2011 G problems

[Ferdie Pretorius]

Morning

My 2011 G has only 60 000 k's on doing only long overland trips. It started to get stuck in gear, with only reverse and drive in one gear. After standing for a while it resets and then works again for a while. Started doing it more frequently. The tech's came out says it was the control unit, but after being to the workshop it's said to be a valvebody failure in the gearbox. The cost comes rounded to about R28 000.00. I have checked some other forums and it seems that there are quite a few Mercedes Benz models that has valvebody failures. A have got a list as long as my arm with the amount of problems I've had with my G. I am beginning to doubt wheather this vehicle justifies it's price and claim to be the best. It has left me stranded numerous times with different problems and part failures. Would like to hear if there are anymore valvebody failures out there. I love my
G but at the moment it is placing me in serious doubt!!

 

[Dawie Louw]

Wow Ferdie, that is sad news indeed.

If the vehilce is out of guarantee and without a service plan, I suggest that you give Mech Spec in Midrand a ring. Tel 011 805 3640. Ask to speak to either Malcolm or Matthew and ask them about your particular gearbox. What model gearbox is this? Have you googled it to see if anything comes up?

I am afraid the newer technology components are a problem when it comes to price. The manufacturers also seem to get away with 'murder'. I had a electronic card fail on a 200,000kms plus W203 (2004 C220cdi) with type 722 699 05 transmission. The "card" and cable had to be replaced at a cost off ~R11,000. When I checked the UK MB Club web site, its a known "wicking" problem. A seal fails, and like a candle wick, the ATF is sucked up in the cable and cause problems.

I recently heard that the new C-Class is suffering serious turbo failures and "hundreds" have failed. So far nothing reported in the motoring press. BTW, front headlamp on a new C-Class R27,000 per CAR magazine. R15,000 on the Infinity Q50.

Blocked catalisators is another problem, often leading to wrongly diagnosing gearbox fauilures. A Klerksdorp dealer has spend R39,000 having a Volvo gearbox fixed, only to find that the gearchange problem (similar to yours) was not solved. The Volvo agents wanted R59,000 to fix this gearbox. It turned out to be a blocked catalisator. Replacement catalisators are quite expensive too.

I had gear change issues (722 609 00 gearbox) on a W210 (1999 E240) with relatively low mileage. MB M2 City could not find anything wrong. Mech spec diagnosed blocked cats and I was able to have them removed and replaced with small resonator boxes for less than R1,000. New cats were ~R11,000 after market and ~R20,000 at the agents.

Good luck. I hope your issues are resolved shortly.

 

[Chris B]

Sorry Ferdie, I understand the way you feel. It is a disgrace to sell a vehicle at a price of R800+k without a full MB motor plan. Before 50 000km I had the same situation with a vehicle came out of service just to return again soon (many times the following day). At that time Gary Brown at NVM Vereniging sorted me out but he also left leaving the Professional owners no where to go.

 

[Bones]

Sorry freddie. Agree with your sentiments. Still get the feeling the backup in SA for the G's are poor. Has someone extended their warranty and how much was it?

 

[Ferdie Pretorius]

Hi guys

Thanks for the replies. I have been with New Vaal for many years and Gary sure is a great loss. I've heard that he is with Centurion Commercial now. I luckily had my cat replaced by Gary Euro 5 to Euro 3 at no cost while still under warranty.
I have read on quite a couple of US forum's that the 722 gearbox seams to be problematic. There even seemed to be an open lawsuit against MB with them not wanting to admit that there is an issue with this gearbox. I will certainly find out what box the G has in. Maybe somebody knows on the forum?
The latest on my vehicle is that they have replaced the valve body, but still the problem is the same. There were two MB technicians that came out to the vehicle which advised them that it was the control unit on the box. Still they decided at the dealer that it was the valve body. Now only are they changing the control unit.

I have seen that working and understanding the diagnostic system properly also comes with years and experience which lacks in today's technicians. As we all know they have become new part fitters and not proper technical mechanics as we used to know them. Will keep you posted on progress.

