Blue Efficiency injector recall?

[Satch]

The maker of the problematic injectors is Delphi and they went bust 4 years ago, only emerging from bankruptcy in October.

Promptly engaged in a big restructuring as part of that and they have recently sold their airbag, seatbelt and steering wheel businesses to Autoliv. with more such deals to follow.

 

[Tilly]

That'll teach them not to use bosch LMAO corner cutting pikeys!

 

[Rory]

I was told that the company who makes the injectors has gone under

Exactly the opposite has happened.

Delphi, which was part of GM, has been in bankruptcy for 4 years, and they came out of it about a month ago.

ETA: I'm a bit slow at typing!

 

[Tilly]

which would make sense because this injector problem has been ongoing for a little while now so theoretically they will have seen the opportunity and grasped it I guess. I've been told they'll resume production next year but it's so vague that I'm struggling to get a particular date next year. When, who knows. I think someone's dropped a serious b*llock on this one!

 

[rothbury]

Apologies if I repeat anything, in a bit of a rush and haven't had time to read through the whole thread but the info I've been given on these (how reliable it is I dont know but its a trustworthy source) and it is that essentially it's not a case of "if" the injectors will pack in, but more "when".

I've been told it's inevitable and that they're supposedly stopping production of the blueefficiency cars in the mean time which does make sense because I cant source a 220 or 250 for love nor money at this moment in time...

If a car is brought in with injector problems under warranty and has two sets of replacements and they pack in, game over... they wont fit any more. But the current plan of action and what they intend to do? I'm unsure.

I was told that the company who makes the injectors has gone under and left mercedes in a bit of a pickle and hence why they're struggling to rectify this quickly and easily and are trying their best to keep it under wraps. It does sound like a major f*ck up on someones behalf but I think currently like anything and potentially the info I've been relayed from my contact, so much of it may just be speculation and chinese whispers.

I think in fairness that given the nature of this post you should identify the source. There are many people out there who will be affected by this problem and to date i had imagined rightly or wrongly that there was a possibility of failure rather than a certainty. That is the line that the MB dealer here is taking .
SO who is the trustworthy source who has the benfit of a crystal ball?

 

[Pottsy]

My dealer claims that they have done "3 or 4". Any recent cars get fitted with the Mk 4 injector before delivery, which should be fine. Production is stopped because the injectors earmarked for production are being used to replace ones on cars on the road with pre-Mk4 injectors. There are not enough new ones to go into cars with problems and new builds.

Now, I realise that this is dealer-speak, and it doesn't give any clues as to why some cars are off the road for a long time.

 

[C240Sport97]

If a car is brought in with injector problems under warranty and has two sets of replacements and they pack in, game over... they wont fit any more. But the current plan of action and what they intend to do? I'm unsure.

This is untenable if the car is still under warranty.

 

[Tilly]

I think that's why everything will be off the road for as long as it is... Trying to keep up with demand etc but if they've fit a few sets of injectors a couple of times already it shows the problem is going to keep reoccuring and essentially they're aimlessly p*ssing money down the drain for no apparent reason as the issue must go deeper.

One thing I'm unsure of is what is actually going wrong with the injectors and/or if it is ECU related. It could be a knock on effect caused somewhere else down the fuelling line but I'm unaware. Like I say, so much is chinese whispers and unfortunately I doubt we'll ever know the truth

 

[C240Sport97]

so much for back to Mercedes 'legendary' reliability ..

 

[Ted]

Shame nothing was picked up during the '15 million miles of testing'

 

[Tilly]

so much for back to Mercedes 'legendary' reliability ..

Ohhhhhhh I sooooooooooooooooooo want to refer you to my old school C class threads and my rants about how sh*t the reliability was on my 203!!!

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/wheels-tyres/23304-after-5-weeks-ownership.html

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/general-discussion/30694-guess-whos-back.html

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/general-discussion/36007-wooo-merc-do-again.html

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/engine/37848-i-am-going-scream.html

LMAO Sean I'm sure you assured me mercs were decent cars

 

[ddentrec]

isn't it disappointing that these injector issues were not discovered during the hundreds of thousands of miles of testing? the most comprehensive development program ever?

