Fire from gearbox on C63AMG

[Alex Crow]

I am thinking a different way. I would put money on them having seriously over-filled the gearbox at the service. Hence it blowing out seals repeatedly.

They would have been replacing seals until kingdom come until the level was back to where it should have been to start with.

Good theory, but the level is checked everytime the sump is removed/refitted, or at least should be...

I would think that commisioning an indpendent engineer's report would be a good idea, especially if things start looking fishy.

 

[Corned]

Good theory, but the level is checked everytime the sump is removed/refitted, or at least should be...

I would think that commisioning an indpendent engineer's report would be a good idea, especially if things start looking fishy.

Exactly! It was serviced at a dealer...

 

[paul hayward]

real sorry to read this sad story ...hope they sort out a new car for you without too much hassle!

GOOOOOOD LUCK!!... good attitude too by the way..will keep down the blood pressure a bit ...

 

[poacher3536]

Good theory, but the level is checked everytime the sump is removed/refitted, or at least should be...

I would think that commisioning an indpendent engineer's report would be a good idea, especially if things start looking fishy.

Thankyou for your comments, i have just googled indpendant engineer's and this company has come up:

http://www.scotiavehicleinspection.com/vehicle-inspection-services.html

I'm waiting for them to phone me back. I'm sure the Merc-Benz investigation team operates without bias but just to be safe I'm hoping that I can take him along when Mercedes do their inspection. Should I tell them that i'm taking an engineer along with me? can they object?

 

[brandwooddixon]

So sad to see this, but your car is toast.
Fire damage apart, the fire brigade filling the car with water to ensure that the fire is out will have put paid to the electrics. even if they work in the short term they'll soon pack up as the connectors corrode.
The fact that the dealership attempted a repair so many times indicates to me that the main wrangling will be whether it's MB or the dealer's insurance that covers this.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Thankyou for your comments, i have just googled indpendant engineer's and this company has come up:

http://www.scotiavehicleinspection.com/vehicle-inspection-services.html

I'm waiting for them to phone me back. I'm sure the Merc-Benz investigation team operates without bias but just to be safe I'm hoping that I can take him along when Mercedes do their inspection. Should I tell them that i'm taking an engineer along with me? can they object?

Sorry to hear about the car.

The vehicle is your property and the sensible thing to do is have the car inspected independently to resolve who is to blame for the fire. The way you've described the incident and the way it relates to the garage being at fault, re the G/B service, sounds like a straight foward claim but you never know.

A replacement car is the only way to go, don't accept anything less, judging by the photos the car looks like a write-off, but again as this is a fairly new high value car their insurers may decide to rebuild it, so be prepared.

Very important to start a file with dates and events noted and copious photos of damage so that this can be used as a negotiation tool if required, which hopefully it won't.

Hope you get a swift and satisfactory resolution to the situation.

 

[kamalpatel12448]

A truly distressing read, really sorry to hear you are going through this trauma! It would drive me nuts if I felt a dealers actions destroyed my car. Out of interest which dealer serviced it?

Hope you get a resplution soon, and they should give you a car of your choice to drive around till the sort it out.

Kamal

 

[cleverdicky]

Blimey such a sad turn of events.
If its any consolation at least no one was hurt or trapped in it. Do MB have dead bolt locking ?
You will get another I'm sure.

 

[Uncle Benz]

The C63 is fitted with 7G tronic gearbox.

The proceedure for filling the gearbox is more fiddly than the earlier 5 speed box. I would be very interested in what has happened here. Given the previous leak and returning to the dealership i would have thought they have a very good idea where the leak was coming from.
Personally i reckon it must be from the sump gasket. Whether they have distorted the sump pan i couldn't say, but i'd love to know.

 

[poacher3536]

The C63 is fitted with 7G tronic gearbox.

The proceedure for filling the gearbox is more fiddly than the earlier 5 speed box. I would be very interested in what has happened here. Given the previous leak and returning to the dealership i would have thought they have a very good idea where the leak was coming from.
Personally i reckon it must be from the sump gasket. Whether they have distorted the sump pan i couldn't say, but i'd love to know.

Thanks for your info, To answer yours and other questions:

It was serviced at Peterborough Mercedes-Benz, The 2nd time this happended they changed the pan in case it was distorted. Kept the car overnight so they did it on a cold engine/gearbox etc.

I will wait and see what the outcome is but maybe they have a bad batch of seals?

 

[Roxie]

I am thinking a different way. I would put money on them having seriously over-filled the gearbox at the service. Hence it blowing out seals repeatedly.

They would have been replacing seals until kingdom come until the level was back to where it should have been to start with.

I agree. They obviously did something wrong when servicing it. Or they have mis diagnosed the leak three times and replaced the wrong part allowing it to continue leaking.

 

[DIYMAN]

It maybe worth speaking to your insurance company, not to claim on your policy because obviously you are not to blame for the fire and they should fight your case for you and will probably pay for an independent inspection.
You can at least sound them out.
Very best of luck with it, you must insist on an equivalent replacement car.