sailorP
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 19, 2008
- Messages
- 137
- Reaction score
- 6
- Location
- North Herefordshire
- Your Mercedes
- SLK32AMG
My SLK32AMG (2002 - 40k miles) has developed a problem.
It lacks power :-(
Normally, I can press the accelerator on the motorway at 70 plus (Kph of course), and get a big kick in the back as the car changes down and rapidly accelerates to 100 or so.
Yesterday on the way back from Heathrow I tried to accelerate above 80, but all that happened was the car changed down (to third I think), revs went to about 5k, but hardly any acceleration. I tried the gearbox in Sport ad Winter modes, basically same result...no power.
There were no warning lights, and no unusual noises, just the usual engine roar, but it was all sound and no fury....
Car had beeen standing in the cold for several days in the airport long term parking.
I pulled off the motorway, and tried some acceleration tests down the slip road and dual carriaeway to home. It accelerated at lower speeds, but not with the normal ferocity.
Hmmmm....sounds like I might have the intercooler water pump failure.
I understand from reading posts here that it normally happens around 60k miles, so looks like I'm unlucky.
I didn't want to pre-judge, so I thought I would test when cold.
Early this morning I went straight to the motorway (about a mile from home, so car was cold), and without any mechanical sympathy whatsoever, gave it some beans from the slip road onto the main carriageway. It accelerated better, but not with all of its customary venom.
I don't like mistreating the car, I normally warm it up properly before using full throttle, but I thought that doing a cold test just the once might help isolate the cause.
Further into the journey, when the engine was properly warm, I tried again, and same as last night, no power.
Did a one hour run in the car round the town with no problems, car behaved itself throughout, no symtoms.
Going home, same thing, no power at high speed.
So......
This sounds to me like the known problem of the intercooler water pump failing, (which presumably would also occur with C32AMGs as well?).
So can anyone shed some light on the following questions:
1. Am I doing the car any harm by driving it to my MD dealer or Indie?
2. Are there any other possible causes for this sort of failure? (I bet there are a few, but less probable).
3. Is there any (easy) test that I can perform to prove it is or isn't the water pump?
4. Since I have no warning lights, will there be fault codes for a STAR machine to detect?
5. Is it worth having it diagnosed by MB dealer then taking to an Indie, or is this something that an Indie can find straight away?
6. Estimate for cost of parts to rectify, and labour time.
7. Anything else I should ask to have done at the same time? eg change the auxilliary drive belt?
8. Any other advice from folks who have had this issue, or know about it?
Thanks for your assistance....Phil
It lacks power :-(
Normally, I can press the accelerator on the motorway at 70 plus (Kph of course), and get a big kick in the back as the car changes down and rapidly accelerates to 100 or so.
Yesterday on the way back from Heathrow I tried to accelerate above 80, but all that happened was the car changed down (to third I think), revs went to about 5k, but hardly any acceleration. I tried the gearbox in Sport ad Winter modes, basically same result...no power.
There were no warning lights, and no unusual noises, just the usual engine roar, but it was all sound and no fury....
Car had beeen standing in the cold for several days in the airport long term parking.
I pulled off the motorway, and tried some acceleration tests down the slip road and dual carriaeway to home. It accelerated at lower speeds, but not with the normal ferocity.
Hmmmm....sounds like I might have the intercooler water pump failure.
I understand from reading posts here that it normally happens around 60k miles, so looks like I'm unlucky.
I didn't want to pre-judge, so I thought I would test when cold.
Early this morning I went straight to the motorway (about a mile from home, so car was cold), and without any mechanical sympathy whatsoever, gave it some beans from the slip road onto the main carriageway. It accelerated better, but not with all of its customary venom.
I don't like mistreating the car, I normally warm it up properly before using full throttle, but I thought that doing a cold test just the once might help isolate the cause.
Further into the journey, when the engine was properly warm, I tried again, and same as last night, no power.
Did a one hour run in the car round the town with no problems, car behaved itself throughout, no symtoms.
Going home, same thing, no power at high speed.
So......
This sounds to me like the known problem of the intercooler water pump failing, (which presumably would also occur with C32AMGs as well?).
So can anyone shed some light on the following questions:
1. Am I doing the car any harm by driving it to my MD dealer or Indie?
2. Are there any other possible causes for this sort of failure? (I bet there are a few, but less probable).
3. Is there any (easy) test that I can perform to prove it is or isn't the water pump?
4. Since I have no warning lights, will there be fault codes for a STAR machine to detect?
5. Is it worth having it diagnosed by MB dealer then taking to an Indie, or is this something that an Indie can find straight away?
6. Estimate for cost of parts to rectify, and labour time.
7. Anything else I should ask to have done at the same time? eg change the auxilliary drive belt?
8. Any other advice from folks who have had this issue, or know about it?
Thanks for your assistance....Phil
