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Mercury Platinum Policy – Won’t pay for weep hole/crossover pipe gasket repair

11K views 29 replies 19 participants last post by  1bad540 
#1 ·
Hello Group… I’m new to the forum with a recently purchased 2002 754Li with 48,000 miles on it. Well, everyone said get and warranty and the Mercury Platinum policy seemed to come highly recommended, so I purchased one.

Now I have the dreaded crossover pipe gasket failure with coolant leaking out of the weep hole like a sieve. I have the car towed to local dealership to have it repaired and I am told by the SA that they (Mercury) will not honor their warranty. They say that it is excluded that this falls under hoses, lines and fittings.

The manager and SA are still slugging it out with them to get them do the right thing. It’s very obvious that this is not a hose, line or fitting. It’s a component INSIDE the engine.

Has anyone else had this problem with Mercury? Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.
 
#2 ·
:eek: i have mercury extended warranty and i got in the car this morning and got a low coolant message when i started it. car did not sound good once it turned over. noticed leak under the car - almost certain its coolant. if it is indeed the dreaded crossover pipe gasket failure with coolant leaking out the weep hole, approx where underneath the car does the coolant drip from? let us know what happens w/ mercury. i got an appt this monday. this is most likely the last straw for me. car has under 30k on the clock and is already on its last leg:rofl:
 
#3 ·
I'm sorry to hear this! This is a 30 to 50 hour repair depending on the method used to do the job.

As far as the area it leaks from, it all puddles up in the center front of the engine. It’s Hard to see the exact location on the engine. Here are some pictures I found on the forum that shows the problem area.

Hopefully, you may have a more benign problem with hoses, radiator or coolant expansion tank that is leaking and a lot less serious to fix and far cheaper to repair this.

Is your policy the Mercury “Platinum”?
 

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#4 ·
I'm sorry to hear this! This is a 30 to 50 hour repair depending on the method used to do the job.

As far as the area it leaks from, it all puddles up in the center front of the engine. It's Hard to see the exact location on the engine. Here are some pictures I found on the forum that shows the problem area.

Hopefully, you may have a more benign problem with hoses, radiator or coolant expansion tank that is leaking and a lot less serious to fix and far cheaper to repair this.

Is your policy the Mercury "Platinum"?
Did they give you an estimate/quote for the repair? Btw, I hope they cover it!
 
#6 ·
Man I feel for you.......this must suck.....keep us up to date on what happens.
 
#8 ·
#9 ·
sorry to hear about your troubles fellas... its amazing how many people are coming to the board with similar issues... i'm glad to say that in my days of ownership, i did not experience this, as it seems to be a major pain in the arse... keep us up to date and let us know what happens....
 
#10 ·
Having been there myself, I'm *truly* sorry to hear about this and at 48K miles nonetheless! I don't know what others think, but I hope BMW is listening to the threads on this issue. My car had this problem at 78K and I know one other person that had the problem at 55K. In my case, the car had just gone out of warranty and BMW NA refused to cover it.

It seems this type of prevalent issue should be addressed by BMW.
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thank you all for your sentiments regarding my misfortune.

I called Mercury on Saturday and spoke with one of their staff and was told that the repair was declined due to the problem being a damaged hose! This is something not covered by the policy but was in no way what was wrong with the vehicle and I'm sure my SA gave them a proper description and detailed quote of what was needed to repair the problem.

I asked for the claim denial in writing with the stipulations in the contract that the denial was based on. I was told to fax in a request to another fellow that would be in the office Monday and that he would respond to my request.

I faxed them a nice letter describing the events and sent pictures found on this site along with an exploded diagram of the top end of the engine with the o-ring and parts in question and ask how this could be denied.

Well, I received a call on my voice mail first thing this morning saying that I needed to authorize the teardown of the engine and that they would send an agent to verify the claim and validate the damage that the claim is based on. I have every expectation that they will now honor their policy and that I will be back on the road soon.

I'll let you guys know the final results as they transpire.

Again, thank you all for your input.
 
