Any Mercedes techs

[softailgarage]

2007 R350 rear main seals. Replaced the rear main 2 months ago w/ OEM seal & plate, veh. came back leaking from same seal. replaced with another OEM seal & plate... still leaks. It appears there is a gap on one side. Mercedes wont look at veh. unless its moveable. Has anybody ran into a problem with the seals or crank where this could occur?

 

[nit2wn]

Bud I build them, but I've never worked on or owned one. Best help I can give you is this.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/

 

[JamieK]

Are you using the factory installation tool? If you don't, it can leak. Had a shop go through 3-4 rear main seals, and all would leak. Finally broke down and bought the tool, and stopped the leak. Also, make sure the part of the crank that the seal rides on is in perfect shape. Had one in the shop that would keep leaking, and the crank ended up having a microscopic scratch and burr on it. One other thought. When you put the sealant on the plate, are you putting it on the correct side of the bolt holes?

 

[softailgarage]

Bud I build them, but I've never worked on or owned one. Best help I can give you is this.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/

Tried that forum, not a lot of answers

Are you using the factory installation tool? If you don't, it can leak. Had a shop go through 3-4 rear main seals, and all would leak. Finally broke down and bought the tool, and stopped the leak. Also, make sure the part of the crank that the seal rides on is in perfect shape. Had one in the shop that would keep leaking, and the crank ended up having a microscopic scratch and burr on it. One other thought. When you put the sealant on the plate, are you putting it on the correct side of the bolt holes?

no, tell me more about this tool

 

[softailgarage]

talked to the german tool truck guy.... $400.00

 

[keithwvd]

yeah I believe the GM tool for rear mains is even pricier, crazy. I replaced my ls1 rear main without the tool and it sealed fine. I don't know anything about those cars but is the seal meant to be installed dry or with a thin coat of oil on them?

sounds like the gap is more of the issue here though

 

[ManxRacer]

When you say there is a gap on one side, what are you referring to? If the gap is between the seal and the crankcase, I'd say you did not get the seal installed squarely. If the gap is between the seal and the crankshaft (inner part of the seal), I'd be checking to ensure that the crank has not shifted in the crankcase.

While the latter sounds unbelievable, it's pretty well known that some Porsche's have a problem with crankshaft blocks shifting in the crankcase (M96 engines). Apparently the main bearing journals are not machined directly into the crankcase, but have blocks bolted in instead. If the blocks shift, the crank gets out of alignment in the crankcase and main seals suffer. May not be what you're dealing with, but something to keep in mind.

Edit: The problem is so common with Porsche's that they have a go-no-go tool for measuring crankshaft concentricity. If this is a common problem with any of the Mercedes series engine, they likely have such a tool too.

 

[softailgarage]

Gap is between seal and crankcase, pretty sure its not installed right. You know, I've spent easily half a day trying to find info. on this. Checked out IATN, a couple of Mercedes forums, phone calls to Mercedes & a couple of local German Auto shops and the only place I found anything was Garage Journal, pretty fricken cool, thanks guy's

 

[bgott]

Not to hijack your thread, but, since we are on MB's, where is the factory diagnostic connector on a '99 S500? We can find the OBD II connector, do they use this for the factory scan tool?

 

[purplezr2]

Not to hijack your thread, but, since we are on MB's, where is the factory diagnostic connector on a '99 S500? We cdan find the OBD II connector, do they use this for the factory scan tool?

Per the law the OBDII has to be within some many feet/inches of the front door/drivers seat, I would look in the center console i know vag did that for awhile.

 

[brad900]

bgott--The factory diag connector is under the hood, pass side near firewall, its a 36 pin round port

softtailgarage--the rear main has to sit into the cover just right, the install tool sets the depth, do not put any sealant on it. Did you clean the block & upper lip of the oil pan to remove the sealant?? Also you have to use factory sealant (locktite 5900), Has to be 2mm wide, here is the sealant placement
http://mbworld.org/wiki/images/b/b3...alant_to_end_cover_with_radial_shaft_seal.pdf

Do not forget to put sealant on the bottom on the rear main cover. Let the sealant dry for a min. of 1 hour before you start the car

 

[softailgarage]

Well, the tech managed to get it in today alright, nothing leaking after my 6 mile test drive, however, now I'm getting a little nervous after reading brad900's post. I know he didn't use factory sealant because i didn't order any. Rob Gleason, the German Tool Truck found the tool for me at a decent price too, $144.00. Not bad compared to the $500.00 quotes I was hearing. At this point I'll just cross my fingers and hope I dont see that vehicle for a long time and once again Garage Journal came through with the help needed, Thanks Guys.

 

[bgott]

Per the law the OBDII has to be within some many feet/inches of the front door/drivers seat, I would look in the center console i know vag did that for awhile.

We can find that connector, we want to use the MB connector so we can use the bi-directional features.

bgott--The factory diag connector is under the hood, pass side near firewall, its a 36 pin round port

Alldata shows it to be there, actually it shows it to be what looks like part of the relay/fuse box. However, we can't find it on this car.

