Need Advice - Cylinder #2 burnt valves - Is that a kown problem?
I am new to this forum and hope to get some insight and advice from other MB owners. I am devastated. My C230K, not even 6 years with 75,000 miles came on with a check engine light and a code saying "cylinder #2 misfire. It still runs fine just when I am at a stop sign or traffic light it sometimes idles rough. I brought it to the dealership and they told me that the valves in #2 are burnt. Cost for fixing around $3,500. Is that usual for a car, especially a MB, at 75,000 miles??? I never had problems before and after researching on this I found a lot of stuff and know I am wondering: If I get #2 fixed, is #1, 3, or 4 going soon to be burnt too? I checked with my dealership and they are willing to go down to $2,500 based on good will, but if I have possibly 3 more cylinders to get fixed....does anyone here has experienced something similar or can give me advise on this? Also, I have always gotten premium fuel, never had anything else and have always had my A and B services with the dealership.
Welcome to the forum and it would really help with you put your car model and year in the profile as well as location.
I have no idea what year your car is but I do know there's a major flaw in the head design for 2003 C230K but I don't want to go into further until we know what year car you have.
Welcome to the forum and it would really help with you put your car model and year in the profile as well as location.
I have no idea what year your car is but I do know there's a major flaw in the head design for 2003 C230K but I don't want to go into further until we know what year car you have.
Where can I update my profile? My C230K is a 2003 model and I am in NJ. I looked at some German forums and found that MB apparently knows about a flaw with the 1.8l Kompressor up to the year 2005. Is is true that starting with the 2005 models they changed the cylinder heads and had different valves installed, as well stronger springs? Would that give me some leverage in dealing with my dealer (Ray Catena) to take on more responsibility in this case? What do you think?
2003 was a unique year with two major flaws, the Valeo radiator (watch out, this can be just as expensive to fix if the transmission goes out) and the heads. I've never heard of anyone on the forum getting out of warranty help on this from MB, sorry.
As for the heads, you already researched it and know you need the new design heads from 2004/2005. This part is not cheap, it's about $2K for the part, then you'll need new gasket kit (head, valve) and and figure 12 hours labor so $3,500 for a dealer is about right. Maybe you can save and go with a independent for about $2,500 since the head wholesale is probably about $1,500 or so. I wouldn't try this yourself, it's a very labor intensive job and making a mistake can cost you more.
The problem that happens is your valves develop an abnormal amount of deposits from the design. You can experiment with some chemicals and play mad scientist. GM makes a good product, GM TOP engine cleaner (TEC) P/N 1052626, that may work for you. Just follow the instructions. Also check out Seafoam, some people believe in it.
#2 is the part you need to replace
Here's the block and head from last week on my kid's SLK230, it's a Benz, second cousin to Yugo, haha -
[quote=Buellwinkle;2972433]2003 was a unique year with two major flaws, the Valeo radiator (watch out, this can be just as expensive to fix if the transmission goes out) and the heads. I've never heard of anyone on the forum getting out of warranty help on this from MB, sorry.
As for the heads, you already researched it and know you need the new design heads from 2004/2005. This part is not cheap, it's about $2K for the part, then you'll need new gasket kit (head, valve) and and figure 12 hours labor so $3,500 for a dealer is about right. Maybe you can save and go with a independent for about $2,500 since the head wholesale is probably about $1,500 or so. I wouldn't try this yourself, it's a very labor intensive job and making a mistake can cost you more.
The problem that happens is your valves develop an abnormal amount of deposits from the design. You can experiment with some chemicals and play mad scientist. GM makes a good product, GM TOP engine cleaner (TEC) P/N 1052626, that may work for you. Just follow the instructions. Also check out Seafoam, some people believe in it.
Thank you, this information is very helpful. Will meet with the dealer today again and hope to come to an aggreement for the repair. They had checked the other cylinders and they are supposedly fine, so onec I have the #2 misfire- burnt valves repaired I should be good to go.
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