CLK350 Intake Manifold Repair Kit 2721402401

[Kompressor_Dude]

Afternoon all, seems like my car has a common issue for M272 / M273 engines (lots on the web about it) but I couldn't find anything in the forum archives here.

I've got the check engine light on my CLK350, 55 plate and the OBDII reader shows P2006. It used to come back every 200 miles or so when cleared but now comes back straight away. A bit of research shows that a plastic joint on the side of the intake manifold is the likely culprit,and there are repair kits online that replace it with a metal component. Mercedes only seem to offer the whole manifold and not the part, and the repair kits state that it is a reasonably simple DIY job, so seems a straightforward way to save a few hundred pounds:

Repair Kit 2721402401

my question is, all of these kits seem to come from China or America, has anyone got any experience of replacing this component, and are there UK sources or better alternatives to this kit? I understand that the manifold will need a good clean when it's off as it's carbon / gunk build-up that causes the part to snap in the first place, but is there anything else I should be aware of?

The car is a CLK350 with 118k on the clock and is otherwise running beautifully.

Any help much appreciated!

 

[JamesG66]

I can't help with your request but as somebody with an M272 equipped car I'm very interested to hear how you get on if you do choose to use the repair kit.

 

[anderoo]

Likewise - this is something I expect to have to deal with at some point too...

 

[PobodY]

Me too. - I've seen the kits and thought the same thing "that looks like a job I could do myself one weekend".

I'm also reassured that your M272 has 118k on it; hopefully I can get similar on mine.

 

[Kompressor_Dude]

I'll crack on with the order then! Chinese NY means most of the online sellers aren't posting for a while but should get round to the repair in a couple of weeks so will report back.

i just looked through the gap at the part, it's tight and there's no access at all but can just make out the sheared plastic so know that this part is definitely broken. For ref. I just read the codes and it's showing P2006 and P0410. Hopefully this will clear them for good.

As for the M272 and lifespan / balance shaft issue, I was unaware when I bought the car but it's a 2005 with a '100' VIN so right at the start of the issue when the gear was the problem. It gets driven quite hard and does a couple of '000 a month so I will get it checked for wear soon.

Any ideas if this gear can be checked for wear on the driveway easily?

 

[Kompressor_Dude]

I'll crack on with the order then! Chinese NY means most of the online sellers aren't posting for a while but should get round to the repair in a couple of weeks so will report back.

i just looked through the gap at the part, it's tight and there's no access at all but can just make out the sheared plastic so know that this part is definitely broken. For ref. I just read the codes and it's showing P2006 and P0410. Hopefully this will clear them for good.

As for the M272 and lifespan / balance shaft issue, I was unaware when I bought the car but it's a 2005 with a '100' VIN so right at the start of the issue when the gear was the problem. It gets driven quite hard and does a couple of '000 a month so I will get it checked for wear soon.

Any ideas if this gear can be checked for wear on the driveway easily?

 

[PobodY]

I don't think there's an easy way to check the gear for wear; there might be an inspection port of some kind, but you probably can't get at it without having the car in the air.

RE the engine; on one hand I wish I'd held-out for a V8, but on the other hand mine came with a whole load of the options ticked. - Intellectually I know the balancer shaft is the weak point, so as things wear that's what will go first. However I cling to the hope that they can't all let got catastrophically, and that the vocal people are the ones with something to complain about (everyone else either doesn't know there's a problem, or haven't experienced anything).

 

[Codger49]

My understanding is that its an engine out job to inspect the balance shaft gears.

I do wonder though whether you could hook up to Star and whilst running the engine, look for any variations in the camshafts' live adjustment values to see if worn (or wearing) gears are affecting them?

 

[Kompressor_Dude]

Not sure, next time I'm at Olly's I'll ask if there's a way to diagnose gear wear without going half-way towards fixing it.

The mileage is high enough on mine that I'm hoping it's already been done! I had the V8 for a while but the fuel (and tyre) consumption was silly and I need something to use all the time on a reasonable budget. That said, no car has made me grin when accelerating like that CLK55

Found the part to fix the intake manifold for £69.99 and it's been dispatched so will return to the thread with an update in the next few weeks.

 

[4life211]

But you can remove flaps at your and can cost less then buying another without flaps.

 

[Kompressor_Dude]

Sorry 4life211, not sure what you mean mate.

