[M_city]

Hi,

I have a 2001 ML320 with 40,000 miles.

I started complaining about the oil consumption on this car when it had 22,000 miles to MB Service Dept here in Brooklyn, NY. I have all the paper work to prove it. Back at 22,000 miles I was adding 1QT about every 1000 miles. Then from 30K to present (40K) I am adding about 1QT every 6 or 8 hundred miles. Not once did any service rep mention a law suite to me concerning oil consumption. If not for this site I would still be in the dark. I month ago I had MB service dept do an oil change and start an oil consumption test. I was told to bring the car back between 6 to 8 hundred miles.

I have driven the car 700 miles from the start of the oil consumption test and have an appointment to bring the car in tomorrow. I have been watching the dip stick oil level for the past 7oo miles and level has gone from full to the 1/4 full on the dip stick. Even with the reading at 1/4 the oil light has not come on. I know for a fact that within last 700 miles if the oil level goes from full to 1/4 I burned up more than 1QT of oil. My fear is that when I bring the car in to MB Service. I got a feeling they are going to tell me that everything is fine because my oil light did not come on. How low does the oil level have to be in order for the oil light to come on? If my car is consuming enough oil to warrant repair. Do they just change the rings or do the they have to replace the short block.

Any advice at all from anyone out there in MB World would be Greatly Appreciated
Thanks

 

[AC_ML]

I posted the contact information below before.. You may want to check you VIN of your vehicle and contact Mercedes Benz first, and if you don't have any luck, contact the settlement lawyer below..

Even better, below is a link with the class action suit document file by Joseph A. O'Keefe vs Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (Civil Action No. 01-2902). ...

http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/03D0139P.pdf

AC


Appended Info:
=========

"I've got the letter dated September 2002 along with a four page copy of the settlement. Last paragraph of the letter reads 'You can rest assured that some of the world's best automotive engineers stand behind your Mercedes-Benz. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact us at 1-800-367-6372.' Sincerely, Mark Juron, MBUSA General Manager, Product Managment, Parts and Services.

On the settlement, last page 'Any questions you have concerning the litigation in general or the matters contained in this notice should be directed in writing to:' Kenneth A Jacobsen, Esquire Law Offices of Kenneth A. Jacobsen, 22 West Front Street, Media, PA 19063, Lead Counsel for Plaintiff and the Settlement Class."

 

[M_city]

hey,

Thanks for the info.

I was told by the MB service rep that if my car burns more than 1QT every 667 miles. The they have to fix it - if not? it is within limits and they do nothing.

Any truth to this

 

[AC_ML]

Adding 20 quarts of oil to the engine, in between oil services, doesn't sound like it will hold in any court/jury and more comming from a company who charges prime money for their vehicles because they tell/sell/brag to their customers about their higuest engineering/parts quality and impecable warranty, customer service, and honesty...

Second, that everytime you add oil, your FSS service mileage will increase since you are adding new oil to it. It seems like you will end up adding a lot more than 20 quarts of oil in between services.. I guess you will need more than 200 quarts of oil by the time your vehicle hits 100,000 miles...

Remember that your problem was created by MB negligence/error which caused your engine troubles, plus engine failures, expenses, and shortened the life of your vehicle and the value of it...

I will begin calling MB, gathering all the paper work you need to escalate this issue, and all this before you put a lot more miles on your ML because MB may try to use your mileage as the culprit for burning more oil in the future..

Good luck...

AC

 

[Noodles]

Hi,

I have a 2001 ML320 with 40,000 miles.

I started complaining about the oil consumption on this car when it had 22,000 miles to MB Service Dept here in Brooklyn, NY. I have all the paper work to prove it. Back at 22,000 miles I was adding 1QT about every 1000 miles. Then from 30K to present (40K) I am adding about 1QT every 6 or 8 hundred miles. Not once did any service rep mention a law suite to me concerning oil consumption. If not for this site I would still be in the dark. I month ago I had MB service dept do an oil change and start an oil consumption test. I was told to bring the car back between 6 to 8 hundred miles.

