Major headache with C coupe V6 engine

[Naffdave]

My car has been off the road now for 3 weeks all because of a small plastic part that connects the manifold flap to the actuating arm.
Ok my swirl flap fulcrum lever and little round plastic connecting things went on my coupe. So tried Merc dealership and off course they dont sell them have to buy the whole intake manifold. So ordered the repair kit you can get from Hong Kong on ebay waited a week got it and the plastic bits that connect the flaps are a bigger size than the ones on my manifold.
Checked every vid and kit you can buy and they all show the bigger bits that came with the kit so why is my car different ?
Upshot of this only choice i had was to order a complete manifold found one for £376 posted from Germany. They said on there site delivery within 3 to 5 days now been over 7 days. The other problem i have is my car has a LPG conversion so having a new manifold will not be drilled for the lpg injectors.
The only thing we think we can do is split the manifold and use the old top part with injectors and the new bottom part with swirl flaps.
The whole experience has been a total headache all because Mercedes wont sell certain spare parts for there engines. Honestly the plastic parts cant be worth more than a few pounds and so far just in parts it has cost me £500 and still gonna have the garage fitting costs.
I really think now ill never buy another Mercedes after owning 6.

Very very p""""d off Dave

 

[clk320x]

because Mercedes wont sell certain spare parts for there engines

I ageee with this

 

[Deletedmember130310]

Honestly the plastic parts cant be worth more than a few pounds and so far just in parts it has cost me £500 and still gonna have the garage fitting costs.

Very very p""""d off Dave

That’s your answer right there - no margin on penny plastics.

 

[st13phil]

This may or may not be the case here, but often components like this fail because the mechanism that they're operating becomes worn and requires excessive force to move it. If that is the case then you can replace the lever and links which will then break again. The solution in that instance is - unfortunately - to replace the whole assembly, apparently for a few pennies worth of plastic parts, but in reality to deal with the underlying problem.

 

[Flyinspanner]

Could you sleeve the rods on yours so that the bigger plastic bits fit?
Or metal putty?

Dremel to ‘relieve’ the plastic bits?

It’s so annoying that a 1p piece can cause so much of an issue..

 

[Flyinspanner]

Or does anyone have a 3D printer?

That’s the kind of thing they would be good for.

 

[jdrrco]

It’s so annoying that a 1p piece can cause so much of an issue..

In the words of President Jed Bartlet: "Perhaps it should cost a little more?"

 

[Yugguy]

Might have been better going to a breakers?

 

[NDFR]

Intake Manifold Runner Connecting Rod Kit - Mercedes Diesel OM642 3.0L V6 | eBay

 

[Naffdave]

Intake Manifold Runner Connecting Rod Kit - Mercedes Diesel OM642 3.0L V6 | eBay

Good try wrong engine mines a M272 V6

 

[BTB 500]

This is a known issue with the M272. The failure is normally caused by carbon buildup inside the manifold body, so you still need to remove this if you replace the broken arm/linkage using an aftermarket kit. Obviously new gaskets should be used when re-fitting the manifold.

As an aside our C230 has this problem at the moment, but it starts and drives fine (I actually suspect it's been broken for some years). I've been quoted £998 all-in to have a new manifold fitted by a main dealer, which is obviously a lot of money but doesn't seem too exorbitant as it's a complex part and not a 5-minute job.