fan belt failure with my E63AMG 6.2!!

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nico2014

Active Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2014
Messages
235
Location
London
Car
W204 C220 CDI sport, W204 C350 CDI Sport, W212 E350 CDI Sport and Now E63 AMG 6.3 AMG PP
Hi folks,

Happy New Year to all of you. I thought first day back at work, I was very much looking forward to having a bit of fun driving my car this afternoon after leaving my office and wanted to be getting away on the motorway, when suddenly driving on a dual carriage way (A12 towards Barkings), my steering wheel felt very stiff and heavy to manoeuvre, then a few more seconds I got a warning display (first time notifying something was wrong with the car) on my dashboard that the battery was running low?? Then, shortly after that my comand navigation system shut itself.

Luckily, I was close to a hard shoulder and immediately pulled over safely and kept my emergency lights on and remained in my car. I had no idea what had happened and tried to configured what had happened and also thought what would have happened had I not been able to pull away on the hard shoulder or if I was approaching a bend, it was that scary if I am honest and began thinking that I could have been involved in a crash if I had not reacted quickly or thought to ignore and carry on driving for a few more yards.

I then called MB emergency breakdown service, which was another challenge because I was unable to send any datas and location as the Navigation system was running on too low power to send information to them to confirm where I was stuck, but with the navigation compass (after restarting the car engine acting the Navigation system), they managed to locate me and my car and they sent a technician within 30 mins and after explaining my experience to them what had happened to me with the car, the technicien knew what the problem was: as soon as he arrived at the scene, he asked me to open the bonnet and he then pulled the fan belt that was broken and said to me that it is rare for this to happen but reassured me that I had done nothing wrong and that they knew it was something that could happen (see the picture of the belt placed in my front seat). I was surprised and a bit disappointed to hear that this belt snapped in half and caused all the issues with the steering wheel being stiffed and also cause the battery to drain very quickly. It was very new to me and I was surprised and felt something very serious could have happened had I been on the motorway driving at 70mph...

On a positive note, the mobilo service was utilised perfectly: they brought a recovery vehicle (nice vehicle that they use to put expensive cars in it) and they are taking my car to my local Mercedes branch and offered me a taxi to go home (all paid by MB) and got me a replacement mercedes car delivered at my house (E350 bluetech, amg kit, white with panoramic roof and full xenon led lights), which will be hired for the duration of my repair. I will keep you updated of the progress. Hopefully, this should be fixed fairly quickly and under warranty as I would expect. I mentioned to the technician that I additionally noticed that the heating was not coming on quickly enough for the past few days and I was told that the fan belt could have been the trigger...

Has anyone experienced this kind of failure with fan belt?
 

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I had exactly the same issue about 4 weeks ago! One of my bearings failed causing the belt to slip and destroy two other pulleys snapping the belt in two. I had the same battery warning and heavy steering, luckily just as I was pulling into work. Called MB Guildford and he ordered the belt in for me. Recover through Mobilo (must say was very good!) and an E220D was delivered to me to get me home.

Result was a bill for £370odd and 3 pulleys and a belt being replaced, a majority of this was labour and the pulleys/belt weren't actually that bad!! Everyone I spoke to (Main man @ MB Guildford, guy at Mobilo, recovery guy and the service tech) all said it was very rare on the M156 engine. Although I know of 4(including you and I) that have had the same issue in the last 5 weeks!

Hopefully yours is pretty straight forward like mine was. If you want any more info, please ask! I also have the video MB sent me of the failed articles in question if you want to see it.
 
Seen 60k and 100k , idle pulleys failing on Mercedes isn't anything new, I wouldn't say m156 failure is very rare though.
 
Seen 60k and 100k , idle pulleys failing on Mercedes isn't anything new, I wouldn't say m156 failure is very rare though.

When the idler pulley's fail do they take anything else out, or simply the affected pulley and belt?
 
