SL fuel tank problem

television

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Hello and welcome, nothing will happen if you just leave it in, MB will offer no help in this matter
 

C A R S E

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I have a knocking sound coming from behind the seats on my SL55 which I am fairly certain is due to a baffle having broken free inside the fuel tank.

The car is an 04 model and has covered less than 45k miles so I am shocked that a fuel tank can fail so easily. As the car is outside of the extended warranty I am being asked for over £2000 to have the tank replaced.

I have taken this up with MBUK as I find it unacceptable for a non service item and one that should not really incur wear and tear to fail so readily. A quick search on the web reveals I am not alone as this seems to be a worldwide issue and clearly poor design on MB's part.

Have any of you had this issue and any success with MB replacing it or do you know of any independants who know how to carry out this job as I hear it is 10 hours worth of labour alone?

Not sure I will get anywhere with MBUK, is it worth trying Germany too? Also keen to hear if you think I am being unreasonable in persuing MB about this.


:cry:
My 2003 SL55 AMG has only covered 35k miles and it sounds like I have the dreaded loose baffle in the fuel tank(Noise is louder when tank is full).......I have read numerous forums on this and it sounds like loads of people are effected by this, one forum I came across they successfully took Mercedes to court: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r230-sl-class/1295215-sl500-noise-rear-interior-wall-gas-27.html

All these forms seem to be a couple of years old, does anyone know if Mercedes have admitted to being at fault yet?
 

television

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Not for this fault :( Even though the fault was theirs, poor welding of this extra added baffle.
 
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C A R S E

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Not for this fault :( Even though the fault was theirs, poor welding of this extra added baffle.

It is disappointing Mercedes didnt recall the effected fuel tanks :(

Would be good if these forums had some kind of petition where members could sign for defects like this..........maybe they would listen then!
 

television

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It is disappointing Mercedes didnt recall the effected fuel tanks :(

Would be good if these forums had some kind of petition where members could sign for defects like this..........maybe they would listen then!

Yes a shocking state of affairs, in the USA some got this covered in some states.

I think the labour alone is about 5 hours. More on an AMG.
 

cfoster

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its not an overly difficult issue to fix, i've had mine apart as I had a horrible fuel smell coming inside the car (when I first bought it) and it turned out to be the screw that held the bracket thing that holds the repair bracket. I have since fixed it but think the baffle has come loose again after some spirited driving on my own private test track!

I will be doing a photo guide and will try and persuade my brother in law to make a bracket up that can be copied.....

(on an AMG I was advised anything from 8-13hrs - personally think that's rubbish but....)
 

C A R S E

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its not an overly difficult issue to fix, i've had mine apart as I had a horrible fuel smell coming inside the car (when I first bought it) and it turned out to be the screw that held the bracket thing that holds the repair bracket. I have since fixed it but think the baffle has come loose again after some spirited driving on my own private test track!

I will be doing a photo guide and will try and persuade my brother in law to make a bracket up that can be copied.....

(on an AMG I was advised anything from 8-13hrs - personally think that's rubbish but....)

Ah.....Keep me updated on the guide and bracket :)

Will you be removing the tank or fixing it from inside the boot?
re: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r230-sl-class/1295215-sl500-noise-rear-interior-wall-gas-24.html


.
 
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cfoster

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I'l be doing it from inside the boot. Last time I stripped out ALL of the interior behind the seats, all boot interior and had the fuel unbolted but the ****** thing was too big to get out. Its pretty easy accessing the sender hole from the boot.
 

cfoster

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Well I popped outside and took out the boot interior, very easy no more than ten mins. Then got to the fuel tank, removed the masked cloth I originally taped over the sender (i think the previous owner tried a botch repair and left a 2mm hole in the top of the tank, the smell was awful! I put some hardening putty over it and covered it about 8 months ago and its been fine since! Anyway took the sender out to inspect and had a prod of the baffle.

Below are some diagrams I found on mbclub to assist.

Tank as it should be with baffle in place:
32.jpg


Tank as it is with the baffle spot weld broken:
33.jpg


I have done exactly what this guy has done in the pic (forgot to take my own pic!)
29.jpg


Now I need to find some springs like the ones below, I believe they are called throttle spring return springs, any ideas where I can buy them in the UK?

35.jpg


I'm unsure what length I need to get so will probably buy a few so I have a selection to choose from.

One I have the spring I will then do the below:

34.jpg


It looks pretty complex but once you study inside the tank when the sender is out and have a prod around it becomes quite clear. All I am unsure of at the moment is how tense I need the spring to be to stop it swinging back to the front wall.

A few pics i took:

Tank with my original repair


The angle where the baffle changes (originally I thought it was that bit that was broken but looking around on the net that is how they are. That small gap is where you can pull the baffle towards you with a hook and the spring hook goes higher up towards the top.



Hope it is of some help, I will try and get some better pics tomorrow.
 
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television

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Thanks that was a lovely well done DIY


Please ask a mod to pop it in the DIY section, its too good to get lost.
 

Alex Crow

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Good luck with this cfoster, I will be impressed if it keeps the tank silent for all driving situations, with all fuel levels, for a prolonged period of time - those springs will be under strain with 1/2 full tank and hard braking, as will the modified plastic fuel sender.

At least this repair method does not involve cutting new holes in the tank, or drilling/screwing from the outside - I have twice seen this done and tanks leaking!
Obviously the tanks do hold a basic pressure before the vent valve opens, and this will always find any leak/hole.

A question for you cfoster, some here have suggested it is possible to remove the baffle from the sender hole.
I doubt it could be done - what do you think?

FWIW, removing the tank is not too hard with the roof in exactly the right intermediate position, but an extra pair of hands does help. Most awkward part is disconnecting the fuel delivery hose from beneath, especially on the AMG (hence extra time for removing drive shaft etc).
 

cfoster

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Thanks Alex, I am interested as well in how long it lasts. Looking online at other forums etc it 'seems' that once its done its done as such. I'm a little nervous at how the spring holds the baffle back securely also, I will make sure it has a good enough hook on it.

With regards to removing the baffle I really cannot see a way without cutting the tank open. The sender hole is far too small.....

Good to know about removing it, when I tried last time I gave up and had to find homes for about 200 bolts!!!!
 

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