This channel is dedicated to DIY repair of the W221 series Mercedes Benz S550 as well as my opinion on high quality products that I love. The W221 was a great achievement for Mercedes Benz and repair of them can be very costly unless you can do it yourself. I document repairs I do on this 2013 S Class to help others save money.
If I saved you money or helped you fix your Mercedes S Class, and you’d like to buy me a beer, that'd be great, you can do so at this link: www.buymeacoffee.com/mercedesmechanic
Thank you so much for this video. I think I found out what the problem is by hazard. Blinkers came on and wouldn't cut off after bad heavy rain. I had to disconnect the battery after 10 hours are reconnected the battery and it's not doing it anymore but I believe that happened because of the rain and my reservoir was not clean out, it was a lot of leaves in there
My ML350 was parked for almost a month and after heavy rain, I found water on driver floorboard. The front drains are not clogged but when I poured water on the driver side sunroof drain, it comes under the steering wheel cover. Car starts but SRS, back camera, DSR, SOS, turn signal, and washers are not operating. When I tried to clean the sunroof drain with the drain brush wire, it goes all the way down, but still water coming out under the steering cover. It seems water got into the wiring under the steering, and I am really worried it might cost me legs and arms.
There should be no crankcase pressure. If there is, you have a new problem. Replacing the gasket on the timing covers is to prevent oil from leaking down on the alternator, which can be spendy to fix. Or to simply prevent a messy oil leak period. If it leaks, air or oil, it does not affect throttle response. Try removing your oil cap and see for yourself. Of course you can reuse the turbo clamps. I've used them over and over many times. Everyone does. If you netted better throttle response then you fixed something somewhere, or maybe reset the ECU by unplugging the battery? I have a hard time believing it was anything in the video.
When the car is going down the road at 70 MPH and the rpms are way up, if you could remove the oil cap the oil will come flying out due to the pressure that's built up in the crank case. It does not matter however when the car is at idle, you're correct theres no pressure sitting idle.
@@MercedesMechanic The oil will come out because the chain is flinging it it. If you have pressure blowing it out then you have a problem. Mine has 70k on it and there is zero pressure, even under boost. I actually measured mine, have you?
Having this problem today after heavy rain last night. Had the heat on this morning & heard a static/gurgling sound like water rushing so I turned it off. Also heard some water near the wheel which I realize was coming from the drain tube. Then realized the passenger floor was damp. Got fish tape but it only goes so far into the curved drain from the top. Trying to get the fender liner off so I can clean it from the bottom. & also had a lot of standing water in the middle one with the mesh cover, I vacuumed it out and it seems like more water got into the floor board, any help?
@@MercedesMechanic thank you sir! Ironically I just saw your post on benzworld. I got all the drains cleaned out but now I just need to locate an air compressor to shoot some air through the bottom. The waterfall drain in the middle was clogged right around the small drain hole.
Watch this one and read what I did in the description of the video. Once this modification has been done, cost of about $10, its very easy to blow out the two drains from beneath the car and it'll save you from having to open up your fender wells. Those drain tubes do not belong in that little pocket behind the front tires, it was a bad decision by Mercedes to do it that way. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RQKWVd2g-I8.html @@issacbrown7485
Vacuum pump check valve, will fix a lot of turbo issues such as "low boost pressure" message and sluggish feel when trying to pass. Costs $10 if you get the valve for a 2012 ford fiesta (same pump at M278 mercedes, jobber was used to supply pump)
The pump is not the same, but the check valve will fit. You have to be wary because the valve on the Benz is not the same internally as the ones for $10 on ebay. It may work well enough that most people won't notice, or maybe they're happy since it works so much better than the broken valve. I can tell you I tried one and it was a fail. I knew it as soon as I saw it, but tried it anyway just to see. The cheap valve cannot respond as fast or seal as well as the oem valve and you lose vacuum strength, which is desperately needed for turbo control. Check for yourself by taking the valve apart, it's quite obvious the $10 valve is crap. How much vacuum an engine/turbo needs for wastegate control will vary, a lot, but the M278 needs a lot of vacuum. In fact, it cannot fully close the wastegates at peak power with the oem valve, so even the slightest loss in vacuum from there means the wategates are open even more. That check valve is key in netting max vacuum available, as is the turbo solenoid and battery voltage at peak power. The solenoid may seem fine but it can cause power loss too. Voltage can drop when floored and that means less vacuum, thanks to the solenoid not getting the voltage it needs. All the more reason for the vacuum from that check valve to be at it's absolute highest to hold the wastegates as closed as possible. Fyi the low boost pressure warning will only trigger when the boost is painfully low, and I believe for 5 seconds straight. So you could have half boost and it'll never trigger.
