Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) is recalling ~324,000 vehicles* for sudden stalling. “Water might accumulate in the spare tire wheel well and damage the fuel pump control unit, which could cause an engine stall while driving,” Mercedes said in the required filling made public today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Covered are the so-called GLE/ML (166 platform) and GLE Coupe (292 platform) vehicles. “Depending on the amount of water that has entered the spare wheel well, the accumulated water could intermittently contact the fuel pump control unit,” Mercedes said.
Before the stalling occurs, the “driver may be made aware of water infiltration due to a damp carpet in the rear of the vehicle or the sound of water sloshing in the spare tire wheel well. In some cases, the driver could also be alerted to the condition by illumination of the check engine light in the instrument cluster. When the issue occurs, the driver might notice a warning in the instrument cluster,” Mercedes said. It is projected to be a problem on only 1% of the recall population.
Dealers will install a water drain plug, inspect for water intrusion, and replace the fuel pump control unit as necessary, free of charge as required by US federal regulations. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed 21 February 2023. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.
Chronology
In June 2018, Mercedes-Benz AG became aware of isolated customer complaints outside the U.S. associated with potential water penetration into the rear interior area of certain Mercedes-Benz vehicles. It initiated analyses of these customer complaints beginning in June 2018. Several vehicles involved in the field complaints were obtained for examination at Mercedes-Benz AG’s facilities in Germany. These analyses identified no indications of a systematic failure that could account for water penetration into the rear of the vehicles or failure of equipment such as the fuel pump control unit.
Nevertheless, in February 2019, Mercedes-Benz AG instructed relevant departments to further investigate an attempt to identify the cause of the complaints. “Whether and how water might penetrate into the spare wheel well, and whether any such water ingress might affect the operation of other vehicle equipment are difficult and complex questions, involving many variables and unknown factors.”
In March 2019, the company became aware of field complaints in the U.S. involving water penetration into the rear interior. Accordingly, it initiated further tests in June 2019 to analyze such water infiltration and its potential consequences. Mercedes-Benz continued these analyses through November 2019, including evaluating whether different vehicle models or configurations may influence potential water infiltration. Mercedes conducted analyses to determine if water that entered the spare wheel well might come into contact with the fuel pump control unit, which is also positioned in that area of the vehicle, testing scenarios involving different control unit installation positions within the spare wheel well.
Continuing its investigation in 2020, Mercedes-Benz analyzed whether development or production deviations, customer uses, or different ambient conditions might contribute to water infiltration into the vehicles.
From March to October 2021, Mercedes-Benz re-evaluated all available studies, field complaint data and driving test data to determine whether water infiltration in the affected vehicles posed a risk to the fuel supply to the engine (possibly through a fuel pump control unit failure). Mercedes-Benz simultaneously initiated research to develop potential remedies to eliminate the risk that a fuel pump control unit could come into contact with water in the spare wheel well.
In early 2022, the detailed forecast of potential occurrences based on vehicles’ useful life and ambient conditions was updated to incorporate all known complaints involving water infiltration into the rear interior of potentially affected vehicles. From April to September 2022, Mercedes-Benz categorized all information regarding field complaints and dealer correspondence, to evaluate potential consequences associated with water accumulation in the spare wheel well. As part of that review, Mercedes-Benz determined that in some instances vehicles could lose propulsion without advance warning to the driver. In October-November 2022, Mercedes-Benz integrated these analyses with all prior investigations and studies and analyzed potential correlations between production periods and complaints.
Based on all of those analyses, MBAG determined on December 16, 2022 that a potential safety risk associated with the issue cannot be ruled out and decided to conduct a recall. MBAG is currently aware of 773 warranty claims, field reports, and service reports in the US from March 28, 2019 to December 15, 2022. These warranty claims/field reports/service reports represent approximately 0.24% of the recall population. MBAG is not aware of any deaths, injuries, crashes or property damage claims related to this defect in the USA
As a precautionary measure, an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer, will install a water drain plug in the spare wheel well on the affected vehicles, check for water infiltration into the spare wheel well and replace the fuel pump control unit, if necessary.
*Recalled Vehicles: 2012-2014 ML550, 2012-2015 ML350, AMG ML63, 2015 ML250, ML400, 2016 GLE450, GLE300, 2016-2018 GLE350, GLE550, 2016-2019 GLE400, 2017-2019 AMG GLE43, and 2016-2020 AMG GLE63.
