no kick down, low on power!

[SamML270]

Hi all,

Decided to take the ml for a drive yesterday and its not good news.

Was taking it easy until she warmed up then when I tried to pick up some speed, there was nothing! There was no kick down, no power, but didn't see any smoke either.

I can manually select gears but still feels like there is no power. While In auto mode gear box Is changing and you can feel it wanting to go but for some reason it changed gears very early and goes very slow. Revs will go up very slowly. I don't know what to do
Can anyone please share some advise. Has anyone had similar syptoms before?

 

[SamML270]

Also there is no warning lights on dash

 

[SamML270]

Iv just taken the car out this morning and it feels as if there was never a problem. Kick down and power are back to normal. I'm not complaining but it is wierd and worrying

 

[mersum1es]

Faulty MAF is always a good guess, but I would get the codes first (though I'm amazed how expensive code reading is in UK) cause there could be manymany other reasons too...

 

[panason1c]

maf is my first thought....£65 from mercedes, 5 minutes to fit.

 

[horgantrevor]

If you have access to a star machine get the fault codes and confirm the tempory fault it should be stored

Lets hope it's a easy fix

 

[Tinkerer]

If it has been stood for a while low battery voltage could be the culprit especially as it seemed OK after a run.

 

[SamML270]

Iv taken it out a few times over the weekend and the fault is intermittent. In some cases the car runs perfectly then some cases it happens from starting the car with no kick down and low power. I also had it once where the car was fine then the problem started during the drive, but again later it stopped. The car is used almost everyday, probably sits max for 24 hours without use. I do have a dodgy accelerator pedal but I doubt this could cause this sort of issue? I'll be sorting that out this weekend though.

Seems like il have to get it on a diagnostic machine soon. not sure if a fault code would be present if this is an intermittent issue

 

[Tinkerer]

Mine is a 2001 and it has stored faults on throttle transducer, MAF and EGR so I would have thought that yours should. Any one of these can give the symptoms that you describe so getting it on diagnostics should be the cheapest option.

 

[SamML270]

Thanks Tinkerer Il get it over to my local indy with a star machine and get it conected. Il report back with the findings.

 

[APTinUK]

Any news on your fault

Been tinkering today.
I think I have been sidetracked for months by noting that my fuel filter is always almost empty, just 20 mm of fuel in the bottom of the housing.
Luckily my journey to work is about 15 miles on dual carriageway and when my 320cdi estate gets into top gear it will rev ok as opposed 2000 rpm in the lower gears.
At the end of last summer I fitted clear fuel pipes so I can see what is happening, fuel was aerating when I revved it, and when switching off air bubbles came from the filter housing clearing the fuel feed pipe.
I fitted another fuel filter and cap seal, Mercedes filter this time as i had changed it before with one from the local factors, still the same.
I also pressure tested the fuel lines from tank to filter housing up to 15 psi with no leaks.
I've been fooled because if I filled the housing up with fuel then it would go like the Mallard for a few miles but would then default to 2000 rpm in the gears again.
I need the power to pull my twin axle caravan though, so I did what any sensible person would do, and swapped my winter playing about in Frontera for a V8 grand cherokee , it's running on LPG so not too bad at 24mpg price wise .
The other day I put a tee from the return into the feed pipe as there seemed to be quite a lot returning to the tank, and went a cruise round and it revved again, I thought I had cracked it. But next day it was back to normal .
So today I rigged up a 12v fuel pump on the feed and revved it , no aerating in the feed and fuel housing full when I checked it, surely this would crack it
NO
Last year I had the codes read and fitted the EGR shunt and blanked it off.
Also fitted a new MAF sensor.
I took it to another place for a code read and ended up fitting another MAF sensor.
I don't have much confidence in the indies I've been to, they just tell you to fit new parts which I suppose cures most faults, but I'm not having much luck .
My family roll their eyes when I'm outside with the bonnet up yet again, and tell me to get a car that works , if it was any other car I would, but I just love this car when it's working right.
Anyway sorry to go on, I was only going to put "any news".
Should have posted my own thread but I don't fancy typing all this again and I don't know how to copy and paste on an iPad
Sorry again for the hijack
Andy T.

 

[nigel cross]

AptinUk
Where abouts are you?
So we can point you in the right direction.

 

[APTinUK]

I'm about 10 miles from Donington Park in sunny Derbyshire.
Thanks for replying so soon.
Andy T

 

[SamML270]

Well I have had the maf replaced and at first it seemed the problem had completely gone. It is still happening although much less frequent now. Any suggestions on what to try next?

Iv had the car on diagnostics previously and no fault codes are stored it seems

 

[BlackC55]

You need to put it on a Star.

 

[BlackC55]

Could it be a blocked cat?

 

[sinewave]

Could it be a blocked cat?

 

[SamML270]

Lol I hope not! That will be a big expense. What the usual charge for getting it on star diagnostics?
My local merc specialist was saying its about £100 odd

 

[bolide]

What the usual charge for getting it on star diagnostics?
My local merc specialist was saying its about £100 odd

It'll be less than you've spent so far not solving the problem

Nick Froome

 

[evdok]

Could be what i encountered yesterday, error code P0105 (map sensor)