El. Power Control Visit Workshop! Epc

[weebobster]

Help needed urgently - just had the above nightmare appear on my screeny

80,000 incident free magic carpet miles with my C220CDi and then ..

.. bam

at about 60mph engine dies, no brakes or power steering (rev counter drops to 0)

and I struggle but get her over to the side safely.

Up on the screen pops

EL. POWER CONTROL VISIT WORKSHOP! EPC

Long story short .. because this happend moments after the 'low fuel' lihjt comes on I walk to a nearby garage and buy one of those green plastic thingys to put diesel in. Backto the car, diesel in and needle goes to just over a quarter tank. Anyway.....gun the engine and evvvventualllllly she catches but sounds real laboured but finally settle down and I decided to make for home. About 10 miles later the same again happens (about 100 yards from home :bannana: ) with everything dying and EL. POWER CONTROL VISIT WORKSHOP! EPC back up on the screen.

A quick 'google' appears to throw up severaal lines of enquiry including a dodgey 'throttle sensor' to a problem with the 'saddleback' design fuel tank (not pumping fuel from one til other).

Anywayyyyyy .. says I .. Ill drop a line to the collective on MBClub UK who have always sorted my woes out before (did I tell u am a complete spanner with all thing mechanical??)

So .. im beggin (and thats not a pretty sight .. think of my kids)

..anyone know what this could be??

Expensive?? (hope not .. im broke) and should I book into my trusted local garage (expert with MB's) or book it into the stealers?

Thanks all xxx

Bob

 

[lynall]

I know nothing about the c220 but switch ign on and stand by the back of the car and see if you can hear the fuel pump running, not sure if in tank or under the floor.



Lynall

 

[aka$h]

Most likely to be a crankshaft position sensor. One the sensor starts to fail, its usually when it gets warm. SO leaving the engine off for a while, will usually cool the sensor a little and allow the car to start. Until is warms up again, then its round 2.

I had an identical expirence on a eclass a short while back, i check the injectors, changed the diesel pipes and the stop valve, only to find it was the crank sensor.

Not a big job, and not too costly either.

 

[weebobster]

aka ... so hope your right mate and I appreciate the 'heads up'.

lynall .. im no expert but im sure I can hear fuel pump running


pleasseeeeee gang x any more feedback??

The garage cant take it in until next Monday so im on the motorbike till then (at least the weather has picked up a wee bit .. well .. you gotta look on the brightside ;-)

thanks again

Bob

 

[Dieselman]

Get the codes read it could be jammed turbo linkage. AFAIK the CPS won't give a code or call EL power control, it just cuts the engine.

 

[jaymanek]

never known the CPS to cut out the engine randomly? normally causes issues at starting?

 

[aka$h]

never known the CPS to cut out the engine randomly? normally causes issues at starting?

CPS definalty does cut the engine out on a diesel, its happened to be more than 5 times.

 

[weebobster]

Car booked into the workshop for Monday .. any other thoughts before they go ripping this and that out needlessly????

 

[weebobster]

UPDATE

Car went in and had the crankshaft sensor replaced and still threw up the same warning as I drove it home so since then I just make sure I never let the car go under a quarter full (for some reason it never throws up a warning until it hits the quarter full level and then like clockwork the warning appears .. go figure)

ANYWAY .. car just failed its MOT for a ' suspension ball joint .. offside, front, rearmost, lower' so booked it into a local independant and after getting this fixed and on the home the car throws up another new warning of Elec Stabil Prog Visit Workshop ESP. Unlike last time the car still appears to drive ok with this fault showing

feck feck feck

whats the problem this time?? any takers?? I love my car and living with the first problem has just become a way of life but now im starting to really work.

Hellpppppp

 

[aka$h]

The ESP fault is most probably a brake light switch, around £10 from MB.

 

[weebobster]

Thanks Aka .. ill get them to fit a new one .. fingers crossed

 

[Robbo]

I'm no expert, but it would seem to me that the brake light switch failing at the same time as your ball joint repair would be too much of a coincidence.

I'd be looking at the offside front wheel where they did the repair. Maybe the garage has damaged the wheel speed sensor or haven't re-connected it?

 

[hygt2]

UPDATE

Car went in and had the crankshaft sensor replaced and still threw up the same warning as I drove it home so since then I just make sure I never let the car go under a quarter full (for some reason it never throws up a warning until it hits the quarter full level and then like clockwork the warning appears .. go figure)

ANYWAY .. car just failed its MOT for a ' suspension ball joint .. offside, front, rearmost, lower' so booked it into a local independant and after getting this fixed and on the home the car throws up another new warning of Elec Stabil Prog Visit Workshop ESP. Unlike last time the car still appears to drive ok with this fault showing

feck feck feck

whats the problem this time?? any takers?? I love my car and living with the first problem has just become a way of life but now im starting to really work.

Hellpppppp

The same thing happened to me when I was driving on fumes in central London. The car was driven for about 5 miles with the needle on "E" and range on "0 miles". I usually filled up at Shell so I put in £5 at Texaco and drove another 15 miles before brimming the tank at Shell the next day.

On the first uphill motorway run on M11 out of London the EPC fault came on. Then it came on again on another uphill part of A40 on the way back to London. Both times were speed above 60mph and I was holding about 2/3 throttle open continuously.

I googled the fault and it appeared that I have blocked the fuel filter. Since the filter was last changed in Jan 07 and about 60k ago, I thought I should change it anyway. The used fuel filter with the diesel drained turned out to weigh about twice as much as the new filter so I can the filter was passed it anyway.

A week on and the EPC warning has not returned so fingers cross.

 

[weebobster]

HOLD THE BUS:bannana:

The ESP problem was due to the wonky wheel alignment following the suspension ball joint replacement. To be fair when I rang the garage (an independent who I always use because I trust them) they told me that it probably needed a wheel realignment following their work. Took the car to a tyre place, they adjusted the alignment (for £13 .. bargin or what ) and after I spun the wheel lock to lock and back to centre (this apparentlyresets the sensor or somfing ) and hey presto .. no ESP warning

sooooo .. now only the quarter tank/El Power Control issue to sort and my 'magic carpet' will be good to go

 

[BlackC55]

It will probably be a lack of fuel pressure causing your problem. Get the fault codes read first by a specialist with a Star.

 

[weebobster]

It will probably be a lack of fuel pressure causing your problem. Get the fault codes read first by a specialist with a Star.

if it is a lack of fuel pressure what would the repair be? a new fuel pump? is that expensive?

thanks again for all the help

 

[BlackC55]

Blocked fuel filter is a possibility.

 

[Robbie T]

Blocked fuel filter is a possibility.

I'd go with this to start with, it's the cheapest part. Then if you still have a problem it could be down to the fuel pump/level senders. They did a modification on these (which escapes me right now) indicating there could be a possible problem.

If you're getting low on fuel, it's a possibility that the remaining fuel is sat in the one side of the tank and not transferring to the pump unit or the pump is struggling to supply, thus starving the engine.

 

[hygt2]

I'd go with this to start with, it's the cheapest part. Then if you still have a problem it could be down to the fuel pump/level senders. They did a modification on these (which escapes me right now) indicating there could be a possible problem.

If you're getting low on fuel, it's a possibility that the remaining fuel is sat in the one side of the tank and not transferring to the pump unit or the pump is struggling to supply, thus starving the engine.

What is the time / mileage interval for the diesel fuel filter change on a W220.125 320CDI engine?

 

[BlackC55]

What is the time / mileage interval for the diesel fuel filter change on a W220.125 320CDI engine?

Have a look in the service book as it is in there.