdown service the following day, conducted a diagnostic test, one of the injectors is failing. Sent to the dealer for replacement and later that week after it was replaced i was informed to send back my car for the replacement of the whole set of injectors coz' they have the new design that release the "Pressure". Could you just imagine less than 2 years with my car I have been in and out with my dealer because of these injectors, I asked them why is this happening, they just blamed the sub contractor making those injectors.
I don't know what would happen after my warranty expires end of this month. Would this be replaced until such time that these injectors last for a number of miles or years? I pick this car trusting the extreme genius and durablility of these merc engines but to no avail. I would rather go back to my Honda Accord with 140k never gave me major mechanical problems for 5 years after I arrived in this country.
And this is not the end of my agony, Now I need to replace the front disc for £300 because it has uneven wear and it is beyond 85%, how could this have happen to me having the car less than 2 years. To this date I have clocked 19.5K miles urban driving maybe around 1.5k of that is motorway in a span of 2 years. At a price of 25K I'm gonna kill myself. If it happened after 7 to 10 years hmmm maybe I could accept that which is reasonable.

Thanks. Whew!

Choboy.

PS

Having the car as leased purchased should I need to go to the dealer for the replacement of the disc? Or Can I have someone whom I know replace the disc & just purchase it from euro car parts or other auto parts? Could this be so difficult to replace?

Thanks again

Choboy.

 

[hawk20]

Having the car as leased purchased should I need to go to the dealer for the replacement of the disc? Or Can I have someone whom I know replace the disc & just purchase it from euro car parts or other auto parts? Could this be so difficult to replace?

Thanks again

Choboy.

I assume you are on a PCP agreement in which case legally they own the car until and unless you purchase it at the end of the 3 year PCP. And during the 3 years you must use a Mercedes main dealer. You will find that in the T's and C's.

Wear on pads and discs depends on how you drive. I've done over 30k miles on my ML and the pads are not even half worn yet. Others can wear them out in 20k miles or so.