Names wanted

[Kim-Sharman]

I've just had the misfortune to suffer an expensive gearbox failure on my CLK due to the problem and design fault, highlighted in Honest John in the Telegraph on Saturday. Article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2007/10/06/nosplit/mrjon06.xml

Now, for a 4yo CLK which I've owned from new and only done 72k in, I don't think this is good enough and I wil be pursuing it further. Does anyone have the name and position of the appropriate Director to write to at Milton Keynes?

Any help much appreciated.

 

[television]

This fault that is known as the valeo issue is well known here and other forums around the world, in most cases MB will help towards the cost of fitting the new torque converter and radiator. they should have been brought in at an earlier stage to get some re dress on this

 

[philharve]

This fault that is known as the valeo issue is well known here and other forums around the world, in most cases MB will help towards the cost of fitting the new torque converter and radiator. they should have been brought in at an earlier stage to get some re dress on this

Hi Malcolm

Which models are affected?

REGARDS

Phil

 

[BlackC55]

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=41764

All the info you need.

 

[television]

The 203-209-211 from 30-09-03 are the cars affected .

 

[Kim-Sharman]

Thanks Malcolm

To date, they have been very unhelpful and not offered a thing.

 

[Kim-Sharman]

Question for television

Are there any remedial actions that can be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again? The fact hat this problem doesn't seem to occur on vehicles after mine would seem to indicate that there is a fix.

MB were contacted by the dealer and did not offer any help at all.

rgds, Kim Sharman

 

[television]

The fix has been done and on the oil cooler there will be a white sticker.

I think that your dealer went about it the wrong way in not getting help for you, it should have been asked for before any work was done

 

[Kim-Sharman]

Thanks

The dealer did contact them when it was diagnosed and, as I said, they were not interested.

 

[jberks]

The dealer has a fair few appeals procedures they CAN go through if they want to. Suggest they try harder. We've had goodwill repairs refused on the first request. The dealer persevered and in the end, it was all done FOC.
Not the Valeo issue admittedly but given how well known this defect is, I'd expect them to be fixing it without question. After all, it was their decision not to issue a recall, which IMO makes them negligent.

 

[philharve]

Valeo issue

Hi All

I raised the Valeo issue with my indie yesterday and he confirmed what has been stated above. I can smile again because my W202 is unaffected.

He explained the nature of the problem to me and stated there is a chance of engine coolant intermixing with the gearbox and torque converter fluid necessitating either a replacement or a rebuild of the converter+gearbox. He added that he had rebuilt a torque converter and gearbox for one customer whose W203 had suffered a Valeo failure. The radiator-cooler, which was like new, had to be replaced. M-B funded the repair on this particular occasion.

I inquired whether it was a corrosion problem? He said 'no', it's largely a manufacturing problem which M-B has acknowldged is a quality issue. The company had since switched its supplier of this component.

Apparently it's the design of the core that permits intermixing if the core fractures. Its complex structure makes it susceptable to fracturing. It could fracture anytime, or not at all. To eliminate the problem the radiator-cooler has to be replaced for a simpler, more robust design, which is usually at the owner's cost. The younger the car, the more likely M-B will fund replacement.

In my indie's opinion M-B is dragging its feet because it is not accepting all claims. The company will usually offer a rebuild before replacement and it may expect the owner to contribute to the costs. My indie commented that the Valeo issue is another effect of cost cutting, similar to the 'thin paint' problem around the Millenium.

REGARDS

Phil

 

[Kim-Sharman]

Thanks for this. Luckily I have a tame legal friend who loves sorting this sort of thing out!

 

[DC_insider]

Re: Name of Director and address. I would contact:

Mike Belk
Managing Director, Customer Services
DaimlerChrysler UK Ltd
Delaware Drive
Tongwell
Milton Keynes
MK15 8BA

 

[johnmc]

I'm gutted for you! It's yet another design mistake from Merc.

When can we start to trust them again guys?

John

 

[paul c]

Does this affect manual cars.

 

[Kim-Sharman]

Update

Thanks everyone for your input. I've since written to the MB Directors with a loosely veiled promise of legal action under the Sales of Goods Act. Due to the Post Office troubles, this was emailed to them (copied to my legal man and Honest John of the Telegraph) and the next morning I had a call from the local MB dealer to say that they had been asked to conduct an investigation. That was also stated in an email I got from a Director in the Netherlands. Quite what will happen I don't know - but someone is doing something!

If they don't offer some help, then I am advised I have a good case in law - seeing they know all about the fault and changed suppliers etc.

 

[rf065]

The 203-209-211 from 30-09-03 are the cars affected .

Should that not read "cars up to 30-09-03" instead of from?
Mine is 05, you are starting to worry me

Russ

 

[Eric Tilley]

Model series 203 up to production date 9/2003 with M111/271/112/OM646/OM611/612.990 and automatic transmission 722.6
Model series 209 up to production date 9/2003 with M271/112/113/OM612 and automatic transmission 722.6

Model series 211 up to production date 9/2003 with M271/113/OM628/647/648 and automatic transmission 722.6

According to this MB consder a limited bleed of coolant into the gearbox oil as not necessitating repair


- Up to 100 mg/l of glycol in automatic transmission fluid-oil: Do not carry out a repair. Contact technical workshop service personnel.

- As of 100 mg/l up to 400 mg/l: Exchange radiator and converter. Clean/flush lines.

- As of 400 mg/l exchange radiator, converter and transmission. Clean/flush lines. Return shipment of a transmission oil sample required.

The entire scope of repair must be invoiced to damage code 2743104. If the transmission is replaced, type of repair 1 should be used (unit inquiry with detail of the replacement part costs in € and number of work units).