My GL has been called in for an urgent safety recall

[peterg1965]

Sounds pretty alarming....

..an electrical discontinuity in the crankshaft sensor could occur under unfavourable circumstances. If this problem occured, the engine would lose power. It could also be no longer possible to start it....... Therefore we will replace the crankshaft sensor on your Mercedes Benz as a precautionary measure.'

Sounds complete double dutch to me

But I had better book it in!

So, is it Stratstone Preston or Stratstone Ulverston ??

 

[BlackC55]

There are loads of cars affected by this.

Really common issue on the V6 Diesel.

Just wait until the crankshaft bearigs begin to knock. I am not joking either.

 

[peterg1965]

There are loads of cars affected by this.

Really common issue on the V6 Diesel.

Just wait until the crankshaft bearigs begin to knock. I am not joking either.

At least it is under warranty and I will only have it for another 15 months before I hand the keys back and go looking for a 2/3year old E Class estate. The GL has only done 6100 miles in 9 months, so is hardly used.

 

[Satch]

There are loads of cars affected by this.

Really common issue on the V6 Diesel.

Just wait until the crankshaft bearigs begin to knock. I am not joking either.

Let me guess. Four main bearings in a high torque V6 engine versus seven in a straight six?

 

[BTB 500]

Sounds like another good reason to avoid chipping.

 

[Uberwagon]

There are loads of cars affected by this.

Really common issue on the V6 Diesel.

Just wait until the crankshaft bearigs begin to knock. I am not joking either.

Is there a common cause of this? Is the basic design just not good enough at locating the crank?

Dave!

 

[BlackC55]

The shells were machined incorrectly. There are modified ones available.

 

[Uberwagon]

That's a bit of a bugger.

At least it's easily fixed.

Dave!

 

[BlackC55]

easily!

The subframe and sump has to be removed..... 13hour job.....

 

[Uberwagon]

It's a bit easier than having a block moving out of square under load though, which was my first thought.

Dave!

 

[Diesel Benz]

There are loads of cars affected by this.

Really common issue on the V6 Diesel.

Just wait until the crankshaft bearigs begin to knock. I am not joking either.

Please tell more, would the bearings issue concern my car too (W221 E320 CDI)? Is there a serial number or manufacturing range?

The crankshaft position sensor was changed from my car too, I did not have any issues before it but once it was done, I had a very odd start-up once in the morning (had already driven the car some time after this work).

So does crankshaft position sensor result to power loss when the engine is running? I thought it was only needed to start the car and camshaft sensors were enough after that? Don't know where I got that claim though.

In any case this sensor cannot be considered an urgent safety recall, the worst thing that can happen is that you cannot start the car. Of course bad luck if you happen to be crossing a railway and cannot move the car away...

 

[peterg1965]

easily!

The subframe and sump has to be removed..... 13hour job.....

Is the GL going to be in the workshop for 13 hours!!

 

[Diesel Benz]

Is the GL going to be in the workshop for 13 hours!!

Wasn't that for the crankshaft bearings, your recall was not for those?

 

[kth286]

In any case this sensor cannot be considered an urgent safety recall, the worst thing that can happen is that you cannot start the car. Of course bad luck if you happen to be crossing a railway and cannot move the car away...

Hardly !!!!!!!!!!!

If the circuit to the sensor is disrupted the engine will stop immediately.

Imagine yourself driving at say 60 mph along a bendy main road and that happens.

You will immediately lose the power assisted steering without any warning.

You will also lose the power assisted brakes.

You have cars to front and rear, and oncoming traffic to your side; and you are driving around a sweeping bend in the road.

All power, everything, just stops - no warning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

spooky.

 

[crockers]

There are loads of cars affected by this.

Really common issue on the V6 Diesel.

Just wait until the crankshaft bearigs begin to knock. I am not joking either.

Olly

You have me worried - my car has now just passed out of warranty - does this mean I am storing up a massive bill to come?

Dec 2005 V6 C320 cdi

 

[Diesel Benz]

Hardly !!!!!!!!!!!

If the circuit to the sensor is disrupted the engine will stop immediately.

Imagine yourself driving at say 60 mph along a bendy main road and that happens.

You will immediately lose the power assisted steering without any warning.

You will also lose the power assisted brakes.

You have cars to front and rear, and oncoming traffic to your side; and you are driving around a sweeping bend in the road.

All power, everything, just stops - no warning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

spooky.

Is that speculation or knowledge? The typical symptom of a bad crankshaft sensor is that the car does not start when the engine is hot and starts again when it cools down.

I admit I did not do my homework, I guess I should check this to avoid speculating myself.

You are exaggerating the issue anyway, not good support for other views.

You can steer the car if it looses power, as long as the car pushes the engine the even power steering works. If engine injection is cut, you don't even lose power steering immediately. Not to mention power assisted brakes, you can easily perform a normal slowdown even if the engine stopper turning at once. Would the failure typically be sudden?

Edited: I had a look at this and found that the crankshaft sensor is used during normal engine operation but I did not find any info how the CDI control unit would behave if it looses one of the sensor inputs. I'd be happy to receive some detailed pointers.

Thinking of it a bit, the crankshaft must be the main source for accurate injection timing. Unlikely that camshaft sensor could work as a backup at malfunction even temporarily. I conclude the engine must fully lose power if the sensor fails completely, but would like to see a description for this.

 

[Dieselman]

I'm sure the engine stops if the CKP fails, but as you said the immediate effect wouldn't be as severe as stated.
Power steering isn't required at speed and the brakes have enough reserve of pressure/vacuum for a number of applications after engine off
and will still work unassited after it is lost.

 

[Mactech]

I got a recall notice for the S Class yesterday and it will go in for the day to have the crank sensor replaced on New Years eve.
I have done a bit of checking and this same 'urgent' issue was found in the USA at the begining of the year, recalls on Aus were in the middle of the year and almost a year later we have it here in GB!
Now, which of this countries has more litigious culture?
How urgent is it really?
I have had race cars fail with this problem and quite a few are now fitted with driver swichable twin sensors
I guess we can't trust road car drivers to do this and the alternative of 'clever' ECU programs hardly bears thinking of!

 

[peterg1965]

My GL is going in on Tuesday. I was told it would be a two hour job!

 

[peterg1965]

Just picked up the GL from MB Preston after having the Crankshaft sensor recall work completed. very impressed with a very clean car inside and out, hasn't been that clean since the day we picked it up last March.

However, they failed to find the cause of an intermittent fault on the cruise control and they could not refit the battery compartment cover properly (under driver seat) - some excuse about a larger than standard battery because of the disabled conversion. That is complete rubbish, as I never paid for a larger battery and the cover was perfect before the Kwik Fit mam removed the battery a few weeks ago!

Anyway, it is subject to another recall that I wasn't aware of. An air suspension compressor - back to garage for another 2 hours when I can find the time. The A160CDI Avantgarde loaner was truly dreadful! Nice SL500 in black on the forecourt!!