C200SE s205 overheating

[DITTRICH]

This morning the engine temperature climbed into the Red after about 3 minutes of driving. Nothing coming out of the cabin heater either. Fortunately, or unfortunately,this occured within 2 miles of the Stratford Synter franchise. So I nursed the car in 0.2 mile increments to keep the temperature below the Red and booked the car in for Monday am.
I am guessing water pump related.. probably failure of pump or the valve controlling the water circulation. I'm dreading the bill, but compared to retrieving the car to my indie 55 miles away, I just have to take the horrible medicine. Convenience/time and all that. This is the first time I have had a failure to proceed in 4y3m in the s205. Wish me luck ,

 

[DITTRICH]

This is what automation has done for us. The car is in the Mercedes dealership at Stratford, London. At half past nine the car sent me an automated email saying that my coolant was too low (it's thermostat is being changed and the coolant needs to come out for that!) and I must make a workshop appointment! (its already there). On top of this I had a missed call from them at 9.53am and in spite of returning the call 3 times, I never got further than the receptionist. Given the size of the bill, its not good enough. I know they are working on the car because the car helpfully let me know. But the reason for the call from them? Who knows, it could be important or it could be just an automated call about the email. I suspect there will be an interesting conversation when I scoot over there later today (if my call is not returned). Edit: a message on my phone now supplies a link to my vehicle status - which says only that there is a booking. Nothing about any work being done. I'm confused. Your order says VHC 20P5499723 diode in the alternator. seems like the safety recall I had to use them for last week. It really is a shit show.

 

[DITTRICH]

It

This is what automation has done for us. The car is in the Mercedes dealership at Stratford, London. At half past nine the car sent me an automated email saying that my coolant was too low (it's thermostat is being changed and the coolant needs to come out for that!) and I must make a workshop appointment! (its already there). On top of this I had a missed call from them at 9.53am and in spite of returning the call 3 times, I never got further than the receptionist. Given the size of the bill, its not good enough. I know they are working on the car because the car helpfully let me know. But the reason for the call from them? Who knows, it could be important or it could be just an automated call about the email. I suspect there will be an interesting conversation when I scoot over there later today (if my call is not returned). Edit: a message on my phone now supplies a link to my vehicle status - which says only that there is a booking. Nothing about any work being done. I'm confused. Your order says VHC 20P5499723 diode in the alternator. seems like the safety recall I had to use them for last week. It really is a shit show.

It gets better. The SMS link they sent me now no longer works and its 404 page not found. They only sent the last sms at 12.18 and at 14.23 its 404! No-one has phoned me back in spite of my calls to them. They called 0953 which I missed (no message left) , I called 11.50, 11.53, and 12.08 .

 

[DITTRICH]

It seems to be somewhat more than just a thermostat and more of crank case breather tube, loom, oil and ECU. I was asked to pay for the diagnosis, and the car will be put back together (their cost) and trailered to my regular independent Mercedes garage in East Sussex. They can be relied on to take a more practical view of what really needs to be done or replaced. My current diagnosis is oil in the loom interfering with the engine temperature sensor readings, and not the engine overheating at all. Still, if it is a large bill, at least it is going to someone I trust rather than the garage I happened to have the problem close to. The car cost me £9.3k 4 years ago pre COVID. Its now on 202k. MB Stratford had originally quoted £1k for the thermostat which given hassle, time of the year etc I was prepared to pay. But not for the additional £3k they had then priced up. It might still end up being expensive, but the car is moving before Xmas. I'm anticipating pain but maybe I will retain some of my arms and legs, lol. "Merry" Christmas.

 

[Stratman]

As the old adage says, "There's no such thing as a cheap Mercedes".

Cool Yule to thee and thine.

 

[Smiley]

It seems to be somewhat more than just a thermostat and more of crank case breather tube, loom, oil and ECU. I was asked to pay for the diagnosis, and the car will be put back together (their cost) and trailered to my regular independent Mercedes garage in East Sussex. They can be relied on to take a more practical view of what really needs to be done or replaced. My current diagnosis is oil in the loom interfering with the engine temperature sensor readings, and not the engine overheating at all. Still, if it is a large bill, at least it is going to someone I trust rather than the garage I happened to have the problem close to. The car cost me £9.3k 4 years ago pre COVID. Its now on 202k. MB Stratford had originally quoted £1k for the thermostat which given hassle, time of the year etc I was prepared to pay. But not for the additional £3k they had then priced up. It might still end up being expensive, but the car is moving before Xmas. I'm anticipating pain but maybe I will retain some of my arms and legs, lol. "Merry" Christmas.

