Soot in exhaust?

[Madferrit]

Gave my 220 CDi w210 to "Mercs Only" for a B service and a few other bits. When i got the car back it was running very very slow. Barely got above 30 and thats at full throttle

Called them up and they said it might be the turbo. So i took the car back and they kept it another day only to be told that there is "soot in the exhaust" and what i need to do take it onto a long drive and "thrash the engine a bit"

Are they talking a load of c*@p or is there some sense in what they're saying.

A full write up of my experience with them will be done in a few days

 

[jgevers]

I have seen failing diesel cats that block the exhaust. If gas can't get out at the back, there is no space for air at the front.

regards,

Job

 

[Shude]

I have seen failing diesel cats that block the exhaust. If gas can't get out at the back, there is no space for air at the front.

If the exhaust is blocked the turbo probably won't spin up either

 

[Satch]

Soot in the exhaust of a diesel eh? What a surprise.

It is a question of how much and where. If you cannot get the engine revs up then obviously not able to blow it out! But it has to be a mighty amount of soot or a blocked Cat. to cause that kind of problem.

Maybe some other kind of blockage like a collapsed baffle in the exhaust?

Ask them to be more specific. If they cannot then I would suspect it is BS.

 

[jimmy]

Sounds like a big dollop of BS to me.

I take it the car was Ok before you took it into them?

Sounds like it has gone into 'limp' mode, maybe a sensor gone faulty.

Is the engine making an unusual noise, louder than before? It could be the pipework from the turbo to the intercooler and onto the inlet manifold has been disturber, the engine will sound much noisier if this is the case and will impair performance.

I doubt a blocked cat or exhaust could happen overnight. All diesels have soot in the exhaust.

 

[glojo]

Gave my 220 CDi w210 to "Mercs Only" for a B service and a few other bits. When i got the car back it was running very very slow. Barely got above 30 and thats at full throttle

Is this one of our so called 'specialists\independants' or a main dealer?

To me their suggestion is flawed right at the basic level. How can you 'thrash it' when you claim you can only 'barely get above 30mph'!!!!

I am NOT criticizing you, I am saying pooh to them. The problem sounds one of fuel starvation or as jimmy suggest limp home mode (would a warning come on for this)

Giving a diesel the occassional short 'thrash' certainly helps clear the tubes, but if you cannot give it the oomphh to clear them, then clearly there is a problem.

If the car was working perfectly before it went in, then there is a problem.

It could even be something like muck in the fuel line.

Good luck,
John

 

[Madferrit]

Sounds like a big dollop of BS to me.

I take it the car was Ok before you took it into them?

Sounds like it has gone into 'limp' mode, maybe a sensor gone faulty.

Is the engine making an unusual noise, louder than before? It could be the pipework from the turbo to the intercooler and onto the inlet manifold has been disturber, the engine will sound much noisier if this is the case and will impair performance.

I doubt a blocked cat or exhaust could happen overnight. All diesels have soot in the exhaust.

There was no unusual noise at all before i took it to them and the problem only became apparent when i took it out of traffic and onto an open road (by this time i was almost home)

'limp mode' sounds like what i could be, but the dash hasn't shown any kind of error. Should i get any kind of error??.. perhaps something on the lines of, "you're better off walking home, please park your vehicle asap"

 

[Madferrit]

Is this one of our so called 'specialists\independants' or a main dealer?

To me their suggestion is flawed right at the basic level. How can you 'thrash it' when you claim you can only 'barely get above 30mph'!!!!

I am NOT criticizing you, I am saying pooh to them. The problem sounds one of fuel starvation or as jimmy suggest limp home mode (would a warning come on for this)

Giving a diesel the occassional short 'thrash' certainly helps clear the tubes, but if you cannot give it the oomphh to clear them, then clearly there is a problem.

If the car was working perfectly before it went in, then there is a problem.

It could even be something like muck in the fuel line.

Good luck,
John

This isn't a dealer but a so called independant. I'm seriously regretting not going to George Fraser on this occasion.

As mentioned above, the car was driving well before this problem. I'm not impressed with this garage at all, and will do a write up over this weekend, depending on their actions today.

 

[jgevers]

I would expect that if exhaust is clear of blockages, that at time of service, a hose or something has been left off, so that the incoming air is not passing the air mass sensor or the vacuum does not get to the capsule on the turbo for boost adjustment. I would expect it to be something silly and simple.

Regards,

Job

 

[jimmy]

I am not sure if you will get a warning light or not. I recently had a MAP sensor go down, no warning lights just lack of power, felt like I had no turbo as the ECU could not detect that the turbo was blowing air into the engine, the fault did show on the diagnostics computer though.

 

[Madferrit]

Further more from my problem last week, i got the car back and they had changed the EGR Vacuum Valve. Not sure what that is but it seems to have made a difference.

I reluctantly paid for the part which was £55.94 ex vat but they didn't charge labour.

Had to take the car to Calais yesterday and "put my foot down" as they said i should. Didn't seem to notice too much difference compared to before the car went into the workshop, but its running smoother and faster than it was prior to this valve being fitted.

