E320 starting problems

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PR1

Active Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2013
Messages
61
Car
E320 cdi
Hi, I have a 54 e320 s211 which is causing me quite a headache. I have a recurring fault where I get esp and abs warnings and the glow plug light wont come on and the car wont crank over. This has happened several times over the last couple of years. The AA have been out to it some of these times and have not managed to start it. They plug in the diagnostic machine but the car will not talk to them! I once sorted it by disconnecting the battery for a while, but this has only worked once. It has been to mb but has always started working again before they look at it!!. Happened again last week and this time was still broken when it got there, they said the ecu would not talk to the sam unit, so the sam has been replaced. I have had it back one day only and has broken down again. this time there are also coolent warnings, srs, and although it wont start there is a click or clunk but still wont crank!! I had an unrelated fault that turned out to be a soldered joint in the loom that had corroded, is my wiring falling to bits? Any ideas would be great. thanks
 
Well it has decided to start working again, with no one having touched it! I guess by the lack of reply's that you are all as stumped as me?
 
I have spent thousands on this car and have had enough, I see a BMW in my not too distant future. Any one want to buy a cheap estate?
 
I'll give ya £500 for it :D

On a serious note, sorry to hear of your bad luck with this. It's a shame because the W211 E320 CDI is a great car. Unfortunately it seems you have been misguided and not been given a proper diagnosis, hence the re-occurring faults. Replacing a SAM is not cheap and throwing parts at it (not your fault) is not a good idea. The first thing that should be sorted is why the diag port doesn't work properly. It needs to go to a decent indy who knows what they are doing. Where are you based?
 
Im on the south coast near hastings
 
So thought i would post an update. Not used the car much for much for a while, but decided to have one more go at it. The last time it failed, would not restart even after leaving a few days. Charged the battery and then started fine all back to normal. Replaced both battery's and worked fine for a couple of days, then same fault again! This time i was armed with a code reader and this is what came up. 53F0 communication with control unit Engine management is sporadically disturbed. 4A30 Engine control module not identified or incorrect control module . plus a P2311 and p2312. Did try to clear codes but didnt help, left it for a few hours and it started fine!!!
 
Check fuses in ecu box and any cables which connect to can bus anywhere in the car. A common battery drain on w210 is a failing or failed seat switch in door panel. Ive had ecu fuses go as well as seat switch. Could even be alternator. Draining a new battery to very low voltage regularly will kill it in no time.

If your car won't go to sleep because can bus is staying live it will drain battery. Give forums a search on how to test resting voltage and after how long your car should go to sleep and what the resting voltage should be durining sleep.
 
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