Good grief. How does a thermostat replacement get to be a £1,000 bill?

 

[ray_hennig]

How does a thermostat replacement get to be a £1,000 bill?

That's what I thought. I changed mine in the garden in about 20 minutes. Plus a while to run the engine and purge any air in the system. But I don't know where the thermostat is in the OP's car. Does the engine need to come out?????

R

 

[DITTRICH]

The thermostat is beneath a load of stuff in the engine (I was told) The labour element was huge considering the thermostat costs less than £200 and the diagnostic was £220 as well. Fear not, the car is now in the hands of my regular independent garage in East Sussex. The car was moved yesterday, precisely because I didn't believe what I was being told. I am not going to go into all the details now, but after its been repaired, I will post. Kind Regards, Les

 

[slade1]

Modern tech, decades ago to change a thermostat 2 bolts and hose clip. £5 for the part

 

[Smiley]

I replaced the thermostat on my om648 211 this year; the Mahle thermostat was £25 and is very easy to get at on the top of the engine.
That's progress I guess......

 

[DITTRICH]

update: parts ordered from Germany 04/01 arriving 19/01 so we shall see what happens by the end of the month. Delays for xmas and MB stock replenishment.

 

[DITTRICH]

I have decided to set out in writing the end result in order for people to draw their own conclusions. My conclusion was that, at the very least, someone was being very economical with the truth.
I had experienced a rapid rise in coolant temperature within 5 minutes and 2 miles of starting the car from cold. As I was close to MB Stratford, a dealership (now Sytners) that was both very close (1.5 miles) and open on Saturday morning. The next Tuesday I was told that diagnostics indicated a failed thermostat that would cost £1.15k in parts and labour. The high labour charge was due to, I was told, that the thermostat is buried in the engine bay and that hours of labour were required to do the job. The customer service person also told me that brakes and suspension components were worn. I was given the option of getting these done as well. I can't remember the huge sums that were suggested. I refused and specified that just the fault I had was to be fixed. 2 days later they started taking the car apart and I was phoned and told that on dismantling bits in the engine bay to get at the thermostat, they had discovered engine oil seeping out of the crank case breather tube by a sensor. I was shown the partly dismantled engine in the car park under torch light because the car had been moved out of the building. They proposed £2,9k of additional parts (loom, harness, ecu and so on. I declined. I quickly reasoned that had this been apparent at the diagnostics stage, the ecu would have been screaming with additional fault codes. I arranged for a car trailer to take the car to an independent Mercedes specialist garage in East Sussex. They looked at the car in the new year and diagnosed a seized water pump and ordered a new one from Germany (none in Milton Keynes). It took some time to arrive. The final bill was £0.7k including labour which I paid because having no car for 6 weeks was proving exceedingly difficult. I have the seized water pump in my car, and will be paying a visit to MB Stratford because I am going first to them and then MB Milton Keynes. Their "diagnosis" was WRONG, and I'm naming the dealership because if you look at their google reviews, take care before you let them have your car.

 

[mioba]

MB dealers are the scum of the earth.
My W251 went in for a recall (brake booster) 3 months back. I look after my cars myself and know them inside out.
When they had the car for the recall - they called to me to say they "dicovered"some faults that needs attention (ie broken brake fluod tank, some brackets etc). They said the car wont be drivable unless fixed and would cost me 1.1k.

I went in storming - because it was clear they caused the damage and were trying to get me to foot the bill.

In they end they said thy would fix it all as a gesture. Slimy turds.

This was MB nottingham.

 

[mioba]

In your case OP i would have said - why change the coolant when it hasn't leaked.

 

[DITTRICH]

In your case OP i would have said - why change the coolant when it hasn't leaked.

I was told the thermostat is a big piece of pipework, and sensors which are sold as one unit costing not a lot but with a lot of labour. It was close to christmas and I wanted the car fixed. I ignored the other snake oil advertising tales they told me but just wanted the car fixed. They had to drain the coolant to get to the thermostat pipework - the car told me this automatically via the mercedes app. Logically it was either a sensor (thermostat), the pump, the electrical supply to the pump, or no coolant. I had no reason to doubt them at that stage.

 

[merc estate]

Thanks for letting us know your experiences with Stratford, i wont be going there for anything.

 

[DITTRICH]

Thanks for letting us know your experiences with Stratford, i wont be going there for anything.

The result was delayed by the wait of2.5 weeks for a water pump from Germany.