I had exactly the same issue about 4 weeks ago! One of my bearings failed causing the belt to slip and destroy two other pulleys snapping the belt in two. I had the same battery warning and heavy steering, luckily just as I was pulling into work. Called MB Guildford and he ordered the belt in for me. Recover through Mobilo (must say was very good!) and an E220D was delivered to me to get me home.

Result was a bill for £370odd and 3 pulleys and a belt being replaced, a majority of this was labour and the pulleys/belt weren't actually that bad!! Everyone I spoke to (Main man @ MB Guildford, guy at Mobilo, recovery guy and the service tech) all said it was very rare on the M156 engine. Although I know of 4(including you and I) that have had the same issue in the last 5 weeks!

Hopefully yours is pretty straight forward like mine was. If you want any more info, please ask! I also have the video MB sent me of the failed articles in question if you want to see it.

Thanks Tombola, I would definitely like to see the video. I am too hoping it will be straight forward to have all done quickly and under warranty (I have got the extended extensive warranty in place). Would be interesting to see what they say...
 
Are either of your cars high mileage?

Actually no, my current mileage is 28900, so it is nothing for this car built in 2011!
 
Had 54 plate CL600 which had the pulley fall off giving me this problem. Not the easiest to drive home even though it was only half a mile or so.!!
 
Had 54 plate CL600 which had the pulley fall off giving me this problem. Not the easiest to drive home even though it was only half a mile or so.!!

Years ago, I had LWB Sprinter and the idler pulley failed.
Only around 8 miles from home, but I had to negotiate RH turns at two mini roundabouts without power steering. Oh what fun I had! :D
 
The belt came off my W211 E320 years ago due to failed bearings in the water pump (?) ...
although I was on the M1 I managed to limp to the next services.
Dead steering, systems down, but also a rapidly overheating engine.
Poured in a few bottles of Evian, only to watch them gush straight out over the car park :)
New W212 delivered to my door within hours, which I kept until the car was sorted.
Outstanding service.
 
When the idler pulley's fail do they take anything else out, or simply the affected pulley and belt?

Pulley fails and shreds the belt, can also lock up and throw the belt.

Not seen any damage on m156 but have seen coolant hoses damaged in the past.

Mercedes have suffered for years now, metal bearing wears, creates heat that then melts the plastic pulley it sits in.
 
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Thanks Tombola, I would definitely like to see the video. I am too hoping it will be straight forward to have all done quickly and under warranty (I have got the extended extensive warranty in place). Would be interesting to see what they say...

I'll PM it to you.
 
Just got the car back!!! Mercedes took care of the major repair and all I had to pay was £130 incl. Vat. They charged me for the labour and the fan belt only and all puleys were replaced under warranty.

I am glad to be driving it as it feels so much better than the new e350d bluetech, nice car but it is too 'soft' with the driving feel and suspension for my liking and way too quiet with the engine.

It was an interesting experience driving it for the past two and half days, don't get me wrong it is a lovely car to drive (my wife prefers it for comfort and quietness - I knew she would say this as she is too afraid of my E63) but it lacks what AMG does so great!

I am extremely grateful to be fortunate driving such a beast car and I am so glad that I initially took this chance 'to jump' and buy one in the first place regardless of what people might say about its fuel consumption (not as bad as what you might think actually and it depends how you drive it), which has put off some from buying one in the first place including the service costs... You only live once, so don't live and regret but enjoy the moment, that would be my advice...
 
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I had a couple of pulleys go on my C63. The upper, lower and centre idler including belt and labour cost me £160. Common fault due to them saving weight and making them from plastic which is daft as over time they melt from the engine heat!
 
I had a couple of pulleys go on my C63. The upper, lower and centre idler including belt and labour cost me £160. Common fault due to them saving weight and making them from plastic which is daft as over time they melt from the engine heat!

Interesting, did not know that they were made of plastic... Well I hope it does not happen again for a long time. The car is driving so much better now!
 
This happened to my C63 w 48000 miles. Was your e63 still under warranty?
 
This happened to my C63 w 48000 miles. Was your e63 still under warranty?

Yes it was! I think the bill would have been higher...
 

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