6 month old W204 Engine & Gearbox out!!

[philipdayton]

Hi,

My car has been making what i can only describe as a 'tappety' noise under load at low revs for some time. I didnt know if it was a characteristic of the engine and it never really bothered me too much as with the stereo on, i didnt really notice it.

A colleague pointed out the other day that my car was noisy from the outside 'he could hear a rattle', i went in another colleagues car (same engine in a saloon), no such noise.

Cut a long story short and it turns out that there is possibly a problem with a plate between the gearbox and the engine which will mean MB will need to take both out and will need the car for at least a week.

Anybody else heard of this?
Car is a C250CDI

 

[grober]

Oh dear sounds like all my predictions are coming true. On the OM651 engine Google Image Result for http://blog.mercedes-benz-passion.com/wp-content/uploads/765945_1397254_2560_3580_41._OM651.jpg the single chain timing gear is at the rear of the engine meaning any problems there can be an engine out job. Sounds like that is your problem?? There was some anecdotal evidence of this sort of problem on early versions of the OM651 on high mileage taxis in Germany related to the tensioner irrc? How many miles has the car done?

 

[philipdayton]

just under 8000. In terms of the problem, I didnt get to techy as once they technician had taken the car out they send an young lady over to give you the bad news. She just said it was a plate at the back of the engine...

 

[grober]

Engine back plates don't normally "rattle" that young lady, pleasant though she undoubtedly was, most likely wouldn't have a scooby :fail Other possibility is premature failure of the dual mass flywheel - does the car have stop start?

 

[philipdayton]

Yes, it does have stop start.
The car drives absolutely fine, no issues other than the 'tappety' noise.

 

[st4]

Is the car a manual or an automatic.

Dual mass fly wheels IIRC aren't a feature of automatic cars, unless mb have fitted them to automatics. Would a DMF be fitted to a stop start equipped auto?

Sounds like the cars under warranty and will get fixed.

 

[philipdayton]

Yes it's under warranty so no issues there, I was just surprised that it requires a 'engine & gearbox out' after only 8K miles and wondered if there was a 'known issue'.

My previous car was an Alfa Romeo 159, that had a failed DMF at 18k and had DMF and the clutch replaced!

 

[grober]

The reason I mention Stop /Start is that DMF's experience the greatest stress when the engine starts and stops. Whereas in the past an urban journey would have involved 1 start and 1 stop it might now involve something like half a dozen stop / starts. It's possible the DMF'S have been uprated for this but if not-----??

PS pretty sure OM651's are all fitted with DMF's --- both manual and automatic gearbox type but not 100% certain.