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Ah Mein Gott!!  That's stunning.  Would love it

very cool

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/AMG-MERCEDES-OL-DECKEL-W114-W116-W107-M110-SL-BRABUS_W0QQitemZ380214742581QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAutoteile_Zubeh%C3%B6r?hash=item5886908e35

I thought of that and it may come down to do just that. Time will tell.

Thanks for all the quick replies.

I've spoken with my sister and she's already been on the phone with her lawyer.

Told her under no circumstances should she just retrieve the car without formally notifying the dealership that their liability for any repairs that may be required does not lapse with her taking the car from their possession.

The lawyer will know best how to put this in enforceable language.

Also told her to make it clear that if repairs are required that they should provide her a rental car of "like quality and capacity". The vehicle in question is a loaded-to-the-gills Dodge Aspen, which is a full-size SUV equivalent to a Ford Expedition or GMC Yukon. Don't want her winding up in a sub-compact for the several weeks it will likely take to resolve this issue.

Again - thanks for the quick replies. I'll post more when I know more.

Regards

The pressure regulator is a simple device and really should never ever need replacing.  I have successfully serviced/rebuilt them on 3 cars.  Disassembly, followed by careful cleaning and reassembly with new o-rings and copper seals is all that can ever be required.  In most cases this is totally excessive, and not needed.  All that is usually needed is to address the most common problem, which is the high pressure side filter becoming clogged.  It is NLA from MB, but this is not a problem because it is a metallic lattice design, and it is perfectly acceptable to remove it, clean out in petrol, laquer thinners or similar, blow out with compressed air to dry, and reinstall.  This filter is small - about 10 to 12mm long, 5mm dia.  It is accessed from the rearward facing side of the PR, next to the HP discharge line running to the 5th sphere.  It is removable without dismounting the PR.  Be aware though that when the cover plug form this HP filter is removed, you will be venting the full system pressure, so the car must be supported off the wheels, and the distribution valve disc rotated to the "discharge" position. 

THis HP filter is not to be confused with the low pressure side return filter, which is a paper element type unit located underneath the PR, within the fluid reservoir.  The LP paper filter is readily available from the dealer, because its shared by the SLS W126 and W116 cars.  

"The solution is to bleed off excess fluid from the affected circuits.  There are bleed valves for this purpose - one under the battery tray, and one near the right rear wheel (I think its the right side...).  (only later cars - after some time in '77 - have these bleed valves)"

Thanks for the tip. That will be next weekends fun. Hopefully. Still a bit of troubleshooting to do with this car. A new pressure regulator is about USD900 so I hope I'm not up for one. I guess if stays in the "locked up " position until I get some coin I'll be happy.

I've seen the pressure in which it comes out of the bleeder. Managed to spray oil everywhere.

The interior rubber trim around my windows is starting to crack and show it's age. How could I restore the rubber to reasonable condition... any ideas are welcome. I had great success with the outside rubber trim using mineral oil, but this would obviously cloud up my windows severely with the opening and closing motion.

That's a difficult situation.

If the engine was run without oil for that distance, it would have almost certainly been destroyed. Also, there would be no oil pressure, so the oil light would be permanently lit. That doesn't leave many excuses for the techs, other than the fact that it was their gross negligence.

This sort of occurrence calls for the advice of a legal professional, otherwise it could get messy.

Tim

If the oil level was indeed that low, and if the story about the missing drain plug is true, then I would be very surprised if there isn't significant damage. 

The law is not as simple as what's right and what's wrong - so get as much as possible in writing, and hopefully you have a lawyer buddy who can advise you what to do.  If you don't have such a friend, it may be money well spent to pay for a quick 30 min consultation with a lawyer, to make sure you don't do anything at this stage that would jeapordise your chances of getting reparations later on.

What happended to good old fashioned honesty, like a dealer saying "we are terribly sorry, we have made a mistake, and will remedy it at our cost"  If they did that, the customer would be sure to tell everyone, and it would actually amount to reasonably cheap advertising.   

My sister sent her car to the dealer for some warranty work. While it was there, she asked that the oil be changed.

She sent one of her employee's to pick up the vehicle as she was out of town when it became ready.

They drove it about 10 miles back to her office. At some point on the return trip, the engine began to rattle, and for whatever reason, the employee continued to drive it. As he pulled in to the office lot, the engine stopped and could not be restarted.

A check of the oil dipstick revealed no oil in the engine.

They called the dealer who sent a service tech over. Apparently the drain plug was missing... He put oil in the motor and drove it back to the dealership. They've just called sis and told her that her vehicle is ready for pickup and that nothing is wrong.

It's not a MB, but that shouldn't matter.

I'm thinking they're trying to pull a fast one. Any engine driven without oil long enough to stop, I would think should have seized and not have been restartable. Regardless, if it was low enough on oil to have knocked and stopped, there should be internal damage.

I'm thinking new engine, the dealer is thinking otherwise, so it seems.

What are my sister's options at this point?

I'm thinking she may need to retrieve the vehicle and get an oil analysis done, and possibly some exploratory surgery on the engine to check the state of the main bearings and other moving parts. Those costs will be out of her pocket, I understand.

If she goes to get it, I think she needs to bring a letter for the service manager to sign acknowledging the previous incident and that she is going to get a 2nd opinion as to the possible damage to the vehicle, and that they will be held liable if damage is detected.

Once she picks the vehicle up, without some acknowledgment of the dealer that they're on the hook, they could claim that the damage was done after she retrieved it...

Any suggestions?