I have driven the car 700 miles from the start of the oil consumption test and have an appointment to bring the car in tomorrow. I have been watching the dip stick oil level for the past 7oo miles and level has gone from full to the 1/4 full on the dip stick. Even with the reading at 1/4 the oil light has not come on. I know for a fact that within last 700 miles if the oil level goes from full to 1/4 I burned up more than 1QT of oil. My fear is that when I bring the car in to MB Service. I got a feeling they are going to tell me that everything is fine because my oil light did not come on. How low does the oil level have to be in order for the oil light to come on? If my car is consuming enough oil to warrant repair. Do they just change the rings or do the they have to replace the short block.

Any advice at all from anyone out there in MB World would be Greatly Appreciated
Thanks

I did that dance with MB at 72,000 miles. We were putting in a quart of oil
less than every 1000 miles. I called the SM at the dealer we purchased it from. He told
about a Star Bulletin about oil usage and tha MB had determined that 700 mile per
quart was the threshhold. So he asked me to bring it in. He personally topped off
the oil taking notes of mileage. About ten days later the oil light comes on again.
I called him and he had me bring it in. He pulled the dipstick, shook his head and
asked if I could leave the truck and they would give me a loaner so they could get this
handled with MB. A day later he called and told me MB had authorized an entire
engine swap including cylinder heads. All that would be reused from my old engine
would be the accesories, ignition parts and valve covers. 5 days later we had our
truck back with its new engine and a repair order that was 6 pages long.

So I recommend a similar procedure for you. Get the SM involved. He will probably
do a consumtion test and when he finds out yours is a candidate he will contact
MB. You can contact MB ahead of time, but it is MB policy that any goodwill or warranty
coverage from MB must be initiated by an MB dealer that has diagnosed the issue.

My service manager told me off the record that he felt the 700 mile per quart threshold
was absolutley ridiculous and I agree with that. However it is still what MB is saying about the consumption.
I wish you the best with getting this resolved.

 

[M_city]

Well,

Here my update?
Good News,
I got a call to today and told me that they are installing a new short block.
Bad News,
It's going to take 2 to 3 weeks and I am with out a car. I asked about a loaner car and was told I would not be able to get one. I bought the car in florida and now I am in New York dealing with a MB dealer I did not buy the car from.

Why are they so cheap about giving me a loaner

 

[Trauma]

At least they're willing to help you!

My dealership, Mercedes Benz of Memphis, will not do anything with my 99 ML320. We've had the oil consumption tests done, first one at 80000 miles, second one at 145000, just recently. It was burning oil well before the first test, but not enough to warrant them doing anything, according to them. Now, it has failed the test, burns a quart every 600 or so miles. They've told me that they do not believe there will be any sludge in the engine because I run Mobil 1 0w40 exclusively in it, and have since Mercedes changed the requirements. It had dino oil in it for the first three oil changes on the FSS, which was the problem and the cause of the damage. Anyway, they say that if it did have sludge, it would be gone by now because of the synthetic oil running through it for so long. The regional MB rep has taken a hard line on this. He says if they crack the case and there is no oil sludge, that I am responsible for all repairs. They know good and well that the damage was caused by them in the first place, running on dino oil initially for such long periods, but we trusted them. Now, they refuse to do the right thing. It burns me up. We bought the car because of the Mercedes hype, and now they won't stand behind their own mistakes. Anyone got any suggestions?

 

[Kajtek1]

Our 99 ML320 had dino oil in it as well. I might check for how long later, but we've got it in Sept of 98.
To this day I never added any oil between 13,000 miles oil changes.
The car has 61 k on it.