Anyone know what this valve is and should it have made the difference they claim?

 

[jgevers]

Further more from my problem last week, i got the car back and they had changed the EGR Vacuum Valve. Not sure what that is but it seems to have made a difference.

I reluctantly paid for the part which was £55.94 ex vat but they didn't charge labour.

Had to take the car to Calais yesterday and "put my foot down" as they said i should. Didn't seem to notice too much difference compared to before the car went into the workshop, but its running smoother and faster than it was prior to this valve being fitted.

Anyone know what this valve is and should it have made the difference they claim?

The EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve allows some of the exhaust gases to be let back into the inlet manifold for emission purposes. The valve is operated by a vacuum capsule that is by vacuum from the vacuum pump through a solenoid. The solenoid is switched by the engine ECU either allowing vacuum to the capsule or not.

Although EGR valves have a habit of getting clogged with soot allowing some leakeage, resulting in more smoke from the exhaust, the vacuum capsule is not prone for failure.

Being a silly Dutchman, I would ask for the old vacuum capsule back and see if it holds vacuum. If it turns out that they refer to the solenoid, I would check that it was properly faulty.

Normally, when these items fail, you get some driveability issues and more smoke, but I have not experienced lack of performance as much as not being able to get past 30 mph.

regards,

Job

 

[Madferrit]

Funnily enough, they actually give the parts they take out (like this valve) back to you. But, i have no clue how i'm going to check if the part works or not

 

[jgevers]

Does it have an electrical connection?

 

[Madferrit]

Sorry it took so long to get back, its just that i was looking for the part all over, and my brother (in a weekend clean up) decided to throw it out!

Anyways.. from what i remember, the part was like a little black box with short little bits sticking out, which i imagine would connect to a pipe of some sort. I don't remember any electrical connections to it, though i may be mistaken.

 

[jgevers]

Sorry it took so long to get back, its just that i was looking for the part all over, and my brother (in a weekend clean up) decided to throw it out!

Anyways.. from what i remember, the part was like a little black box with short little bits sticking out, which i imagine would connect to a pipe of some sort. I don't remember any electrical connections to it, though i may be mistaken.

Sounds like the egr solenoid. Not the most common for going faulty. I would expect that in reality a loose vacuum hose will have been the problem that will have allowed vacuum loss to various things including turbo boost control.

regards,

Job

 

[Madferrit]

And so this story continues; (not having much luck with any of my mercs these days)

I had the car back at Mercs Only today. Dropping it off this morning i told them that there were two main issues; 1 - the car doesn't have any power below 1800 revs.. and then suddenly comes to life and shoots off. 2 - I'm only achieving around 25mpg at best since they gave it back to me. For a 200cdi, which was just serviced.. its just not on!

One of the owners tries a story, that he's going to drop the exhaust box and run the car to see if the exhaust is full of soot. If it runs ok then he knows where the problem lies. I'm a little reluctant, since the problem was not there before the service. Anyway, i leave the car with him and get a call to collect the car at 4pm.

I go down with my brother at 5pm and the car is still on the ramp. He calls us over to show us a small 'S' shaped pipe had a leaking metal seal, and that he "had" to replace it. I asked him if it made any difference on the two problems, and he said "no". He asks us to take the car for a quick drive.. and when we return.. the problems are still imminent. He's decided to keep the car another day and hook it up to the computer.

The final conversation was that the intercooler was blocked somewhere, thus not letting the air through. What gets me is that none of this was present before the service and only has come up since getting the car back from them. I'm not prepared to pay a penny more to these guys.. and would prefer to take it to George Fraser.

Any suggestions what else the problem might be? or what else i could do to rectify the issues at hand?

 

[gurpsingh]

Mercs only..

Hello..

Just wondering what the final resultof their f*** up was?

I got an error light - check engine, on my dash and diagnostics is telling me its error P0410 - secondary air injection system. So, I call mercs only after hearing them on clubasia & the bloke on the other end laughs and says he knows exactly whats wrong with my car.
Wouldn't tell me at first but them had a change of mind..

Apparently its an air injection valve and its a common problem with mercs. He wants £60 quid an hour labour (3 hour job) and the part he said would be about £50ish..

After your experience with mercs only, should I take mine their???



Cheers

G

 

[wobbly]

Hello..

Just wondering what the final resultof their f*** up was?

I got an error light - check engine, on my dash and diagnostics is telling me its error P0410 - secondary air injection system. So, I call mercs only after hearing them on clubasia & the bloke on the other end laughs and says he knows exactly whats wrong with my car.
Wouldn't tell me at first but them had a change of mind..

Apparently its an air injection valve and its a common problem with mercs. He wants £60 quid an hour labour (3 hour job) and the part he said would be about £50ish..

After your experience with mercs only, should I take mine their???



Cheers

G

No,

Do a search on here for Mercs Only,or Hanwell where they are located,not the best reputation.

There was a thread a few months ago, of how they missed a large hole in the diff, they said they had inspected it and it was ok.

I used once, never again.