![]() I understand the mechanic's position on requiring replacement of the radiator and heater core as he is in the business of making repairs only once, and not risking a customer coming back mad that flushing the plugged parts didn't fully fix the issue. I will trade-up before spending those dollars. I was quoted about $5k for parts/labor which is a deal killer for me. He said he spoke with a friend who is a tech at a Mercedes dealership and confirmed that this is a known phenomenon, and the solution is to drain the whole system, flush the block, and replace both the radiator and heater core. He disconnected the lower radiator hose and drained down the radiator into a clean bucket and said that he did see a few silica gel beads which confirmed his hypothesis. He said that on rare occasions, the silica gel bead packs that Mercedes puts in the coolant reservoirs can rupture and release the silica beads into the coolant system, and then they travel throughout and plug up either the heater core or radiator. The engine thermostat is functioning properly, as is the primary auxiliary coolant pump (feeds turbos) and secondary auxiliary coolant pump (feeds heater core). He said there are no diagnostic trouble codes stored. I took the car to an indy mechanic that specializes in imports for diagnosis. So if I'm starting the car up from a cold environment, the air stays cold and the cabin never warms up. What I mean by ambient, is whatever temperature the air in the cabin in already. After driving the car 15 minutes and getting engine coolant temps up to normal operating range, it does not matter where I set to temperature control for cabin temp, at 72 or as high as it goes, the result is ambient temperature air coming out of the vents. Now that it is cold in Chicago, the car should be blowing hot air once it warms up, but it does not. I too keep the temp control set permanently, at about 72F. Your description of how the system operates was more elegant than my statement of "turned the heat on". My 2014 operates the same way as your described your 2015.
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