o2 sensors replaced every 30k miles? you're crazy. dont just throw parts at your car. get a good bidirectional scan tool with live logging so you can properly log these sensors and such to see if they're responding properly. replacing timing cover gaskets isnt "to keep pressure in the engine"... that pressure is relieved via the PCV system and lots of crankcase pressure is NOT a good thing... replacing the timing cover gaskets on m278 engines is because they're prone to leaking. the cam sensors are prone to cracking and allowing oil to seep up into the wiring harness and causes damage. if you want throttle response clean your throttle body blades and surfaces from PCV systems recirculating it back into the intake for emissions. if you want to stop this from happening, put a oil catch can on those hoses to separate the oily residue from the air so that it doesnt coat your throttle body, intake manifold and most importantly the backsides of the intake valves on these direct injected motors. they are prone to the intake valves getting caked on oil residue and disrupting flow or worse, creating hot spots on valves which can cause them to fail and lose compression in cylinders. keep up with oil changes even before the recommended oil change intervals. these engines are prone to cylinder wall scoring... a $100 oil change every 5k is better than a $10k reman engine and almost just as much in labor because the engine transmission and cradle has to be dropped from the car... a LOT of labor at $100-200 shop time per hour.
Dude I see either you are a mechanic or have the same car and had this type of issues? Some people says even no matter what if you change your oil every 5k it will happens is it true? Also there are a lot of people saying it’s a reliable engine can run more then 200.000k and some says at 90.000k you junk it it’s hard to believe people now days but yeh or people scared or making money by making a such a videos on RU-vid as I said hard to believe Be safe God bless
This is the first time I see a merchnics suggests keeping replacing parts before parts actually break! Why not replace all head bulbs and so on? They all have a lifespan. Non sense!
If you drive a lot of highway miles in a Mercedes, the cars manual tells you it will consume a quart of oil about every 1000 miles. The low oil message will appear on dash, when it does, it should be a quart low.
So that means if you change oil regularly every 8k miles, it burns 8 quarts of oil between oil change intervals... that's a lot. Perhaps cylinder bore scoring might be a cause for such oil consumption?@@MercedesMechanic
Not sure how they determined it but I’d change the oil at no more than 5000 miles and either use Mercedes oil or liqui Moly oil. The tradition oil change rule for synthetic oil was 10,000 but that puts unnecessary wear on internal parts of the engine. Just remember an oil change is $100-$130 but an engine is thousands, so if you like your car to last change the oil at 5000 miles or less.
A turbo water cooler was placed on top of the engine on some models of the w221 and some did not have it, it has its own separate coolant system. Not sure about the oil but in the last 20,000 miles I've put on my 2013 S550, the low oil message only came on once and it took a quart like the manual said it would. I have not experience it using a quart of oil every 1000 miles like the manual says so they must have said it in the manual just to cover their ass incase the engines were using it. I change the oil using Liqui Moly at 4000-5000 miles and I get the filter from either the dealer or Napa Auto Parts has one thats made by the same company who makes it for Mercedes. I also use a new plug with new copper crush washer. I will not use a cheap filter or cheap oil. If I idle the car a lot in the summer, I'll change oil even sooner as idling wears the oil just as driving does. @@andrehafrian408
I have had a significant repair caused by failing cam sensors. The cam sensors fail and then ruin the wiring harness. It is a $10,000 engine out repair as oil escapes and wicks up the harness. Recalled up to 2011. Auto Auction Rebuilds RU-vid had same problem in 2014. He did pigtail repair himself. Mine is a 2013. Mercedes makes a pig tail which connect the harness to the sensor which is supposed to stop the oil should they fail again. My Mercedes has only been serviced by Mercedes and has 62,000 miles on it. I had the pigtails installed from watching the RU-vid. Total repair costs $10,600!!!! Crazy!!! The Mercedes mechanic was not aware of these but I gave them the model number and they put them in. This is an inexpensive insurance plan. Apparently Mercedes uses same cam sensors on other engines but has not put a recall out after 2011. Mercedes has not stood by their product and I will never purchase another Mercedes. I currently own 2 Mercedes. :-(
It happened to my 2013 s550 at around 68,000 miles. The pigtails do not stop the oil, they intercept it and they need to be checked every oil change. When oil gets in the pigtails, you then have the opportunity to replace pigtails opposed to the entire wiring harness, that’s the concept. The repair on mine was $16,000 as it ruined the computer and other sensors including the harness. Dealer service director and shop foreman told me it’ll happen again and advised me to periodically check the pigtails for oil and keep extra ones on hand.