 

[Andrew]

AFAIK the 722. designation only means that it is an auto transmission for a car. There are many different variations of this designation to suit many different applications. There is a version of it in my 290 which is still fine after over 300 000 km. There are others on this forum not so lucky with the same transmission.

My own opinion is that with the increase in complexity of these vehicles has come a corresponding decrease in technical ability to keep them running. It would drive me bats to pay R800k plus and then wonder what the bloody thing is going to do next. And not having anyone that you can talk to who will say," leave it with me, I will sort it out for you."

And it is not new. It started with all the 290 owners who paid MB to use them as toilet paper about the overheating issues that they flat ignored.

I would say MB is an advertising agency for Land Cruiser 76.

 

[Alan]

+1000

My sentiments exactly.
I find it a disgrace to be paying so much for a vehicle and not looked after when problems occur.

 

[Dikfrik]

I would say MB is an advertising agency for Land Cruiser 76.[/QUOTE]

Considering all the small issues i had with my G300 I conclude that the Zulus in Pinetown are probably building better quality vehicles than the guys in Graz...

Ferdie can you give us an idea of what other issues you had with yours? So far MB have attempted to address all my concerns but i still have a few worries about which i have posted some questions in the past but without response from other owners.

I have now done nearly 100k km and the latest problem started the day before yesterday with a glow plug light not going out immediately (It actually illuminates a few seconds after starting and then stay on for a minute or two and only if engine is started from cold). After driving it like that for a day or so an orange engine icon lights up which is not even mentioned in my users manual (it is there but greyed out and has no description of the fault) I will try and get the dealer diagnose the problem tomorrow. I suspect (and hope) it is only a failed glow plug but would 100k km not be a bit premature for that?

Feel free to give me a call on 082 double5 3074three to discuss the other issues

Regards

Freek

 

[Chris B]

Freek, I had the glowplug problem at about 50k km. For 3 times the vehicle had to be return the following day with the glowplug warning light on. At the end as I understoot the glowplug cables was misplaced.

 

[Alan]

At the end as I understoot the glowplug cables was misplaced.

I fail to understand how this is possible after a service at the pointed star?
One does expect better than that.

 

[Dikfrik]

Yes amazing - if the wires were missing did they come loose or was it an incorrect installation from the start but then it should have shown the problem from the start.

Another issue with mine i remember now - one day i was driving to a meeting and the car had no power as if the turbo is not working at all. No warning light or EDC or temperature issues at all - just no power!. After the meeting i checked for loose boost pipes and opened the air cleaner box to see if there is not something blocked there - found nothing. Driving back the power was better though but i took it to the Dealer who latched the computer and the answer was a dirty air filter - and it was dirty - they blew it out and re-fitted and all the spunk was back! Happy ending but I just checked - there is a warning light to warn you of low intake pressure (blocked filter or intake) and there is some sensor of some kind on the intake pipe - so why was it not working? Or is it the same issue we had with the water in diesel sensor not warning us due to the sensor not being wired at all!

I had the glow plug issue on my 290 on about 160k km and it was a real challenge to change that one due to the plug being stuck - took the mechanic a few days of careful wiggling and gentle persuasion with the socket and lubricating before it came loose..

 

[Dawie Louw]

I fail to understand how this is possible after a service at the pointed star?
One does expect better than that.

You are quite correct one does expect better from MB Service agents.

I am afraid that my experiences over about 32-odd years are not all good. Some examples:
Bought first (1982 W123) new in 1982. Years later I found out that this car had been in a light prang, was repaired and resprayed pre-delivery and this information was withheld from me.

Hesitation and change back to first gear on take-off diagnosed as faulty gearbox (1984 W124) needing R6k repair. Turned out to be a dud sparkplug, problem disappeared after spark plugs were changed at the next service, fortunately before I spent money on the gearbox.

Hestitation on high speed gearchange (1999 W210) could not be diagnosed. Indy diagnosed blocked catalisators and fixed the problem.

Previous owner had car (W210) serviced by agents, brake fluid was never changed in 8 years.