#15 ·
If they will not fix it, cancel warranty and use the money to get it repaired. It will be a temporary bandage. I have fluid (oil possibly) dripping from the front driver side. I had it fixed under warranty but not sure exactly what it was. I was told it was something with the weep hole. I find out tomorrow. Since its still leakinga nd I am out of my warranty, they are still honoring it!
 
#17 ·
Verdict is........................Hammered:eek:uch:
 
#20 ·
got my car back today after nearly 2 weeks. i liked the 3 series they gave me but glad to be back in the 7. the leak wasn't coming from the treacherous weep hole. my water pump went bad. they replaced that along with both shocks for the trunk lid. it wouldn't stay open and its come down on my head a few times in the past year. i also had the dynamic stability control error cleared out and they of course power steering never went out on the tech during test drive. anyway, bill was $1400 and mercury ate the entire bill.
 
#22 ·
Hello Group,

Only today do i have any complete answers. The car is still at the shop with a bill of about $7000.00 for the repair that Mercury said will pay. My SA said there is about 13 hours that they will not cover that he wants to pass to me! I had my brakes also he said the total cost to me is about $3000.00 (WTF!). I think I'm going to talk to them about BMW USA eating the difference on the hours. How many hours and how much should this cost to repair? What is customary?

Thanks again.
 
#27 ·
Coolant leak

Hi there jswing..I had the same issue with my 2002 745i last year. It was always leaking coolant on and off for around a year.. Had water pump replaced, expansion tanks and some hoses and it was still leaking..They then found out the center coolant pipe is leaking, which is located inside the engine.. My warranty expired on March 2008 and was 6 months out of warranty..Fortunately, the service manager at Century West has a good relationship with their BMW rep and was able to convince BMWNA to pay 75% of the bill and I ended up only paying around $ 1,000.00 which was even less than the $ 1,400.00 that I was quoted ...Parts was only around $ 170.00 and the rest was all labor..So far everything has been running good..It's been 5 months that I haven;t seen my service advisor, and hope I don;t see him for the rest of the year...
 
#23 ·
Not sure if this will help, but I had a crossover pipe issue on my 2002 and they had to remove the engine and drop the exhaust completely out of the car. After it was towed and they told me it was a big job and would take a week, I went down to grab some crap out of the car and I could not believe how disassembled the car was. I thought for sure it would never be the same and I would have issues. All was good. SA told me it was a $6000 job billed to BMW.
 
#24 ·
jswing-i noticed that you are in so.cal and there is a specific law on obtaining warranty in california, did you use an out of state address?

I have a 04 with about 74K on it and my CPO warranty and maintenance will expire in 12/09. If I do want to purchase additional warranty I must do it NOW while it is under 80K miles. Is it worth it to get the warranty?
 
#25 ·
jswing-i noticed that you are in so.cal and there is a specific law on obtaining warranty in california, did you use an out of state address?

I have a 04 with about 74K on it and my CPO warranty and maintenance will expire in 12/09. If I do want to purchase additional warranty I must do it NOW while it is under 80K miles. Is it worth it to get the warranty?
How many times has your car been in service since you have had it?
 
#28 ·
have any of you ever tride Steel Seal to solve coolant leaks and blown head gasket. I have a 2002 745i and i have had to replace gas tank, hydraulic system, drive shaft and a head job about a year ago. I told the BMW dealership that i think the car is over heating, they check it out and concluded that the heads need to be done, so they did that but i was still hearing this knocking noise when i had it in drive at the Mc a dee's drive thru. Now i think i have a blown head gasket with an antifreez leek. I am so sick of this car. with a bad economy I don't want to spend to much on this car anymore. Have any of you ever heard of "Steel Seal". It is supposed to seal up any leaks in the cooing system including blown head gasket's. I called the company and told them that i had a 745 BMW and they said no problem it will fix any leaks. the web site is steelseal.com. check it out and let me know what u guys think. they have lots of auto shops on there web site that use the product or has used the product around the country and it seems like most have not had a problem with steel seal. Kind of concerned about corrosion of parts, this product cost $90.00 if you have heard of it let me know what u think.

thanks
 
#29 ·
that sounds like a patch repair before you trade a car in! not something I would want to do and then continue driving myself!
 
#30 ·
^^ agree.
 
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