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Engine code

M157E55DEHLA engine faults.

The listing only gives the engine code.

petrol

fuel

5461 cc

displacement

386–430 kW (525–585 HP)

power

2 fault write-ups. Both are important.

Before you buy

Known faults

2 important faults

Silitec cylinder liner: the ring does not seal on a scored wall

expensive

The cylinder wall is formed by a Silitec liner: a silicon-carbide aluminium surface that is hard and conducts heat well. This material, however, does not cope well with high temperature and occasional detonation, and the cylinder wall becomes scored as a result. The maker finally switched to the Nanoslide coating precisely because of Silitec's cylinder scoring problems.

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On a damaged wall the piston ring does not seal, so oil gets into the combustion chamber: oil consumption rises and compression falls. The wear is reported from 120 000 kilometres, and it is faster the more the engine is run under high load.

The symptom is rising oil consumption and blue smoke under load. The repair involves opening up the engine, because the pistons have to come out to change the rings, and if the wall is already scored, changing the rings alone is not enough.

At a purchase the oil consumption is the measurable sign: ask how much has to be topped up between changes, and ask for a compression or leak-down test.

above 120,000 km

What to check

  • Ask how much oil has to be topped up between changes
  • Watch the exhaust under load: blue smoke means oil burning
  • Ask for a compression or leak-down test: the wear is measurable here
2 more steps in the write-up

Chain tensioner: the engine number decides, not the mileage

expensive

At a cold start a rattle comes from the top of the engine, and it is loudest when the car has stood for hours. The cause is the secondary timing chains slapping until the oil pressure builds up in the tensioner system.

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It is not the mileage that marks out the affected cars but the engine number. The maker issued a service document for this in June 2013, and in it the examples with an engine number below 157 9xx 60 022333 are the affected ones; that runs up to production in December 2012. The engines built after that already received the revised parts.

The repair is a revised secondary chain tensioner, and with it a check valve in the oil supply passage: that holds the pressure with the engine stopped, so the tensioner gets oil sooner at start-up. The engine does not have to come out, but the work takes more than a day and costs between 3000 and 4000 pounds. On some cars the maker carried it out under warranty.

According to owners the rattle was not followed by engine damage, and there were cases where it did not get louder in six years. That does not change the fact that the revised part is the right direction, and at a purchase the question is simple: is there an invoice for it.

What to check

  • Start it cold and stand next to the car: the rattle is audible from outside, perhaps not from the driver's seat
  • Ask when it last stood for hours: that is when it is loudest
  • Check the engine number: the examples below 157 9xx 60 022333 are the affected ones
2 more steps in the write-up

Engine code

Factory data

Factory data

Engine family
—
Fuel
petrol
Displacement
5461 cc
Power
386–430 kW (525–585 HP)
Production
—

Generations

Which models it is fitted to

1 generations.

Information, not an expert opinion

We write the descriptions, and we put the source next to them. A person reviews them before they go out. They are still information, not a technical expert opinion.

  • A fault on the list does not mean the car you are looking at has it.
  • A fault missing from the list does not mean the model is fault-free. Write-ups are made model by model. Not all of them are done.
  • You decide whether to buy. This is no substitute for an inspection. That needs a workshop and a history check.
Details in the terms