During August 2018, Vietnam Insider found at least ten separate reports of water ingression into the front differential of the GLC while driving through water.
A member of otofun.net – the Vietnamese largest car’s owners forum posted “The authorized dealer said, I have water in my front diff. I drove through mud and some water holes. Nothing over half way up my tire”. He said, the authorized dealer of Mercedes-Benz Vietnam said, it’s a product’s warranty void and refuses to recall or fix it. The car owner have to pay VND170,000,000 (US$ 7,400) for spare parts of differential.
While researching car recall campaigns here, we could not find any related issue with GLC models world-wide, but 8 other recalls for GLC regarding to
- The driver airbag may be defective
- The steering column is not sufficiently earthed
- The starter current limiter may be overloaded and overheat
- The propellant mixing ratio in certain seat-belt pre-tensioner igniters may be incorrect
- The electronic parking brake might not function.
- Fuel may leak from the fuel pump
- The on-board high-voltage battery charger may malfunction
- Wiring in the vicinity of the steering column could be damaged which might cause failure of indicators, gear selection, electronic stability control and electric power steering.
According to a message sent to GLC owners on its website, Mercedes-Benz Vietnam said:
“We acknowledged customer concerns about the possibility of water ingression into the front differential of the GLC while driving through deep water. We fully understand the situation and please rest assure that Mercedes-Benz Vietnam is taking this feedback very serious and we are aiming to find a solution for our customers, albeit the root cause is not connected to product or product design issue but rather to improper vehicle handling.
By this chance and as a first step, we kindly like invite you as owner of the Mercedes-Benz GLC to visit the nearest authorised Mercedes-Benz workshop to perform technical check for the differential lubricant to assess any possible existing water ingression and where requried performing lubricant replacment by our well-trained technicians to minimize subsequent repair costs. For this, we are happy to offer free differential lubricant check from today until end of August 2018. Kindly be informed that replacing non-approved differential lubricant may cause damages to the differential.
Furthermore, as a preventive measure to minimize furture damages, our authorized dealers are working on a recommended retrofit solution for your GLC vehicle by using Mercedes-Benz Genuine spare parts and at a very affordable price. For further details and information we kindly ask you to contact your preffered authorized Mercedes-Benz Service Center who is happy to assist you further.
And once again we would like to remind you the maximum still water depth for the GLC is 30 cm (please refer to the GLC User manual, page 367). Even the heights of the air breathe valve of the GLC front and rear differentials are higherly positioned respectively, it is recommended to follow strictly the maximum water depth guideline as stated in the User manual to avoid water leaking into not only the differential and but also other equipment, as well as to avoid hydrolic lock.”
More about differentials
How Differentials Work?
If you’ve read How Car Engines Work, you understand how a car’s power is generated; and if you’ve read How Manual Transmissions Work, you understand where the power goes next. This article will explain differentials — where the power, in most cars, makes its last stop before spinning the wheels.
The differential has three jobs:
- To aim the engine power at the wheels
- To act as the final gear reduction in the vehicle, slowing the rotational speed of the transmission one final time before it hits the wheels
- To transmit the power to the wheels while allowing them to rotate at different speeds (This is the one that earned the differential its name.)
Why You Need a Differential
Car wheels spin at different speeds, especially when turning. You can see from the animation that each wheel travels a different distance through the turn, and that the inside wheels travel a shorter distance than the outside wheels. Since speed is equal to the distance traveled divided by the time it takes to go that distance, the wheels that travel a shorter distance travel at a lower speed. Also note that the front wheels travel a different distance than the rear wheels.