Piston mealted

[clk320x]

Not maximum speed, but I drove a CLK220CDi non stop from S. France to Glasgow in 20 hours. Subtracting a ferry crossing and fuel stops, that equated to 16 hours driving at an average of 75mph.
The engine was still like new after that and even at 150,000 miles burns no oil between services.

My OM648 with around 265K burns no oil between services, nor does my OM651 now on 175K!

Regular servicing is all you need

 

[MWCLS]

When I sold my S ( OM648 ) it was on 147k.. never had any issues with the lump.. the rest.. I'll say no more!

 

[clk320x]

When I sold my S ( OM648 ) it was on 147k.. never had any issues with the lump.. the rest.. I'll say no more!

The OM648 is one of the best Diesels MB produced imo

 

[Skd884]

“Piston mealted”

Did it taste scrumptious?

 

[tonysmb]

I don't think it's actually mentioned but presumably there was still the correct level of oil in the sump after the seizure? Oil pump problem?

I can't see that injector cleaner additive, if that's what it was, would cause the problem. More powerful versions of the same engine might be a fairly straightforward physical swap but I'm not sure about the various electronics. It's going to be a difficult call between fitting an unknown quantity engine and simply buying another car - too many variables to really know the best option.

 

[Ted]

“Piston mealted”

Did it taste scrumptious?

Yes!!

 

[ray_hennig]

16 hours driving at an average of 75mph.

My 300-24 would do that at 400,000 kms. You should be able to thrash a well maintained MB engine all day. That's what they're for!!

RayH

 

[optimusprime]

If poster needs to move at this sort of speed , then a helicopter is his best bet,, or to start his journey i hour early and take his time. . At 130mph it would damage any engine even in tip top condition . But i wounder if its kph and not mph.

 

[Tonygw]

why would it dmaage the engine at 130mph?

 

[clk320x]

why would it dmaage the engine at 130mph?

My point exactly

 

[chrisk2010]

Could really be a number of things if a piston has "melted" without looking at the piston itself it could be bad injection/over fuelling which would cause the piston to melt from top down i'd imagine or a blockage in the cooling system, seizing the piston causing scouring around the sides who knows !?

Traveling at that speed may not of necessarily (probably did) caused the fault but certainly didn't help it .... unless personally attached to the car it's a write off.

 

[Deadly Dave]

Too high a fuel to air ratio will cause excessive temperatures. Inefficient intercooler or turbo not boosting enough will also cause it. A standard well maintained engine should be sale to run for long periods of time at near the red line. I have a modified diesel Toyota and have fitted a gauge to monitor exhaust gas temperatures
If I push too hard then temps can go over 800c which will cause problems!

 

[horatio]

Running it hard probably just exposed an underlying weakness. You've got to think how hard those engines are worked in Sprinters, a high speed run in a small saloon should be nothing.

 

[m80]

Years ago I gave a BMW 2 litre petrol a good sprint at approx 140k miles.
It had no issue performing but overheated and needed breakdown to get home.
The well used water pump impellor had near disintegrated, whether due to me booting it or just mileage I don't know.

In that case a new water pump and away it went happily again.

The op is just unlucky I guess.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

........... 16 hours driving at an average of 75mph.
......

Would have to have broken every speed limit for the full trip to average 75mph!

 

[clk320x]

Would have to have broken every speed limit for the full trip to average 75mph!

Speed limit in France is 80?

 

[Deleted member 126251]

Speed limit in France is 80?

To average 75mph seems highly improbable to me even allowing for the fact that he was not speeding in France (on the motorways stretches).

 

[Ted]

To average 75mph seems highly improbable to me even allowing for the fact that he was not speeding in France (on the motorways stretches).

Can be done...
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qi1T5rmaM92snbYXA

 

[Rogerkuala]

Driving a car at its maximum speed on a motorway should not cause the pistons to melt...

It did to me in a Saab 900 Turbo although the wastegate had been altered and I was naive enough not to realise. Didn't seize, just failed loudly on the off ramp on the M11 one day, and never ran again. Two of the pistons had melt holes and a lot of random metal all over the place. Super unusual though, but a white hot turbo and a stupid driver (me) can indeed melt pistons.

 

[Justintyme]

It's pretty obvious that english is not the poster's 1st language, so I wonder if his "Mealted" is actually something else? we know that it's piston damage ( or are pretty sure anyway) but what kind of damage? I once saw the metal tip of a spark plug fall off, and burn a hole in the piston crown, so it's not impossible, but I wonder what actually happened in this case?