W203 C200 CDI Won't start when cold, light performance issues.

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dduddy

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Joined
Dec 15, 2014
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2
Car
W203 C200 CDI
Hi folks!

First post on this forum. Have been lurking for quite some time and have to congratulate you all on a wonderful and helpful forum!

Had to register to post my problem, have seen similar threads but thought I'd start my own and see if I can get any joy/help! (Apologies to mods/admin in advance if duplicated or similar threads are a breach of site ettiquete.)


Have my W203 C200 CDI estate now for over 8 months and up until this point it has been a dream to own I have to say, especially coming from someone who was no Mercedes fan until I purchased one!

Now to my problem. Car became hard to start towards the end of November with the glow plug light on the dash. Put it down to the cold weather we have here in Germany. I was away on business for a week and when I came back, the car refused to start. Turned over like a champion and then kicked into life after about 15 minutes. When it started it ran fine, which led me to believe that the heater plugs were the problem. Took my car to the local garage and had the heater plugs changed. The mechanic informed me that this was definitely not the solution to my problem. as 3 of the glow plugs were perfectly fine and even with one faulty glow plug, it should still have started right down to the freeze the balls off you temperatures.

He noticed during the glow plug change that the injectors were coated in oil and gunk and is of the opinion that the injectors need changing. However, I hadn't noticed any performance issues or more than average fuel consumption or oil levels which leads me to believe it's due to something else. However, last Friday, the car started after a bit of persuasion after the temperature went into the + degrees, but noticed that evening, a loss of power. Almost like it was in limp home mode but no warning lights on the dash etc. Going to take it to another mechanic to run STAR diagnostics but thought I'd ask around if anyone has any (reassuring) other opinions for me, as the injectors are a costly repair and to be honest if anyone knows the used car market in Germany, it almost makes the car not worth repairing and seeking something else, which I really don't want to do as I've fallen in love with my Benz!

Sorry for the long first post and thanks in advance for any help!
 
Turned out to be 2 injector seals gone. Not an expensive fix in any case.
 
Thanks for the solution.
 

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