2002 Mercedes-Benz S600 Engine cooling Problems
- Complaints
- 5about this part
- Share
- 45%of 11 total for the year
- Median mileage
- 76,808miles
- Trend
- Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.
NHTSA recorded 5 complaints about the engine cooling of the 2002 Mercedes-Benz S600, 45% of the 11 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 76,808 miles.
Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.
Example complaints
Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
“Massive oil leak. I have been told that it's everything from oil pressure valves to the oil cooler. Mb... What's the problem?? I need help and none of the san diego mb dealers can fix properly.”
NHTSA complaint #10435223, filed 2011-11, 55,615 miles“The mercedes S600 has a design flaw that causes a major oil leak from the oil cooler that is embedded inside the engine. This requires the intake and heads to be removed to replace the oil cooler at a cost of approximately $5k. Special care must be taken to clean the oil from the wiring harness, transmission and areas that has been soaked by the oil leak. This problem seems to re-occur every 50-100k miles. As a known problem, mercedes has not assumed any responsibility for this problem.”
NHTSA complaint #10229469, filed 2008-06, 118,500 miles“Oil cooler leak on my 2002 S600, and I found out that this a very common problem on these cars (2000-2002 v12 engines) and a very expensive repair that mercedes benz should cover or at least a large percentage of the repair. I just found out about your website so I decided to file a complaint. I took the car to the mercedes benz dealer and they diagnosed it and said the rear main seal needed to be replaced. …”
NHTSA complaint #10239514, filed 2008-08“The contact owns a 2002 Mercedes-Benz S600. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the active body control warning light illuminated, after which the front suspension lowered to the ground, preventing the vehicle from being driven. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the hydro-pneumatic suspension pump and high-pressure hose. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 07V263000 (Suspension, Engine, and Engine Cooling) but the VIN was not included. …”
NHTSA complaint #11600533, filed 2024-07, 98,000 milesRelated service bulletins
- 10033070Dec 16, 2009Xentry (mercedes): engine warning lamp is currently on or was on and a delay fault of the camshaft adjust to current or stored in the engine control unit. Models 171, 203, 209…
- 10028627Dec 15, 2008Mercedes: display in instrument cluster "air suspension" or "abc service required" is displayed in the instrument cluster, the engine wiring harness may have been damaged by the…
Engine cooling: other model years
Other parts of the 2002 Mercedes-Benz S600
← All problems reported for the 2002 Mercedes-Benz S600
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 30, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.
To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology