R
Rodger
Guest
Hi Everyone, new to the forum so briefly let me introduce myself. I'm 51, live in N.Z. and bought a S320 Cdi in 2007 new.
Early on I had a lot of problems with fuel getting into the oil and the oil level rising due to a partially blocked DPF and at several stages the diesel ingress was so bad I believe it got to approximtaly a 20 % fuel oil ratio in the crankcase and the engine was over-full with oil on a reasonably frequent basis in its first two years of its life.
Back in 2007 this problem didn't seem to be as well known in N.Z. as it is now and eventually we came to a settlement with M Benz that invloved the removal of the DPF, deemed unsuitable for constant short journey city trips and what i thought was an unconditional and full engine and turbo warranty for a considerable distance, (not sure if I should disclose the distance so better not) and its irrespective of time owned.
No problems for the last 3 1/2 years but the other day the car refused to accept more than about 25% throttle without going into a fairly abrupt shut down, which seemed like a fuel delivery starvation issue, (subsequently diagnosed as a turbo seal failure). Not sure if its the inlet seal or outlet but there's oil coming out of the seal failure ?
This raises a few questions.
1. Is seal failure on the diesel turbo a common problem ? Car is 5 1/2 years old done 44,000 km's = 27,000 miles.
2. Is the turbo seal exposed on a constant basis to the engine oil ? Seems it must be if there's oil leaking out of there now that the seal has failed ?
3. Given that we are supposed to have an extended guarantee on this engine due to its signifcant early fuel / oil ingress problems and this seal would have been exposed to excess pressure from an over-full crankcase and contaminated oil with diesel fuel to a ratio of 20%, surely they must cover this with the warranty ? (Service manager didn't sound hopeful in his e.mail on Friday just gone).
Any assistance and similar experiences greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long first post. Other than these issues the gearbox hasn't exactly been first rate by any stretch of the imagination although the recent gearbox and fluid change has improved the smootheness considerably. Very good car apart from issues noted above.
Early on I had a lot of problems with fuel getting into the oil and the oil level rising due to a partially blocked DPF and at several stages the diesel ingress was so bad I believe it got to approximtaly a 20 % fuel oil ratio in the crankcase and the engine was over-full with oil on a reasonably frequent basis in its first two years of its life.
Back in 2007 this problem didn't seem to be as well known in N.Z. as it is now and eventually we came to a settlement with M Benz that invloved the removal of the DPF, deemed unsuitable for constant short journey city trips and what i thought was an unconditional and full engine and turbo warranty for a considerable distance, (not sure if I should disclose the distance so better not) and its irrespective of time owned.
No problems for the last 3 1/2 years but the other day the car refused to accept more than about 25% throttle without going into a fairly abrupt shut down, which seemed like a fuel delivery starvation issue, (subsequently diagnosed as a turbo seal failure). Not sure if its the inlet seal or outlet but there's oil coming out of the seal failure ?
This raises a few questions.
1. Is seal failure on the diesel turbo a common problem ? Car is 5 1/2 years old done 44,000 km's = 27,000 miles.
2. Is the turbo seal exposed on a constant basis to the engine oil ? Seems it must be if there's oil leaking out of there now that the seal has failed ?
3. Given that we are supposed to have an extended guarantee on this engine due to its signifcant early fuel / oil ingress problems and this seal would have been exposed to excess pressure from an over-full crankcase and contaminated oil with diesel fuel to a ratio of 20%, surely they must cover this with the warranty ? (Service manager didn't sound hopeful in his e.mail on Friday just gone).
Any assistance and similar experiences greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long first post. Other than these issues the gearbox hasn't exactly been first rate by any stretch of the imagination although the recent gearbox and fluid change has improved the smootheness considerably. Very good car apart from issues noted above.
