Newly Purchased Facelift S211 E320CDI enters Limp Mode / judders

[Stocho]

Hi,

I just bought an E320CDI 2006, facelift. It test drove OK, professional Mercedes Specialist inspection, including code reading showed no problems.

I started the car today for the first time since purchase and noticed that there is just no acceleration. It was a real struggle to get the car up to 50mph. Switching the engine off and on "resolved the problem" which I thought was due to cold engine. After that the 45 miles journey was fine.

On the way back the engine was warm, and shortly (within the first 300 meters) after starting the car started to judder and again accelerationwas essentially lost. The problem again was "resolved" by switching of the car and starting again.

In the history of the car glow plugs / relay were replaced twice apparently because of problems of starting from cold. However the second instance this problem occurred the engine was at 80C.

No error messages were at any point displayed on the dashboard.

This is a dangerous fault as entering into limp mode on a motorway or when overtaking could be very dangerous.

Any advice on how to proceed?

 

[davidjpowell]

Is it jumping revs towards the top end of the rev range?

 

[Stocho]

Is it jumping revs towards the top end of the rev range?

When in the limp mode I tried to rev the engine and it would not go above 3.0 - so did not enter the top of the rev range.

 

[davidjpowell]

When in the limp mode I tried to rev the engine and it would not go above 3.0 - so did not enter the top of the rev range.

What were you doing when it started juddering?

 

[Stocho]

What were you doing when it started juddering?

The juddering was on the return leg when the engine was hot. I started from a place just off an empty dual carriageway. So drove about 50 meters at low speed to join the dual carriageway and then floored down to quickly accelerate to 70 mph. Initially I felt strong acceleration but then at about 40-50 mph it started to judder. I eased off and extremely slowly accelerated to about 60 mph, then turned off, switched off the engine, then started the car and drove 45 miles without any problems.

 

[davidjpowell]

I'm by no means an expert and others will be along who are, but it could be the variable vanes on the turbo seizing. New Turbo time.... Needs codes reading as a starting point.

Was it a private or trade sale?

 

[Stocho]

I'm by no means an expert and others will be along who are, but it could be the variable vanes on the turbo seizing. New Turbo time.... Needs codes reading as a starting point.

Was it a private or trade sale?

Private sale, but I took it to an independent Mercedes specialist before buying who read the codes using STAR and apparently there were no problems.

Does it require specialist code readers for Mercedes or would general code readers available from Ebay do? Would the history of going into limp modes and reasons for that be stored or does it only show current problems?

 

[Merlin The Benz]

Hi sounds very similar to a problem I had.. again an 06 320... accelerating hard the car would loose power then come back very quickly which manifested itself in a juddering.. which would usually end up dropping into limp home involving a turn off turn back on to clear... mine was a bit intermittent but i could usually get it to happen by driving for 20 mins.. leaving the car for 20mins.. then getting back in and accelerating briskly.... many people looked at it inc dealers... and eventually cured by fitting a new turbo.. even though the turbo had previously been stripped and decoked.... took me taking a video of the tacho while the fault was happening for the Merc chaps to figure out the problem. I don't think the Stars system was giving them any clues before....

 

[bob6600]

Would the history of going into limp modes and reasons for that be stored or does it only show current problems?

If there were codes then your specialist should have picked them up as stored codes, providing the fault has previously been there of course.

 

[Stocho]

Hi sounds very similar to a problem I had.. again an 06 320... accelerating hard the car would loose power then come back very quickly which manifested itself in a juddering.. which would usually end up dropping into limp home involving a turn off turn back on to clear... mine was a bit intermittent but i could usually get it to happen by driving for 20 mins.. leaving the car for 20mins.. then getting back in and accelerating briskly.... many people looked at it inc dealers... and eventually cured by fitting a new turbo.. even though the turbo had previously been stripped and decoked.... took me taking a video of the tacho while the fault was happening for the Merc chaps to figure out the problem. I don't think the Stars system was giving them any clues before....

Thanks a lot. How expensive is that?

 

[Merlin The Benz]

My vehicle had the problem from purchase from an indy dealer so I just kept poking them until they got it sorted.. I do know the merc dealer who eventually identified the problem was quoting £2000 to replace the turbo and a few other bits, but the indy garage took it back and put a replacement unit on themselves for much less, although I don't know how much that was... If you look around on the Internet for a replacement turbo you will probably get a good idea.

 

[Stocho]

Is Turbocharger a DIY job? Can all the work done from the top as opposed to getting the car onto ramps / getting under?

Would a turbo from a place like this one (reconditioned but with 36 month warranty) do? GAP Turbos - Turbo repairs, turbo reconditioning and turbo rebuilds, Birmingham UK

UPDATE: Actually, probably, would not consider buying from the above - would regard them as fraudsters as their warranty is by design is a joke for the customer: they are even mentioning oil pump being changed at the same as turbo... So basically their warranty is a joke. Oh yes can't even take them to court - as there are terms about arbitration.

So the question is where to buy a replacement turbo?

 

[THEBAINS1]

Having the same problem with my turbo, this is my second turbo. I had this fitted just over 2 years ago and now is not under warranty.

 

[Stocho]

Having the same problem with my turbo, this is my second turbo. I had this fitted just over 2 years ago and now is not under warranty.

Sounds like engineered to fail, as surely they had plenty of opportunity to improve the design of replacement turbos if the originals turned out to be poorly designed. Making me think whether to keep my very old W210 E300TD on the road.... Is it just turbos that fail so often on facelift W211, or is the hope of keeping it until 17 on the cheap, like I did with my W210, totally unrealistic?

How much did it cist you to replace it and where did you buy the replacement?

If I decide to put up with the problem which currently occurs shortly after starting and is cured by restarting is it likely to deteriorate further?

 

[jaymanek]

I think you are getting a bit ahead of yourself,.. Have you had it diagnosed yet?!

If it is the turbo we have never had a problem with one from Essex Turbo.

 

[Geez1000]

I had the same problem with my e320 Cdi v6. I was told it was the turbo electronic control box on the turbo and I will need a new turbo. Decided to put up with it and about 18 months later, just by chance I was chatting with a colleague who used to work as a mechanic in formula 1, he said it could be the actuator rod sticking. Sprayed a bit of WD40 on the actuator and since then no problems, that was about 8 months ago.