My mantra: never buy the first new version of ANYTHING. That goes for washing machines, mobile phones and cars. I've worked in production engineering and newly launched products are nearly always pushed out of the door before they are ready. Wait 6 - 12 months for the bugs to be sorted.

 

[w124coupe]

Been told by enterprise that MB Have extended the hire till the 23rd of December, so, prob wont see my car this side of the year.........

If you found out from the hire car company then that means the dealer must have failed the "elementary customer service" training.....still, I suppose you are only a customer!

 

[st13phil]

That'll teach them not to use bosch LMAO corner cutting pikeys!

And what makes you think Bosch don't have similarly spectacular failures?

Shame nothing was picked up during the '15 million miles of testing'

See post #18. Pre-production testing will rarely be able to replicate problems that only manifest themselves as a result of massive upscaling of manufacturing volumes. You can test a product to death before launch and come in below the maximum permitted failure rate on every component, but if the manufacturing process doesn't scale properly to the volume required you have a problem. As does Delphi and, by definition, MB in this instance.

My mantra: never buy the first new version of ANYTHING.

While I agree with that sentiment to a point, carried to it's logical conclusion the problems would simply start to manifest themselves later in the launch cycle because no-one was buying/using the earliest production. Simply put, there have to be early adopters of every product. However, the questions you have to ask before being an early adopter include "how much inconvenience will I suffer if it fails" and "how confident am I that the manufacturer will make good the failure if one occurs". Everyone will make their own judgement on those questions.

 

[rothbury]

I think that's why everything will be off the road for as long as it is... Trying to keep up with demand etc but if they've fit a few sets of injectors a couple of times already it shows the problem is going to keep reoccuring and essentially they're aimlessly p*ssing money down the drain for no apparent reason as the issue must go deeper.

One thing I'm unsure of is what is actually going wrong with the injectors and/or if it is ECU related. It could be a knock on effect caused somewhere else down the fuelling line but I'm unaware. Like I say, so much is chinese whispers and unfortunately I doubt we'll ever know the truth

Tilly come on and give us your "trustworthy" source who says it 's only a matter of time.

 

[Tilly]

I'm not naming anyone because its unfair. As I mentioned, things can be twisted down the line so he or someone before him may have been ill informed hence why I said like anything, chinese whispers always play a part and the issue may potentially be blown out of proportion

 

[Branko]

My dealer claims that they have done "3 or 4". Any recent cars get fitted with the Mk 4 injector before delivery, which should be fine. Production is stopped because the injectors earmarked for production are being used to replace ones on cars on the road with pre-Mk4 injectors. There are not enough new ones to go into cars with problems and new builds.

Now, I realise that this is dealer-speak, and it doesn't give any clues as to why some cars are off the road for a long time.

Picked up my E250cdi on 18 Oct and it has factory sign-off paperwork a few days before then. Have done 1,500 miles - going OK! Do you know if mine would have Mk 4 injectors? Is there a way to check as I want to avoid surprises!!

 

[redbaron]

I wonder how many of these failed injectors are actual faulty injectors or are due to £99 ebay tuning boxes that send way too much fuel pressure through the common rail. Piezo injectors are much more precise than the older ones in the non B/E cars.. and they are less tolerant to big increases in rail pressure.

My C250 has 1400 miles on and is going strong. Picked it up earlier in the month and it is loosening nicely.

 

[alo]

Common sense

Tilly come on and give us your "trustworthy" source who says it 's only a matter of time.

In my GLK, an injector failed in October. And on Monday, second one failed. They still insisted that the proper fix is to change only the failed one. After some shouting and cursing they agreed and now they are changing the broken one and the remaining two. The procedure is ridiculous: Spare parts are not stocked in Finland: every new injector has to be ordered from Germany and currently there are no available parts in Germany, either.

I heard a rumour that the original plan was to use Bosch injectors in Blue Efficiency design. But then some bean counter appeared and walked over the german engineer and they chose to use Delphi injectors. Now they have changed back to Bosch parts...

I also sent a complaint letter to Daimler AG.

 

[Rory]

I also sent a complaint letter to Daimler AG.

Maybe writing makes you feel better (I do it too) but it'll never get within a million miles of anyone who matters.