E220cdi w210 nightmare...

[Ian Hunt]

Hello all - hope someone here may have an idea.......

A few days ago I pulled out on an A road to overtake a couple of slow cars & there was suddenly no power. I was doing 60ish. Subsequently everything was fine, so I convinced myself I'd imagined it/it was a steep hill/ etc etc etc.
Then driving home a couple of days ago, after an hour or so of driving, the power really went. I found the engine not revving over about 2000, no acceleration, crawling up hills (I live in the Peak District). I pulled into a layby & turned off the ignition. No malfunction reported.
I tried to start the engine, starter turned it over but nothing... left it a while, tried again & the same. Repeated over a space of 20 mins or so. I then phoned the AA. Whilst waiting for them I tried it again & it started as if nothing was wrong; I pulled out to drive the last 15 miles or so home & all seemed normal. Then back to the 2000 revs max, no power thing again.. then all seemed fine, then faulty again, then fine, then .. etc.
I've taken it out a couple of times since on short local runs & all seems ok. But I've not taken it on a longer or faster run since that time.. Planning to tonight though...

Do any of you have a clue what migt be going on?

I'd normally just drop it into a dealer or indi for them to have a look at but as I'm recently redundant, baby due any minute & it's Xmas, it just isn't an option at this moment.....

All ideas & help much appreciated.

Thanks
Ian

 

[Ian Hunt]

Oh yeah - It's a y2k, with only about 65k on the clock...

 

[Shaun's C280]

Take off and clean up your MAF sensor, that would be a start, sound like it could be on its way out.
I am sure someone like DM will bne along shortly to give you a fountain of knowledge
Intermittent probs are always difficult to nail down.

 

[smiddyboy1]

I had a similar problem with my W203, turned out the Cat was blocked and the car was going into "Limp mode" as it had sensed there was something wrong.
It too was ok for a short while after I had restarted but would go back into limp mode until it was re-started.
I'm sure there is many reasons for the car to into this mode, but fault codes would be stored and it would be better getting them read rather than guessing all day long, as it could get expensive changing parts that don't actually need replacing.

 

[Shaun's C280]

Spot on advice

 

[franey]

......some more possibles:

Fuel rail pressure switch, leaking injectors, crank sensor.

Obviously some fault codes would point you in the right direction.

 

[Dieselman]

The losing power would indicate either limp home mode or the Maf sensor is duff.
Limp home is normally brought on by sticking EGR valve, manifold resonance flaps or turbo actuator.

The not restarting doesn't tally with any of those items and points more towards poor fuel supply. Check the fuel feed pipes for air leaks and the filter for dirt.

If you don't find a simple fix you will need the codes read.

If you have time to wait for it buy a code reader as you should have an OBDII socket near the bonnet release lever.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Maf sensor is duff.

I dont know jack about engines, but I thought Diesels didnt have MAFs?

 

[Shaun's C280]

They certainly do, I had a Galaxy TDi that had one go duff.

Its an air flow sensor - Mass Air Flow.

In a nutshell:
It is used to find out the mass of air entering a fuel-injected engine. The air mass information is necessary for the ECU to balance and deliver the correct fuel mass to the engine.

 

[Ian Hunt]

Thanks guys.
Wouldn't these normally show up as a malfunction? Dash still reads 'no malfunction' & has all the way through....

 

[Dieselman]

No, but a code will be stored.

 

[Nobby Clarke]

Earlier this year I had terrible problems with my 2002 E320CDI with the engine continually switching into safe mode. Very similar symtoms to those that you describe. It also gave out a lot of smake and soot in the engine compartment and smelt terrible. My local mechanic eventually traced the problem to a stuck EGR valve. The problem was caused by a build up of carbon on the bore of the valve causing the plunger to stick. He opened up the valve and with the use of a cleaning fluid and pushing the plunger backwards and forwards managed to free it up. It has worked perfectly since then. Dieselman has also suggested this a possible cause. I would check it out.

 

[Ian Hunt]

Just a quick update to this. Finally got it into the garage (delayed by the arrival of new baby etc.), having limped around at 2000 revs for a month. Error code revealed loss of communication between the cam & crank sensors. It turned out to be the cam sensor, now replaced & it's running perfectly again. Thanks go to Pete & Vicky at Merx in Stoke on Trent.