Mercedes-Benz Recalls 324,000 Vehicles for Sudden Stalling
Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) is recalling ~324,000 vehicles* for sudden stalling. “Water might accumulate in the spare tire wheel well and damage the fuel pump control unit, which could cause an engine stall while driving,” Mercedes said in the required filling made public today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Covered are the so-called GLE/ML (166 platform) and GLE Coupe (292 platform) vehicles. “Depending on the amount of water that has entered the spare wheel well, the accumulated water could intermittently contact the fuel pump control unit,” Mercedes said.
Before the stalling occurs, the “driver may be made aware of water infiltration due to a damp carpet in the rear of the vehicle or the sound of water sloshing in the spare tire wheel well. In some cases, the driver could also be alerted to the condition by illumination of the check engine light in the instrument cluster. When the issue occurs, the driver might notice a warning in the instrument cluster,” Mercedes said. It is projected to be a problem on only 1% of the recall population.
Dealers will install a water drain plug, inspect for water intrusion, and replace the fuel pump control unit as necessary, free of charge as required by US federal regulations. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed 21 February 2023. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.
Chronology
In June 2018, Mercedes-Benz AG became aware of isolated customer complaints outside the U.S. associated with potential water penetration into the rear interior area of certain Mercedes-Benz vehicles. It initiated analyses of these customer complaints beginning in June 2018. Several vehicles involved in the field complaints were obtained for examination at Mercedes-Benz AG’s facilities in Germany. These analyses identified no indications of a systematic failure that could account for water penetration into the rear of the vehicles or failure of equipment such as the fuel pump control unit.
Nevertheless, in February 2019, Mercedes-Benz AG instructed relevant departments to further investigate an attempt to identify the cause of the complaints. “Whether and how water might penetrate into the spare wheel well, and whether any such water ingress might affect the operation of other vehicle equipment are difficult and complex questions, involving many variables and unknown factors.”
In March 2019, the company became aware of field complaints in the U.S. involving water penetration into the rear interior. Accordingly, it initiated further tests in June 2019 to analyze such water infiltration and its potential consequences. Mercedes-Benz continued these analyses through November 2019, including evaluating whether different vehicle models or configurations may influence potential water infiltration. Mercedes conducted analyses to determine if water that entered the spare wheel well might come into contact with the fuel pump control unit, which is also positioned in that area of the vehicle, testing scenarios involving different control unit installation positions within the spare wheel well.
Continuing its investigation in 2020, Mercedes-Benz analyzed whether development or production deviations, customer uses, or different ambient conditions might contribute to water infiltration into the vehicles.
From March to October 2021, Mercedes-Benz re-evaluated all available studies, field complaint data and driving test data to determine whether water infiltration in the affected vehicles posed a risk to the fuel supply to the engine (possibly through a fuel pump control unit failure). Mercedes-Benz simultaneously initiated research to develop potential remedies to eliminate the risk that a fuel pump control unit could come into contact with water in the spare wheel well.
In early 2022, the detailed forecast of potential occurrences based on vehicles’ useful life and ambient conditions was updated to incorporate all known complaints involving water infiltration into the rear interior of potentially affected vehicles. From April to September 2022, Mercedes-Benz categorized all information regarding field complaints and dealer correspondence, to evaluate potential consequences associated with water accumulation in the spare wheel well. As part of that review, Mercedes-Benz determined that in some instances vehicles could lose propulsion without advance warning to the driver. In October-November 2022, Mercedes-Benz integrated these analyses with all prior investigations and studies and analyzed potential correlations between production periods and complaints.
Based on all of those analyses, MBAG determined on December 16, 2022 that a potential safety risk associated with the issue cannot be ruled out and decided to conduct a recall. MBAG is currently aware of 773 warranty claims, field reports, and service reports in the US from March 28, 2019 to December 15, 2022. These warranty claims/field reports/service reports represent approximately 0.24% of the recall population. MBAG is not aware of any deaths, injuries, crashes or property damage claims related to this defect in the USA
As a precautionary measure, an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer, will install a water drain plug in the spare wheel well on the affected vehicles, check for water infiltration into the spare wheel well and replace the fuel pump control unit, if necessary.
*Recalled Vehicles: 2012-2014 ML550, 2012-2015 ML350, AMG ML63, 2015 ML250, ML400, 2016 GLE450, GLE300, 2016-2018 GLE350, GLE550, 2016-2019 GLE400, 2017-2019 AMG GLE43, and 2016-2020 AMG GLE63.