E350 2011 engine siezed

[wardy941]

Hi, I have had my E350 2011 Cabriolet in the garage and have now been told the engine is locked up and absolutley no movement on the crank pulley.

The car was driving fine no problems serviced as shoul and had been done 500mile previous.

Driving down the motorway the car suddenly cut out And all power went off, the car continued to roll and slow down, i shifted to N and pulled off the motorway.

Then car would then not start just made a loud clicking noise 3 times, the cooling fan would come on when remove the key, the radio wqs on and off, seat belt extenders stuck out, windows not working, the key would sometimes not respond the ignition wouldnt tuen on with key have to use other key. ( this is random which key works and which dosnt).

Question I have is would there be anything that would cause the engine to "lock" other than it being siezed or chain snap etc,
There was no noise or bang when cut out and i was at high revs.

Why would the electrics behave like this if the engine locks up

Thanks

 

[E55BOF]

What mileage has the car covered?

I can't see how the electrical problems could result from a seized engine. Is the car with an MB specialist for the diagnosis?

 

[Bellow]

Driving down the motorway the car suddenly cut out And all power went off, the car continued to roll and slow down, i shifted to N and pulled off the motorway.



Thanks

A proper seizure would have locked the rear wheels - or been close to it. Did it feel like that - or merely lose power?

 

[Andy350]

The mind boggles with this one. Given the assorted additional electronic gremlins I'd be surprised to find that your engine had simultaneously seized. Then there's the question as to the quality of garage your vehicle is in, for example, I take it that your car is an automatic, a real dimlo might be attempting to turn it over with the parking lock engaged, that would may provide the result they got but would obviously NOT support their diagnosis (and if you're thinking "nah....nobody could be that stupid" trust me....they can!) Is a petrol or diesel?

 

[wardy941]

110k miles oil looks fine
There was no lock up i was doing a little over 70 and revs would of been quite high at the time
The car lost power and dash lights went off and back on etc
The car continued to roll in Drive - i changed to N after a short while to enable me to roll the car off the motorway

Yes its automatic
Should the crank not turn while parking lock is engaged as the car would usually start in park

No not at mercedes specialist just a local garage

 

[Martin 1]

You really do need a Merc indie with Star diagnostics, very little of what's happened makes sense, I really wouldn't leave it with those guys. PLEASE let us know what happens.

 

[Andy350]

110k miles oil looks fine
There was no lock up i was doing a little over 70 and revs would of been quite high at the time
The car lost power and dash lights went off and back on etc
The car continued to roll in Drive - i changed to N after a short while to enable me to roll the car off the motorway

Yes its automatic
Should the crank not turn while parking lock is engaged as the car would usually start in park

No not at mercedes specialist just a local garage

Yes, thinking about it, it may well do, I still don't buy the seized engine line though, I think your problem is electrical from everything you've said. Many years ago I bought my first Volvo from a guy who'd been taking it to the same independent mechanic for a number of years, the mechanic had been having this guys pants down for years, finally culminating in telling him that it needed a fortune spending on it to pass an MoT, I bought the car for a steal and found that the only thing it needed to pass its MoT was one front shock as the spring plate had rusted through.....

The moral of the story being, choose your garage carefully!

 

[wardy941]

You really do need a Merc indie with Star diagnostics, very little of what's happened makes sense, I really wouldn't leave it with those guys. PLEASE let us know what happens.

Ok i will try find one local im in west yorkshire if anyone can recomend

Is there any reason there would be no movement at the crankpulley if the engine hadnt siezed

 

[kianok]

Ok i will try find one local im in west yorkshire if anyone can recomend

Is there any reason there would be no movement at the crankpulley if the engine hadnt siezed

Give these a call German Auto Care | Mercedes VW Audi servicing and repair specialists in Leeds and Wakefield

 

[Andy350]

Ok i will try find one local im in west yorkshire if anyone can recomend

Is there any reason there would be no movement at the crankpulley if the engine hadnt siezed

Have you been down and personally tried turning the crank pulley? Like I said, I just don't buy it, the engine seizes and a whole bunch of electrical problems all occur simultaneously without there being an obvious connection between the two events....highly improbable, not impossible but certainly not likely, it was telling for me that you said the dash lights went off and then came back on, something electronic is having a toffee crisp, as, I would suggest, are your mechanics......