 

[brad900]

bgott, You say it's a 99, but you could be talking about 2 different models. Do you know what chassis it is, 140 or 220. 140 is a square big s -class & 220 was the smaller rounder one

 

[ktmben]

I know a few years ago MB had problems with the new main seals that they were producing. We had the lead tech for the shop and another guy working on a vehicle for quite some time trying to get a rear main seal leak stopped, it was a 272 or 273 motor I can't remember. The factory tech guys said to just keep replacing seals until they got a good one that stopped the leak.

 

[bgott]

bgott, You say it's a 99, but you could be talking about 2 different models. Do you know what chassis it is, 140 or 220. 140 is a square big s -class & 220 was the smaller rounder one

Probably a 220. My friend is avoiding working on it. Car lot car, they crossed the cables while jump starting.

 

[robert_t_wallace]

Bud I build them, but I've never worked on or owned one. Best help I can give you is this.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/

or

http://mbworld.org/
MBWorld has a cool mercedes powered Cobra..pic attached..

 

[Steve from Socal]

The W140's were the last chassis to have the 38 pin connector, a W220 uses the OBD connector under the steering wheel.

The W140 has a box on the right side of the firewall with a 2 1/2 black plastic cap where the 38 pin connector is located.

Steve

 

[controlpanel]

The Germans sure knows how to prize their tools!
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[bgott]

The W140's were the last chassis to have the 38 pin connector, a W220 uses the OBD connector under the steering wheel.

The W140 has a box on the right side of the firewall with a 2 1/2 black plastic cap where the 38 pin connector is located.

Thanks!

 

[jannejan]

I know a few years ago MB had problems with the new main seals that they were producing. We had the lead tech for the shop and another guy working on a vehicle for quite some time trying to get a rear main seal leak stopped, it was a 272 or 273 motor I can't remember. The factory tech guys said to just keep replacing seals until they got a good one that stopped the leak.

Must have been a pain in the ***, especially for a quality brand as MB.

 

[zuk123]

I'll risk hijacking, but if the question is too involved, or inappropriate for this thread, let me know and I'll repost, but with the generic thread title, maybe this will grow??

I'm looking for a 10-15 year old bigger MB sedan, 4 doors, safe and reliable, to put 2 car seats in so I can drive my 1 and 3 year old to school. I can't fit the seats in my truck, and if I have to occasionally drive a car, I want a little style and luxury. I've always associated MB with these traits, at least in the bigger styles.

Question is, are there models or features or years to stay away from? I've heard there are lots of problems with air ride suspension on '03 models, electrical issues on other years, etc. Without going thru forums for ages, or talking to a service manager at an independent shop, you guys are my best hope for real answers.

Recap, are some 10-15 yo large 4 door MB sedans better than others for reliability, chronic problems, etc?

Thanks,

zuk

 

[700hpAMG]

Not familiar with that motor, however when I rebuilt the trans in my AMG E55 I also did the rear main which happens to sit inside a removal 'girdle' that is prone to warping if torqued or removed improperly. Otherwise it will leak as well. It was also interesting that the notes states the seal should not be pre-lubricated. All I know is that a few thousands miles later I have zero leaks.

 

[Steve from Socal]

The last couple years production W140's are pretty dependable cars, that said repairs can be expensive. The W220 the next series was rather problematic. A nice 140 or even a nice older 126 560 SEL are perhaps the acme of MB overall quality.

JMHO,

Steve

 

[JMcFly]

Stay away from the W140 cars. They are incredibly expensive when something goes wrong.

I'd stick to a late W126 or late W124. I drove an E320 Cabriolet for about a year and loved the car, I wouldn't mind a regular E320 sedan or even the wagon. Great cars, the W124 chassis was the last one designed by the engineers and not the accountants.

 

[BPJ]

Does anyone know the part number on the rear bumper brackets on a 1988 Mercedes SL?

 

[nadogail]

I am glad I don't own on of those cars. When my Volvo started leaking, the independent shop was quickly able to drop the ****** and change the rear main seal.

 

[Bigbandguy]

Here is 2 cents worth of advice from an old fart who has owned lots of cars. The last American car I owned was a 70's Monte Carlo. I have owned lots of foreign iron including two Benzes. If you want an Axis powers car, stick with the Japanese. A ten year old Japanese anything (and there are some very nice luxury cars) is more reliable and will cost a S**t pot less than any older German car you will buy. That is a simple fact which you are free to believe or not. Your maintenance costs will be reduced by a factor of ten. I always felt that the Japanese were grateful to McArthur for rebuilding their country and the Germans are still trying to get even. (It's a joke OK?_) Good luck but I would go Japanese in a heartbeat.

 

[mikeceli]

I know a few years ago MB had problems with the new main seals that they were producing. We had the lead tech for the shop and another guy working on a vehicle for quite some time trying to get a rear main seal leak stopped, it was a 272 or 273 motor I can't remember. The factory tech guys said to just keep replacing seals until they got a good one that stopped the leak.

WOW! Did they FORGET how to manufacture a simple "lip" seal?