 

[M_city]

I burned 1.7 quarts in the 750 miles that the test was done.
I was told that if I burn less that 1 quart in 667 miles - that is within MB standards, BS!!!!!!!!!!!!If any car burns oil like that in less than 40000. Something is wrong!!!!!!!!!!!You may have to fight a little. I had to have 2 test done and I have documented the oil consumption as far back as 20,000 miles.

 

[t.benz]

My M112 is bleeding as well

Though the wrong Forum, my C320 also has an M112 engine and burns 1qt of Mobil1 0W40 per 700-800mi ever since I bought it and got it shipped from the Northeast...

Vehicle:
2002 C320 Wagon, 40k mi (8k of which are mine)

Currently, I am running the MB Service Center oil consumption test and my logs indicate that the oil consumption has now even accelerated to 1qt per ~600mi.


The Service Advisor was friendly and had me and my car well taken care of so far.

BUT of course he claims to not have heard of any oil-burning M112s whatsoever, and not of a class action etc either

He basically said that if what I described in terms of oil consumption is confirmed by the test, they will have to pull the engine and see if my 3rd party warranty co will cover this ...

So whats the best/recommended way to proceed here ?
I like the car and the service folks seem to be okay, but how I do I get through their wall of ignorance ?

Is my car covered by the O´Keefe Class Action Settlement ?
It seems they limit the class to vehicles sold until 03/31/2001 ? (mine is of 08/2001)


Basically, I want them to replace the engine with a factory new one since it´s showing premature wear like I have never seen before with any car I had over the past 20 years.

 

[geralmjcj]

I had this done on my ml430 1999 model at about 149000 miles. well for me my SM was very friendly had the oil consumption test done, determine to have oil consumption, did the engine swap with a replacement engine from the factory done within one week. I suggest that to those who have difficulty having this done to look for another MB service center because the SM/SA really plays a major role in having this done because they are the one to convince the the MB to have the engine replaced. to the one with the c320 I guess that if it has the same engine as the ML 320 then it should be included.

 

[ZeroLimit]

Guys, i'm wondering.. do you have to see the oil level from the dipstick or the instrument cluster's oil check is enough? when i check it in the instrument cluster, it always shows my oil level is fine.

 

[MadDawg0]

want to put the oil burning to an end? do an engine oil flush, not sure if its a good comparison, my old toyota camry was burning a bit of oil every 3k miles, and i did that, and it stopped burning it completly... so give it a try, and its cheap

 

[koivan]

what is an engine oil flush? How do you do it? Itn't it the same as oil change? Please clarify.

 

[t.benz]

want to put the oil burning to an end? do an engine oil flush, not sure if its a good comparison, my old toyota camry was burning a bit of oil every 3k miles, and i did that, and it stopped burning it completly... so give it a try, and its cheap

That won't help if the rings are worn.

 

[t.benz]

Guys, i'm wondering.. do you have to see the oil level from the dipstick or the instrument cluster's oil check is enough? when i check it in the instrument cluster, it always shows my oil level is fine.

The "hidden" Menu in your MFD displays the oil level in quarts.
If you FSS sensor is still okay and you perform he measurement under the specified conditions (engine warm, water >80degC, car at level, engine turned off for >5min) you get a pretty accurate reading of the amount of oil in your engine.

 

[ZeroLimit]

The "hidden" Menu in your MFD displays the oil level in quarts.
If you FSS sensor is still okay and you perform he measurement under the specified conditions (engine warm, water >80degC, car at level, engine turned off for >5min) you get a pretty accurate reading of the amount of oil in your engine.

ahh.. I'll try to check it again tomorrow.. and check the dipstick.

 

[t.benz]

ahh.. I'll try to check it again tomorrow.. and check the dipstick.

Right... So your dipstick tells you accurately if you have 7.8 or 8.2 qt of oil in your eninge ?

What a dipstick !

 

[t.benz]

ahh.. I'll try to check it again tomorrow.. and check the dipstick.

Right... So your dipstick tells you accurately if you have 7.8 or 8.2 qt of oil in your eninge ?

What a dipstick !