Grab yourselves a bucket of popcorn and a cup of tea.I've owned my petrol CLS for 6 weeks now (purchased from a main dealer with a tier one warranty) and unfortunately have a problem. Despite very careful research and opting for a late model car with an engine number (5xxxxx) way after the reported timing gear/balance shaft problems, last week I got the dreaded engine management light. This 1 private previous owner from new (registered to a lady in a very upmarket place) car with FMBSH and serviced every 10,000 miles is 4.5 years old and has covered 41,000 miles. It is supposed to have the hardened timing gear/balance shaft.
I went back to the supplying dealer to diagnose the issue as soon as the engine management light came on last week (I had to book it in for a vehicle health check to have it diagnosed). The checks were very thorough and confirmed my worst fears that a worn out balance shaft and timing gear resulting in slack timing chain had triggered the engine management light. 25 hours labour plus some pretty expensive parts was the estimate. When doing the vehicle health check the technician/manager didn't realise I had bought the car from them and they were rather surprised after I told them after hearing what was wrong with the car.
They told me the car is safe to drive in the meantime and no further damage will be caused by driving it. Please can one of our forum technical experts confirm whether this is the case?
Logic tells me clearly whilst the vehicle still runs surely there must be a risk of further damage to the engine through running non-optimal timing. I gather the engine is also likely to be contaminated with swarf internally due to the damaged timing gear and balance shaft. Other symptoms are exhaust pipes covered in soot within a few dozen miles of cleaning thoroughly (indicating very rich running) and very poor fuel consumption (22 mpg indicated at a steady 60mph for 10 miles). The engine light was reset last week but came back on the day later.
Now for the controversial bit. They were supposed to be submitting a warranty claim for me straight away but their manager who normally submits the claims was out of the office until today. I got a phone call today saying they need to wait until September to submit the warranty claim. Their reason is because I have only owned the vehicle for 6 weeks and 1000 miles, from experience the guy that submits all warranty claims from this dealer believes the claim will be thrown out if submitted so soon after purchase.
However - is this really my problem? They sold a car with a major engine defect which has appeared within 5 weeks/1000 miles - it's not like the CD player isn't working or something trivial. It's also a well documented defect. If the warranty company won't pay I would think the dealer would have to foot the bill anyway?
If someone could please verify the "no further damage will be caused" statement I would be grateful. I plan to keep this car as least as long as my old CLK (6years+) and I am currently afraid to use it for fear of causing long term damage which will shorten the life of the car and won't manifest itself for several years when the vehicle is well out of warranty.