@@MercedesMechanic Thanks for the additional information. I suspected the sensors might fail again. I also assume the pigtails were a buffer not a fix. Thanks for the advice as I will have MB check at each service. I still think it’s crazy that MB has not issued a service bulletin.
@@JD-ym7nv there was a bulletin but these issues went far beyond what they were expecting. It’s happening all the way up to 2020 models from what I’ve learned. It was such a massive issue that the dealer in west palm beach were giving the pigtails away like Halloween Candy. I spoke to the C suite at merc Benz USA and they said they’ve washed their hands of the issue and will not be doing anymore for the M278. It’s a storm that’s passed already but still leaving victims here and there. Dealers are happy making a mint on this repair for those who can afford it without question. Just unplug them periodically and stick a Qtip in the plugs, if it’s clean plug it back until later and check again. ZZ Performance on eBay made pigtails for the cam sensors as Mercedes only made them for the cam magnets.
@@MercedesMechanic Thanks for the additional info. My check engine light came on . Said it was a failed coil but they found the oil leak at the cam sensor and it went into the harness. No computer damage but still $10k. Crazy :-(
@@JD-ym7nv FYI, Apparently a dealership told me last year they can flush out the wiring harness without taking it out, much cheaper but they didn’t say how much it cost.
I know, bad engineering no doubt. However I figured out a good retrofit to fix it once in for all and I did it in 2020 and my drains have never been clogged again and I park under a tree that buries my car with leaves year round. I have some videos on my channel that shows what I did. It was a simple solution. One other thing I did too was I got a small blower from Harbor Freight to blow the leaves off my cowl drains and I keep in my car. I blow it off about once a week. When they made this car it was meant for rich people parking it in a garage.
You got lucky, the more times those clamps are removed and put back on they eventually stop working. Reason I recommend you get more is because they're only $6 and if you are putting them back on and they don't tighten you'll in some cases have to order them and wait which in my opinion is a burden because there are other things you can't put back on until the pipes are back on. Its a preference I suppose but the dealership doesn't always have extra in stock for their retail customers.
@@MercedesMechanic I too have reused them many times. Maybe people are over torquing them? I haven't have an issue, yet, but I suppose I should buy some in case they break on me one day and I end up in the situation you described :o
Its a Wheel Alignment Pin the same size as my lugs. Mercedes puts them with the jack in the trunk but I got a couple from Amazon as well for about $10 each.
This was shot on my new iPhone 14 T-Mobile gave me for free just for signing up. The camera in iPhone 14 has a stabilizer in it to prevent camera shake. Its not real clear but I was way in the back pretty far from the stage.
Before going to see these guys I took a shower with the Mega Mint bath bar from Body Detailer and while other people were putting on mosquito spray I didn't feel a single mosquito that night. I recently saw a study that said Mint soap repels them so I wanted to try it. I got a 3 pack at MyStore for $6 each and the bars are huge. Use code DRSOAP for the discount.
I got here by looking at a YTvideo on MB S65 AMG in which you left a comment regarding the AC drains .. There is one for sale for $30K and it has 90 K original miles supposedly. Dont know if it would worth the buy... By reading the comments on the S65 that you commented it seems that the maintenance will be costly. It went by 3 owners. In the same website there is another listing for a 2011 CLS550 for $16,900 with 38K miles...2 previous owners... The one that I really am interested is 2012-2018 CLS63....but they are about $40k with low miles.. Appreciate your recommendations and input.. Much blessings 🙌 Ty
The S65 has suede leather for a headliner, its real sweet in every way. Mercedes put every option on that one, people who bought the S550 had to pay for those options if they wanted them but they were all standard on S65.
Omg your a life saver...best video on youtube..I just unclothed my drains..I was going nuts I coudpent find them..atleast 1 gallon of water poured out the bottom of the car
