After taking my xfire in for the "knock" on June 2, 2008, I finally got it back today July 28. Its been gone for so long I forgot how good it looks. But that doesn't mean I'm keeping it for long. The knock is gone and it runs good. All covered under warranty. The problems they had putting this together would have made the 3 stooges look good. This was a large 5 star dealer who had a "trained" mechanic with the right tools. I told them right off that it was a internal problem, ie, crank, rods, bearings but they said no, not those. So they changed the lifters and such early on, but nooooooo, thats not it. They changed the oil pump ???, but noooooo, thats not it. So then they decide to tear the engine apart, BRILLIANT. They found a bad wrist pin or two that was making the noise about 1,300-2,000 rpm. After the pin was found, it was at least 30 days for all to be done. I hope anyone who has problems, either warranty or not, that they can find a good mechanic who knows what they're doing. I think as these cars get older, more and more dealers will just stop working on them because they wont know what to do. I've owned many exotic cars; Jaguars, Porshe, Corvettes, MG's, Healeys, Shelbys, but Ive never had any of these cars in any shop for this long, not even a few days. Just my 2c rant. Anyone in the market for a 2005 red xfire?

 

Did you end up with a new short or long block?
I am sure they did not do a rebuild.

 

Parts may be the big issue. How long did it take the parts to arrive>

 

I'm in a similiar situation. I've been in and out for a month and a half now -- they've replaced all the lifters, rods, etc.

I drop it off tonight and they're going to pull the engine and drop a new one in.

 

No not a new engine, but it seems close. The parts all came from the states, only one took over a week to arrive. I have no idea why it took so long, other then the mis-diagnosis. Oh well, I'll get it out today for a ride and drive.

 

I know how you feel. I had a brand new 79 Corvette. Car of my dreams. Waited twelve long weeks for it to come in. I drive it off the lot and it stalls in the intersection. WTF? Next morning it did the same thing. Whenever it was cold it would stall when I made a turn, left or right. It was in the shop 1 week out of every month (12) I owned it. They finally figured it out, front float in the carb was hanging up but not before it killed my enthusiasm for the car. Traded it on a 80 280ZX which was one of the best cars I've ever owned. Hope you don't loose interest.
Pat

 

To be honest, Chrysler should have anticipated service when they sold their cars... such as more training, etc.

But you can't really blame the dealers, well, I guess you can.. but take another car such as a jaguar or porsche to a mercedes dealer and expect them to fix it.. that's kinda the same principle.. taking a mercedes to a chrysler dealer..

 

Since I last posted, I've had the car back 2 times for "check engine" light problems. Now after a week vacation, I got in to start and it was running on 3 cylinders. Sputtering, noise, bad running. The fastest I could go was 30MPH. When is this **** ever going to end. Last night I started it up and it seemed to run fine, except for the engine shake, and a low misfire. I had it towed into the shop today for another look-see. I cant trust this car anymore. You get to a point where you have to say enough is enough, the car is going. Sad thing is I cant sell it to anyone, because I would'nt feel good about passing problems off to someone else, even if they were fixed. Ill just trade it off on something else and hope for the best. Sorry for the rant, but the car is awesome and looks great, I hate to sell.

 

do i smell a lemon???

 

That's exactly what I was thinking but I dont know if it applies to used cars or only new cars. Also, how many times does a dealer get to fix a problem. Each state probably has their set of rules, but I'll be looking at Indiana's.

 

Indiana: before 18 mos or 18,000 miles

But you might be able to go after the dealer if they did not fix it properly - maybe find a differnet dealer.
I would start by not settling for less than a new or factory rebulit long block.

 

Sorry for your grief. They should have replaced the engine instead of rebuilding. That's what Ford did on my '97 Expedition when it had 50,000 miles on it (the extended warranty paid for itself). But, these cars are different since Chrysler probably can't get MB engines without paying $$$ for them.

I would have serious doubts that the Chrysler techs could properly rebuild these hand built engines correctly.

Hope things turn for the better!

 

Good point Dan. Even though a dealer is a 5 star dealer, that might just mean that a mechanic went to class, looked at some videos, booklets, tools, and a certificiate. I never thought about the hand built side of this engine, seeing all those parts on the floor, it should go back together easily. But I know they missed something somewhere. I'll be in Chicago a few days on business and I hope they have it fixed. While up there, I might have to look around a bit for a new car.

 

Since my last post I've had the car back in 3 times. Now it sputters and "flutters" around 30-50MPH and they cant find the problem. They changed an injector, not it. Now the THINK it might be a vacume leak, but they cant find it. I'm at the end of my rope. I cant sell it because I wont burden someone else with the POS, so I'll probably take the hit and trade it off. Rant over.

 

I'm not sure these engines are hand-built. It's a very common Merc engine, as I understand it. Hand-building them wouldn't make economic sense. I think the SRT6 motor may be a different story.

 

No vacume hoses are bad. Injector was changed and runs better. Now they have the front cover off because they THINK it could be something like a timing chain, but there's a different name from Mercedes. Its like a chain, and when they installed it they MIGHT have put it on one link off. There is a certain place where this has to be installed. Now this tells me they dont have a clue what is wrong with the engine, they are guessing. And I'm still mad.

 

The N/A is not hand built, the AMG ones are.