injector screw/bolt broken ML270 CDI

[Garista]

Hello, I'm new here but have read a lot on this subject. I have had this ML for about six months now, it is very clean and did run extremely well and everything works, but has quite high kilometers (340k). The car has a near complete service history by MB.

I'm in rural France, and called a nearby garage when the car stopped when the EPC light came on. We had to wait a day and when the bloke arrived he came with another chap in a van, but my ML started and ran fine so he took it to his garage to inspect for repair. After this we got a call saying it was number 4 injector, and the cost would be about 400E, so we said yep do the job. A day later we got another call saying "the injector support bolt is broken" and he could not now repair the car because it would need the engine removed and it would cost more than the car was worth. I was not happy, I asked the nearest Mercedes dealer if they would do it and they also said no and were very unhelpful. As this is all in French and my French is not so great it is all more difficult.

I suppose I just need some confirmation that to do the repair properly would require the engine removed, because of the need for cylinder head repair? Isn't it possible that the bolt could be removed and the threads still be ok? - Well, I do know this repair can be done with Time Serts but why do they not know this or suggest it?

 

[LostKiwi]

Should be no need to remove engine - head at most.
They don't quote it because they probably don't want the work.
It should be possible to carefully drill the bolt out and recut the threads/use timesert.
Where in France care you?

 

[Garista]

Should be no need to remove engine - head at most.
They don't quote it because they probably don't want the work.
It should be possible to carefully drill the bolt out and recut the threads/use timesert.
Where in France care you?

Yeah thanks, that's what I thought. They seem to all say the same thing though.
My insurer is telling me to hold them to the repair at no extra cost. This is the law here.
I'm in the Morvan national park (Burgundy), big forests.

 

[LostKiwi]

Yes French law is different in that way.
We have a number of members with French links so was hoping maybe some one else could suggest a place to do it but I don't think any are in that area (most are western France).

 

[Garista]

Yes French law is different in that way.
We have a number of members with French links so was hoping maybe some one else could suggest a place to do it but I don't think any are in that area (most are western France).

You would think someone could do it with all the heavy tractors, trucks and stuff round here. I will keep looking though, or in the end may do it myself.

 

[Taffy7hfa]

I didn't know the ml 270 had an epc warning light what year is yours ?

 

[Garista]

I didn't know the ml 270 had an epc warning light what year is yours ?

Its 2001: MERCEDES CLASSE M ML 270 CDI LUXURY BA

 

[Taffy7hfa]

Nice. Sorry to hear about your snapped injector bolt, could be a tricky one to fix, definitely a job for a specialist, as LK, worst case scenario it would mean a new head. have you seen the broken bolt ?

 

[Garista]

Nice. Sorry to hear about your snapped injector bolt, could be a tricky one to fix, definitely a job for a specialist, as LK, worst case scenario it would mean a new head. have you seen the broken bolt ?

No, so far I haven't been able to get there because no car, ha ha! But I will. I'll see what the legal route produces too.

 

[om613]

More detail is needed, I think. Maybe they meant that the hole's thread was previously stripped? Which can happen, when the job is done badly (i.e. rushed, so not cleaned out).

It is very rare for the extraction of an injector stretch bolt to result in it snapping ... IME.

 

[LostKiwi]

More detail is needed, I think. Maybe they meant that the hole's thread was previously stripped? Which can happen, when the job is done badly (i.e. rushed, so not cleaned out).

It is very rare for the extraction of an injector stretch bolt to result in it snapping ... IME.

Even so it doesn't require the engine out.

 

[Garista]

More detail is needed, I think. Maybe they meant that the hole's thread was previously stripped? Which can happen, when the job is done badly (i.e. rushed, so not cleaned out).

It is very rare for the extraction of an injector stretch bolt to result in it snapping ... IME.

I can't see how anyone could know this without taking the bolt out, or trying to. There are quite a few threads about this problem, and on French sites, for the CDI engine.

 

[Frontstep]

I think the question marks set the tone OM was perhaps best described as "wondering out loud" still whats left can be removed and on that there are indeed a few videos on youtube and there are people who come and do it for you as they have the kit and skillset.

I have the latter but not the former.

 

[Garista]

Even so it doesn't require the engine out.

I think I found the problem (talked with another garage). It is that, in France, garages are by law not allowed to alter the engine, and adding a helicoil/Time Sert etc is doing that.

I don't think it will necessarily need an insert, but they won't even try to drill out the bolt. So the cost spirals to over two thousand euros (to at least remove the head). So basically this mechanic has really messed up, overconfident and rushing.

 

[Westheath]

I think I found the problem (talked with another garage). It is that, in France, garages are by law not allowed to alter the engine, and adding a helicoil/Time Sert etc is doing that.

I don't think it will necessarily need an insert, but they won't even try to drill out the bolt. So the cost spirals to over two thousand euros (to at least remove the head). So basically this mechanic has really messed up, overconfident and rushing.

Load of b**locks

I've worked on top car marques in France at a garage in St Lary Soulan.

 

[LostKiwi]

I would have classified thread replacement by timesert or helicoil a repair not a modification.

 

[Westheath]

He's being fobbed off with excuses.
être dit des mensonges.
Ne les laisse pas se débarrasser de toi avec quelques excuses.

 

[ajlsl600]

a helicoil ,if thats whats needed ? is a repair and nothing more ,if you were nearer i wuld try to help you out , i am in normandy . try to get some pictures . if you need a helicoil ,i have them , and can send u one and the tooling , provided you rtn tooling . i suspect , but dont know without seeing it ,yr bolt likely to be 8mmx1.25 .

 

[Garista]

Load of b**locks

I've worked on top car marques in France at a garage in St Lary Soulan.

Yeah, after thinking about it I agree. But around here they are all saying the same thing. Maybe sometimes they think because you're English they can fob you off; my wife phones them because she speaks french better than me and this is what she is getting. By the way Mercedes also said the same thing, even the receptionist said it. I feel like I'm in 'Race with the Devil'.

Thanks to everyone for the offer of help and for the advice. I can't get pictures at the moment because I'm not able to get to the car without a taxi and even then it has to be ordered in advance, and other things.

Because I told the insurer, they are telling me to follow the legal route. I think they are right because it seems unacceprable that one minute the mechanic is all confident and then the next just says curtly that your car is toast and goodbye. But I don't like doing this. Anyway, apparently one garage is going to send us a 'devis' which we will need to show the cost to the insurer. I need the car for work as well so this is all a real pain.

By the way, one of my previous cars was a 79 beetle cabrio FI on which I did almost all the work so I do know something about this.

 

[Garista]

a helicoil ,if thats whats needed ? is a repair and nothing more ,if you were nearer i wuld try to help you out , i am in normandy . try to get some pictures . if you need a helicoil ,i have them , and can send u one and the tooling , provided you rtn tooling . i suspect , but dont know without seeing it ,yr bolt likely to be 8mmx1.25 .

Do you think a helicoil would be strong enough? I know it depends but generally?