R63 AMG The Unicorn of my Destruction

Ah yes, that's right - I would definitely pursue the MB path to correction.

The only way I could see the rods being bent is if it hydrolocked. And if it did that, you would know it: it wouldn't have run until the coolant drained into the oil at which point you'd have a massive chocolate milkshake.

I would say with fairly high confidence that, unless there's something I'm missing, Head bolt(s) let go, headgasket blew out in that area, some water got into oil and the computer was unhappy. I bet it's a pretty straight-forward repair.

Knowing what I know of you, I'll go one step further: With parts in hand, I bet you could knock this out in a weekend with time to bbq up some hot dogs for the kids afterwards.

In reply to Crackers:

That will be part of assessing the health of the engine. The issue is that you really can't access the rear cylinders without taking a bunch of stuff off the firewall and upper engine. You don't just casually pull the plugs.
I'm still living with the tiny grain of hope that MB will save the day and this thread will be less about wrenching and more about driving. I'm waiting until I've exhausted those avenues to take things apart beyond the oil flushes to try and preserve the engine as it sits.

In reply to jfryjfry:

Thst's what I'm hoping. The good news is that pulling and re-installing the motor is actually pretty simple with a lift. The tech said MB bills five hours to pull an engine which is pretty quick. Then the cams come out, heads off, new gaskets, bolts, lifters, cam chain tensioners, make sure it's all buttoned up and assembly is the reverse of disassembly.

If it runs "fine" now I can almost guarantee there are no bent rods.

It's been said already but here's the way I see it:

1. Pull head off the bank with the problem
2. If head bolt threads in tact in block, replace with studs, new head gasket, reassemble
3. If head bolt threads in block stripped try a heli coil kit - they make them for head/block applications
4. If heli coil doesn't work remove engine, prep for machine work and have a machinist fix threads in block -
5. If none of that works, buy a used ebay engine for $6,500, fix head bolt issue before installation

I'm not far from you in Kingwood if you ever need any help

Here's hoping MB USA comes through. I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together.

dculberson wrote: If it runs "fine" now I can almost guarantee there are no bent rods.

That's what I was thinking. Might be a "cheap" fix of new head bolts and gaskets.

But if you are in there, I do like your idea of fixing all the susceptible parts too.

It would be nice for Mercedes to kick in for a motor, but at the same time I'm not sure what would motivate them to do that.

Harvey wrote: It would be nice for Mercedes to kick in for a motor, but at the same time I'm not sure what would motivate them to do that.

Looks like at times they will pitch in half of the cost, reading the MB forums.

I just looked at photos of R63 engine, wow half of the motor looks under the dash. No way to pull heads in the car.

Have you tried contacting Guido Nordheim for his advice?

Woody wrote: Have you tried contacting Guido Nordheim for his advice?

Guido is off my Christmas list.

Dude I am massively sorry for you with this.

mazdeuce wrote: Guido is off my Christmas list.

I'd leave Guido on your list. He just bolted it together using the parts Franz designed. Franz on the other hand. That berkeleyer is right off the list.

In reply to Pbw:

I the R you can remove what I would call the cowl, or something like that.

The piece that runs over the back of the motor, you take out 5 bolts and this tea tray size piece of metal comes out. You can see 4 of the bolts in the picture, two but the coolant overflow and two by the brake flud reservoir. Once you get that out of the way access is not too bad

mazdeuce :

My guy just got home late last night and they are moving this week but I will ask when I get home today if he found a name for you.

In reply to Rusted_Busted_Spit:

Again huge thanks.
I just got off the phone with MB and it will be nice to maybe attack it from another angle. My lack of ownership history is working against me on this and the very nice woman on the phone let me know to not expect much.
Lots of phone/email/letter writing in my future. I still want a factory/dealer fix if possible to help preserve the collector value of the van. We'll see if anyone agrees with me.

Did you send her the cheerios picture? You didn't find race track stubs under the seats, after all. Just make sure there aren't any youtube videos of smokey burnouts.

The head bolt issue doesn't have anything to do with driving it really. Maybe heating/cooling cycles number, but it's a combination of bad engineering and bad luck.
I have a paper copy of the internal service topic that deals with it. I'm not the kind of guy who is going to post pictures of it on the internet to try and make MB angry, but they can't actually deny it's a problem when I can prove that I know they know it's a problem. How that affects anything remains to be seen.

Send them a link to this thread too. It pretty much documents your entire ownership and shows you haven't abused it.

I may do that, though I dread to think of the poor MB employee who has to wade through our silliness.

Talking to Mrs. Deuce at lunch and she eagerly WANTS to give MB and the dealer money to make it right, she loves the van too, but MB would have to make the motor cost about 1/5 of what they quoted to make it a reasonable decision.

Might take out the parade lap discussion/video before sending them this way, just in case. If you need any help editing posts drop me a PM.

Honestly, I can legally drive faster on public roads in Texas than the PCA will let me drive in one of their parade laps. I'd rather there be evidence that there was a slow ass Corvette in front of me keeping me even slower than that. If we can't solve this by being honest on all sides then.....well, it is what it is.

And thinking about it more, I would hope that if MB USA reads this thread they come away from it with the understanding that I'm the kind of guy who makes fairly impulsive automotive purchases because they make me happy. Isn't that exactly the kind of customer you want if you're selling luxury cars?
If MB called me back this afternoon and said they'd comp the the motor (and I'd still love to pay for installation because I do believe people should get paid fairly for what they do) I'd drop the van off tomorrow and head straight over to sales and put a deposit on a GLA45 AMG. That's how happy I'd be.

Sorry I could not get you any further along with this. I was talking with my neighbor and did the Dealer say the motor would be new or a reman? I don't think MB makes that motor any more, too thirsty, if that is the case almost 60K for a rebuild?

The invoice just says 156-010-67-00-80 ENGINE $48,625.50.

The AMG Tech says they don't really rebuild them, at least he's never heard of it done at the dealer level and their only source of engines is direct from MB. There are lots of other options, but having MB pony up for their engineering defect is the logical first one to pursue.

mazdeuce wrote: And thinking about it more, I would hope that if MB USA reads this thread they come away from it with the understanding that I'm the kind of guy who makes fairly impulsive automotive purchases because they make me happy. Isn't that exactly the kind of customer you want if you're selling luxury cars? If MB called me back this afternoon and said they'd comp the the motor (and I'd still love to pay for installation because I do believe people should get paid fairly for what they do) I'd drop the van off tomorrow and head straight over to sales and put a deposit on a GLA45 AMG. That's how happy I'd be.

As we said on faceballs, you have the record to prove it. Oops, bought a 911. Oops bought a ctsv wagon. You like fancy things with big power. You have the cashmoleans to buy said things without a blink. Now if I was mercedes, id see amg written all over your forhead. You bought thr weirdest amg car they made for a reason. Any smart marketing/or person will recognize this. It would be sales suicide to not want to at least try to help you.

I really don't think they care that much about people who buy their cars used, unless they were MB CPO cars. The exception might if you bought a low mileage used example and then established a two year track record of by-the-book dealership service, right down to paying them big bucks to change your oil and brake pads every time.