Mercedes GL350CDI engine seizure

[RDMcG]

Have a neighbour who has had this car from new ( about 10 years) and has 200,000km on it. Yesterday on the highway, loud pop, engine stopped, usually dashboard lightshow.

Now at the dealer who says engine is seized and oil all over it. Car was only serviced at dealer. Dealer still investigating cause.

Wondering if anyone has overheard of a Bluetec seizure?..I thought these things were bulletproof.

[gizlaroc]

The 350cdi blutech is very oil sensitive, if you don't use the correct oil it sludges.

From someones on the linked thread....




https://mbworld.org/forums/diesel-forum/585587-ano...


I reckon it is a combo of things, changing oil from the top, allowing sludge to build up, ad blue which allows unburnt fuel into the oil, and quite simply people not using the correct 229.51 oil.

The combo of all that over 120,000 miles will cause issues.


The fact is, can he prove Mercedes got things wrong?
has he got paperwork showing what oil was used or similar?

Edited by gizlaroc on Wednesday 25th September 23:24

[RDMcG]

That is very helpful. My neighbour is a fairly methodical owner and I will check about the service records.

[Monkeylegend]

That age doesn't need Adblue does it, unless there is a different spec for over the pond, so oil thinning, even if it is a problem with Merc, should not have caused the issue.

[Stegel]

The OP is in Canada, and the GL diesels became available (at least in North America) with Ad Blue in 2009, so it could well be a 10 year old BlueTec car.

[Sheepshanks]

gizlaroc said:

ad blue which allows unburnt fuel into the oil,

I suspect this is a brain fart, and meant to relate to dpf regens allowing unburnt fuel into the enine.

The AdBlue system is near the end of the exhaust.

[Paddymcc]

Leaky oil cooler seals in the middle of the V.... lack of oil and things overheated and seized up?

[gizlaroc]

Sheepshanks said:

I suspect this is a brain fart, and meant to relate to dpf regens allowing unburnt fuel into the enine.

The AdBlue system is near the end of the exhaust.

I think that the adblue and unburnt fuel that is added to the DPF and not burnt off, ie people stop the car half way through a regen, is put back into the oil, causing oil dilution.
Same as we are now seeing on the Jaguar/Land Rovers.


I should add that I don't know how it happens, it makes little sense to me, surely once in the exhaust it is there? But we are seeing issues with this from Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover and it seems Mercedes.

[Sheepshanks]

gizlaroc said:

I think that the adblue and unburnt fuel that is added to the DPF and not burnt off, ie people stop the car half way through a regen, is put back into the oil, causing oil dilution.
Same as we are now seeing on the Jaguar/Land Rovers.


I should add that I don't know how it happens, it makes little sense to me, surely once in the exhaust it is there? But we are seeing issues with this from Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover and it seems Mercedes.

AdBlue gets injected into another catalyst that is after the DPF.

I'm not aware of oil dilution issues with Mercs - I glanced through the thread you linked to and it seems to be mainly about various oil leaks. I can't recall seeing that mentioned in the UK so seems odd that it's happening in the US.

[RDMcG]

The car is at dealer now - I will update when I have a bit of info. Many thanks for all of the replies

[GTIcampaign]

gizlaroc said:

Sheepshanks said:

I suspect this is a brain fart, and meant to relate to dpf regens allowing unburnt fuel into the enine.

The AdBlue system is near the end of the exhaust.

I think that the adblue and unburnt fuel that is added to the DPF and not burnt off, ie people stop the car half way through a regen, is put back into the oil, causing oil dilution.
Same as we are now seeing on the Jaguar/Land Rovers.


I should add that I don't know how it happens, it makes little sense to me, surely once in the exhaust it is there? But we are seeing issues with this from Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover and it seems Mercedes.

How do you tell if the car is in regen?

[gizlaroc]

Normally the cars holds onto gears a little longer, the engine sounds a bit gruffer, and you current MPG drops.

They need to start putting a light on the dash as it is so important.