worrying sounds :-( (probably costly!!) when accelerating on SLK230

[slkkid]

Hi Everyone

I have a 2001 SLK 230 auto, 40k miles, just serviced by HR Owen in Gatwick.

I noticed this morning (it was freezing cold) some strange noises (clunks!), firstly, I thought it was something moving around in the boot, then thought it was fuel splashing around in the tank... this noise stopped after a few minutes, but now, on even the slightest level of acceleration, I can hear a strange squeak / creek sound. This only happens in D, and at all speeds above 6-7 mph. It gets harder to hear above 50mph, road noise etc..

When driving without any throttle, the noise does not occur. Even the slightest pressure on throttle, and I hear the noise (sounds like its coming from the rear, but I'm not certain). If I put the car in N whilst traveling, the noise does not occur, even when pressing throttle.

I have a 600 mile round trip to make tomorrow, and I am nervous! Should I borrow my girlfriends Ka!?!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[slkkid]

early morning 15 mile drive, I notice the noise *does* occur a little when releasing the throttle as the revs go down, but only in D, not N or P.

service department were as helpful as ever... "book an appointment and we'll have a look"...

Could this just be a fan belt or something?

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

the symptoms sound very similar to the anti-roll/torsion bars problem on my (and just about every other) c-class. I don't know if the SLK has the same suspension, although I expect it doesn't. IF it is the same problem it cost £180 including labour at my local stealer. I tried all the things you did, I also put damping around everything to see if I could stop the noise because I couldn't work out where it was coming from. I was sure it was from the back but it turned out not to be.

 

[slkkid]

Thanks for the reply. How long did you wait before getting it fixed?

I have a few months left on MB warranty, so hopefully it should be covered under this, although everything else I assumed would be never is!!

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

I noticed it shortly after buying the car (it's 3 years old) and they fixed it about 3 weeks later. If it is the same problem it's anoying rather than dangerous.

Apparently these go on the c-class about every 25k to 30k miles.

If you have an MB warantee, I would have thought you'd be covered. btw, if your warantee is about to expire you may want to consider Service Plus (from MB) as a good way to not worry about service costs and things going wrong for the next few years. Depends on your mileage really.

 

[slkkid]

I've just read up on the Service Plus thing, it seems interesting, but no price indicators, so I'll speak to the dealership.

Hopefully it is not dangerous! I've got lots of driving to do today, but hopefully get it looked at on Monday.

Thanks for the info.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

yeah, they quote on an individual basis based on mileage and age of car. Mine is based on 20,000 p/a so that covers 1 A and 1 B service plus an MOT and costs £75 p/m. But it's more the peace of mind that I'm interested in than the cost of the servicing. I worked out that the servicing and the MOT came in at around £950 p/a so £75p/m isn't bad. But, if something expensive breaks in the mean time I shouldn't have to pay for it.

btw, they include any work required to get the car through the MOT apart from tyres. You can get tyres covered but it's about £20 p/m extra and that starts to get a little expensive.

Basically if anything breaks or goes wrong, and it hasn't been caused by you abusing the car, it's covered.

Shortly after I bought the car I had the suspension problem and also the remote locking stopped working. At the time it was still under warantee from the garage I bought it from, which was just as well as the 2 things cost neary £1000 to fix. I checked with the MB contract department and both things would have been covered by service plus. So, like I say apart from the service costs themselves it's peace of mind I'm really paying for.

And if you go for it, when you start up they inspect your car to make sure nothing is wrong for it. This takes about 2 hours. Some stealers charge for this but I was advised by MB to shop around as not all do. Fortunately mine didn't. Even if you don't go for it you can look on this as a free 2 hour health check on your car!