Ordered a W460 workshop manual from DB Germany. Cost me a small fortune and is incomplete and of poor quality. Nobody would take responsibility or fix the problem.

 

[Alan]

Ordered a W460 workshop manual from DB Germany. Cost me a small fortune and is incomplete and of poor quality. Nobody would take responsibility or fix the problem.

I also bought a manual for my 460 from MB Germany at the time very expensive and what I received was an incomplete folder with the majority being photo copies.:shock::shock:

 

[Pete460332]

It seems that the OEM service guys seldom adhere to the the time related service items eg fluids. HAd VW products myself in the past and they never changed brake fluid / Coolants unless you specifically tell them to

 

[Clive Kellow]

I recently had my 300cdi service 60K; it was following 6000km trip around Namibia (all went very well only had a very brief encounter with the EDC lamp when I had to fill up with 500 in Etosha/ light came on & within 2km the truck stalled while in motion; we stopped restarted on the 2nd attempt and the light was out and away we went)
Anyhow on return from Vaal Motors the brakes were squeaking and it seemed like the ABS was switched off i.e. the brakes were biting with the slightest of pressure. I enquired and was told they had bled the brakes; I asked how as the wheels had not been removed from the truck; the truck went back another 2 x with little improvement; on the weekend I took the back wheels off & did an old fashion clean of the drum brakes (there was still a serious amount of sand from the Oct Namibia trip) Problem solved back brakes working properly again (no squeaking no snatchy breaking).
The point is this was not even a lack of technical skills; they actually did not even touch the vehicle!!

 

[Alan]

It seems it is hard to find someone one can trust (and surely a proper dealer should be one to trust given the prices they charge).
A friend of min had a Nissan Pathfinder. After endless problems and before a trip we decided to check the basics after it also came back from a service. The air cleaner looked as though it had never been replaced in all its life.

 

[Waldi Nysschen]

My own opinion is that with the increase in complexity of these vehicles has come a corresponding decrease in technical ability to keep them running. It would drive me bats to pay R800k plus and then wonder what the bloody thing is going to do next. And not having anyone that you can talk to who will say," leave it with me, I will sort it out for you."

And it is not new. It started with all the 290 owners who paid MB to use them as toilet paper about the overheating issues that they flat ignored.

I would say MB is an advertising agency for Land Cruiser 76.

This is why I kept my 290 in stead of prof. At least with a service manual, a bit of common sense, time and luck I sorted out all my issues. It helps being a tad less sophisticated than prof. It would not have been possible with the prof., too complex, requires merc star computer and very little technical manuals available. (And very little space in bonnet...)

The advertisement almost worked... :???:

 

[Nanne]

I have now also joined the EDC-glow plug indicator problem group. The first sign of trouble was the glow plug indicator coming on after startup from cold and staying on for a minute or so. The EDC came on and stayed on after a day or two and a couple of trips later. My Prof is at 50k km with Euro 3 conversion since early 2014.

At the first visit to Menlyn the number 5 glow plug was replaced. The same symptoms appeared two days later. Menlyn's fix for the problem was to reload the program, but I showed them that the glow plug indicator came on after start up. They then replaced the glow plug controller/relay and I asked them to check the connection sequence to the glow plugs and was assured that those were correct.

The next morning the glow plug indicator again came on after start up from cold and then off after a minute or so. A day and about 400 km later the EDC light is back on permanently. We'll be back at Menlyn again tomorrow morning for a third try.

 

[Dikfrik]

The no 5 glow plug on my G was also (apparently) the culprit - was replaced on the 30th but have not driven much - will see later today/ tomorrow
Interestingly though is that my red EDC light did not come on - but the orange engine icon which is not even described in the manual..
My vehicle is a few months older than Nanne's - maybe a software change or is is incorrect wiring? In my mind the orange light should be the more appropriate one since the glow plug is not a serious issue (Not in Zululand even in winter)

 

[Andrew]

The 290 glow light burns after starting when there is one or more blown plugs. I always replace all of them after ignoring the light for a few months at a time. They dont last forever and the condition that makes one blow affects all of them at the same time.