This is my wife's car. Bought pre-owned with little miles. We have owned it 5 years. Doesn't get driven over 65mph on the freeway typically. One day I heard an unusual noise. Opened the hood and found the Idler pulley bolt had backed out almost to the fan. I tried to re-thread it back, but quickly realized the bolt had broken at the threads in the block. Long story short, the dealer says they had seen this, but had no clue what it takes or cost to fix it(typical lie).
Took it to an independent authorized repair shop. They had to remove the entire front, bottom of the engine to back out the broken bolt. A $6 broken bolt ends up costing $3500.00, mostly labor, and all gaskets had to be replaced also.
This will be the last Euro P.O.S. I will ever buy. WE WILL BUY USA made vehicles from now on. Next is to replace this POS with a Tahoe.
Update from Jul 11, 2015: When the Idler Bolt broke off in the engine, it was about a quarter inch from pushing out into the fan blade. This could have been a catastophic event.
I actually raised the hood just to check oil the washer fluid when I realized the bolt coming out of the engine block. Since my wife drives the car with our toddler daughter, I had to tell her we cant drive it till fixed. Well, that December I took it to a Benz authorized repair shop.
The Service cost me $3,500.00 at Christmas. This wiped us out for that month. I swore I would never own another Euro vehicle EVER again. We traded it 1 year later.
Signed, Pissed off
This is my wife's car. Bought pre-owned with little miles. We have owned it 5 years. Doesn't get driven over 65mph on the freeway typically. One day I heard an unusual noise. Opened the hood and found the Idler pulley bolt had backed out almost to the fan. I tried to re-thread it back, but quickly realized the bolt had broken at the threads in the block. Long story short, the dealer says they had seen this, but had no clue what it takes or cost to fix it(typical lie). Took it to an independent authorized repair shop. They had to remove the entire front, bottom of the engine to back out the broken bolt. A $6 broken bolt ends up costing $3500.00, mostly labor, and all gaskets had to be replaced also. This will be the last Euro P.O.S. I will ever buy. WE WILL BUY USA made vehicles from now on. Next is to replace this POS with a Tahoe.
Update from Jul 11, 2015: When the Idler Bolt broke off in the engine, it was about a quarter inch from pushing out into the fan blade. This could have been a catastophic event. I actually raised the hood just to check oil the washer fluid when I realized the bolt coming out of the engine block. Since my wife drives the car with our toddler daughter, I had to tell her we cant drive it till fixed. Well, that December I took it to a Benz authorized repair shop. The Service cost me $3,500.00 at Christmas. This wiped us out for that month. I swore I would never own another Euro vehicle EVER again. We traded it 1 year later. Signed, Pissed off
- gtragtop, Atascocita, TX, US