 

[wardy941]

Have you been down and personally tried turning the crank pulley? Like I said, I just don't buy it, the engine seizes and a whole bunch of electrical problems all occur simultaneously without there being an obvious connection between the two events....highly improbable, not impossible but certainly not likely, it was telling for me that you said the dash lights went off and then came back on, something electronic is having a toffee crisp, as, I would suggest, are your mechanics......

I have nipped down to see the car its just in a local garage at the end of the street He has shown me the car with the strong bar on the crank and it definatly didnt budge and the shifter was in N had to press the yellow button under the shifter to get it into N

 

[Andy350]

I have nipped down to see the car its just in a local garage at the end of the street He has shown me the car with the strong bar on the crank and it definatly didnt budge and the shifter was in N had to press the yellow button under the shifter to get it into N

I don't know tbh, we are left with an extremely unlikely combination of events or some missing facts, as advised previously, get it to someone who knows what they are doing, a Merc specialist for sure, start by calling one and discussing what happened with them.

 

[wardy941]

I don't know tbh, we are left with an extremely unlikely combination of events or some missing facts, as advised previously, get it to someone who knows what they are doing, a Merc specialist for sure, start by calling one and discussing what happened with them.

Will call german auto tomorrow thanks

 

[Bellow]

An auto would be more forgiving re locking the wheels but there's still a world of difference between a seizure and mere loss of power. An unexpected seizure would fell like the car trying throw you through the screen.

Given how serious a seizure is - either get absolute confirmation that it cannot be turned over (including removing the auxiliary drives) and/or get a sample of the oil to an analysis lab.

If it isn't seized - an electrical problem could be the only fault. If it is seized - you probably still have an electrical problem.

Another possibility re seizure is a hydraulic lock (cylinder full of a fluid).

 

[Andy350]

An auto would be more forgiving re locking the wheels but there's still a world of difference between a seizure and mere loss of power. An unexpected seizure would fell like the car trying throw you through the screen.

Given how serious a seizure is - either get absolute confirmation that it cannot be turned over (including removing the auxiliary drives) and/or get a sample of the oil to an analysis lab.

If it isn't seized - an electrical problem could be the only fault. If it is seized - you probably still have an electrical problem.

Another possibility re seizure is a hydraulic lock (cylinder full of a fluid).

Yes, hydraulic lock is spot on, still doesn't explain why this happened at exactly the same time as a whole bunch of unrelated electrical faults but this is where unknown facts may be at play...

 

[wardy941]

Thabjs all will get it booked in tomorrow, the car seemed to driving spot on until it stopped non of the electrical issues mentioned were present before it stopped

 

[Spider10]

I'll just put this out there, could the starter motor have a fit and lock onto the starter ring hence crank locked I can't see the engine being siezed imo

 

[Bellow]

Yes, hydraulic lock is spot on, still doesn't explain why this happened at exactly the same time as a whole bunch of unrelated electrical faults but this is where unknown facts may be at play...

I'll just put this out there, could the starter motor have a fit and lock onto the starter ring hence crank locked I can't see the engine being siezed imo

There's a few external possibilities - something jammed in the flywheel/flex plate area, hyd lock. With either of those the engine will possibly turn backwards so that should be tried before assuming internal seizure. If it still isn't budging I'd have the serp belt off just to be sure an auxiliary hasn't locked up.

A 'quiet' seizure can only really be from a piston in a bore. An oil starved bearing will spin its shells. Anything else is audible and will probably involve fluids being spilled.

 

[Spider10]

If the engine hydraulic locked it would still turn over ?

 

[Bellow]

If the engine hydraulic locked it would still turn over ?

It would probably turn in the reverse direction and, eventually, when some of the fluid has leaked past the rings - turn at least a bit in the correct direction. Removing spark plugs or injectors (if a diesel) would release it easily.
Hydraulic locks - short of wading into water - are more likely to occur during start up after coolant has leaked in sufficient quantity into the cylinder. Chevrolet's Vortec V8 was fitted with crap inlet manifold gaskets from new and one mode of failure for them is to dump coolant into a cylinder when they're parked. Cue bent con rod on start-up. Hard to see how a running engine could have a cylinder fill with fluid in the time available. Still no mention if it's a petrol or diesel. Could a diesel have an injector fail so catastrophically and fill the cylinder with enough fuel to lock it?
This thread has a whiff of 'who put diesel in my petrol tank?' to it....