I took the manifold out today. Like most DIY jobs it'd be easy on a new car, but lots of brittle parts made today only a partial success. Explanation below if anyone can help? Pictures to follow as soon as i work out how to post them.

The good things are that the manifold came out, and despite being prepared for a carbon-encrusted mess I was met with a very clean intake. Hooray for Wynns and 97RON from proper petrol stations!

The plastic component that came out was indeed broken; from reading online the intake gets clogged, then the arms jam and break the plastic elbow. Not so here as it was the three ball joints on the elbow that were locked solid, and once removed everything on the intake (tumble flaps etc.) moves freely.

The bad things are that the front vacuum lines were so brittle that three snapped on the way out. one is no real issue as it's got a part number and is £26 new delivered (vacuum valve 0025401897).

The other piece attaches directly to the maifold... bugger. Not sure what's needed to repair these and it may mean a new manifold is needed after all.

I followed this video for the removal of the manifold which was very helpful. Not going to remove the injectors as from the state of the valves and intake they will be fine and the unit comes out with them intact easily enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwdhtkJImk0

Now, just got to get those vacuum line issues resolved and i can put it back together. Good job i don't need it for a few weeks....

For reference if anyone uses this thread for a future fix, the gaskets for the intake are sided (MA2721412280 and MA2721412380), cost £3.06 each and no adhesive is used when replacing them.

 

[Kompressor_Dude]

So, the part was available in the UK, X8R had incorrectly listed it as £1699.99 on their website and eBay account, however once correctly priced at £69.99 it became competitive with US and Chinese incl. postage. The benefit of this 'kit' is that it comes with a replacement main arm, which it turned out I needed as the ball-joint was ruined.

Got the pictures up in the end. Grateful of any comments from those in-the-know. Just got to wait for the new parts to arrive and hope the repaired clip works...

Manifold out

Snapped connector at the bottom of a 12V vacuum unit.

Seized and snapped elbow joint.

Inside, manifold side.

Inside, cylinder side.

 

[PobodY]

Are you going to give it a polish whilst it's out? - Even just taking the casting marks will help with the flow.

 

[Kompressor_Dude]

I gave it a good clean (although it wasn't very dirty) but didn't polish. Felt like the tumble flaps will likely create a bigger flow issue than any fine detailing would improve.

Putting the manifold back into the car was straightforward and it took about 2hrs, however it was dark and i wasn't rushing so you could probably take 30mins off that if you're competent. maybe 45mins if you were really showing off.

I would say that this is a DIY job as no special tools are needed and everything is pretty accessible, just need to have patience. a few points for anyone attempting it:

Look out for the vacuum pipes at the front of the manifold as access is tight to dis/connect and if you forget them and move it they'll break.

Watch for dirt going into the valves, i gave them all a good vacuum out with an inner-tube stretched over the extension to get the grit out as some will inevitably go down there.

The gaskets might not stay on the bottom of the manifold (tags are weak) so i laid them on the head and dropped the unit in place without moving them - a second person would have been handy here to keep cables out of the way and lower it down level.

Hopefully this is of use, as there was quite a lot of research from a number of sources to get the info needed to complete this job.

Having taken it for a test drive it seems to pull better from lower revs and doesn't hesitate when accelerating from low in a gear like it used to. Who knows about fuel efficiency, i guess the tumble flaps are active for such a small percentage of the time that it cant be a significant improvement? That's not why you get a V6 or V8 though is it?

I will report back if there is a big fuel saving or the light comes on again, but for now it seems like a sub-£100 fix has been achieved.

 

[Kompressor_Dude]

bugger. Light's back on with P2006 and P0410 codes. the new part is moving freely so I can only assume that the old one having been stuck for so long damaged some of the vacuum components parts.

Anyone have any experience with testing this system / unit? can you check the three pumps at the top of the intake manifold? at what point should the mechanism 'activate'? can I cold-start and watch for it to engage as the car warms up?

It just passed an MOT with very good emissions scores so it doesn't seem to be affecting anything once the car is up to temperature. Both the codes say no major issues will be present too, but staring at this check engine light every day feels too much like defeat!

Any help appreciated as the only way to win at the minute seems a £1k+ new intake manifold?!

 

[Kompressor_Dude]

Just noticed I said I'd report back about fuel savings. The on-board calculator is showing a 1mpg improvement on average since pre-repair, same journey profile which is strange if it's not actually fixed! unless it was stuck one way and is now stuck the other?

 

[Evil_Stewie]

Any idea if this got sorted?