W203 C220 Driving Rough When Cold

buzz-1989

New Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2014
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
Kent - England
Your Mercedes
2004 C220 Avantgarde CDI Auto
Hello everyone reading this, I'm new to the forum.

I have a 2004 C220 cdi auto. I've owned my car for about 10 weeks now and I have issues when the car is cold. It starts fine I let it run for a 3/4 minutes, then as I'm driving the car is hesitant especially at lower RPMs, if I put my foot down (I know it isn't a good idea when the car is cold) the hesitation goes away and the car pulls like a train, it seems like the fuel mixture is wrong when the engine is cold. At idle the RPMs fluctuate by about 100rpm, sometimes the RPMs are steady. This happens when cold or warm, its random. When the car reaches around 65-75 degrees C the hesitation disappears and the car drives as it should. I feel the MPG is a little low, on a 30 mile roundtrip (half motorway miles) I can only seem to average 37MPG. I'm by no means heavy footed.

I've replaced few things already that now I feel I shouldn't have bothered replacing but since I've already changed, I guess its eliminated any of those causing the problem.

So far I have checked and changed,

- Glow Plugs and soldered in a fuse into the Glow Plug Relay as one of the links had blown (still getting intermittent glow plug light showing while driving)
- Oil
- Oil Filter
- Air Filter
- Fuel filter
- Replaced a couple of fuel lines they had begun to crack around the clamps
- Auxiliary belt because it was badly cracked
- I've had the gearbox serviced including oil and filter change
- Thermostat and Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor
- MAF sensor
- I Cleaned the EGR valve which wasn't extremely dirty

I use Shell Diesel, I have put though 3 full tanks of Shell V-Power Diesel and no change in performance.

I have Checked as many pipes as I could reach for splits/cracks

I scanned the car with a Bluetooth scan tool and received an error on the throttle position sensor yet the throttle works fine (as far as I'm aware), I tried a plug in scan tool and received no errors whatsoever.

I really hope someone out there can point me in other directions as I've run out of ideas and would rather check possible causes myself than spending another £100+ on a STAR diagnostic although it is an option I'm a bit of a DIYer :D

-James
 
Last edited:

alexanderfoti

MBO Forum Supporter
Authorised Forum Supporter
Joined
Mar 25, 2010
Messages
15,091
Reaction score
6,247
Location
Tonbridge
Your Mercedes
W221 S65 AMG - W204 C63 AMG + Various other MB's
That does seem a bit low on the MPG side.

Error code descriptions are often wrong with aftermarket tools, so I wouldnt put too much attention on the code you have. It does sound like you maybe have an injector that is slightly worn, they tend to show themselves up under light load.

A leak off test will indicate which is which and should help you identify the cause. I would recomend going to an indy for the next step as it will save you cash in the long run.
 
OP
B

buzz-1989

New Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2014
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
Kent - England
Your Mercedes
2004 C220 Avantgarde CDI Auto
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
Thanks for the reply. I did suspect an injector myself but wouldn't that cause the problem whether the engine is cold or hot? I was hoping it wasn't an injector failing. The car has 125k miles, I forgot to mention that. I will have a leak off test done and see if it indicates a worn injector. In advance if it is the problem, does anyone know if there are companies that sell refurbed injectors? I understand injectors don't come cheap.

Thanks
 

alexanderfoti

MBO Forum Supporter
Authorised Forum Supporter
Joined
Mar 25, 2010
Messages
15,091
Reaction score
6,247
Location
Tonbridge
Your Mercedes
W221 S65 AMG - W204 C63 AMG + Various other MB's
Poor spray patterns often show themselves up worse when the engine is cold, then dissapear when hot, althoguh some do the other way round.

There are many companies that sell refurb injectors, around £90 or so. United diesel is a good one.
 
OP
B

buzz-1989

New Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2014
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
Kent - England
Your Mercedes
2004 C220 Avantgarde CDI Auto
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
That doesn't sound too bad at all. I will get the injectors tested and see if any aren't performing. Do you know of any DIY threads on changing injectors? I'm thinking I'll supply the injector(s) and ask my mechanic friend if he can do the work for me. If it does prove to be injector fault that is.
 

mercedes13156

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2005
Messages
1,267
Reaction score
211
Location
West Lothian
Your Mercedes
CLK 200 Cabrio and a Ford Kuga
I've on my second C220 CDi and my fifth Merc Diesel. They all feel like a bucket of bolts when they first fire up on cold mornings and take ages to heat up. It's especially true of older engines with a good few miles on the clock, like mine.

Once they get over the first half mile they start to run like they should. I think it's worth getting the injectors checked though just to be sure.
 

mercedes13156

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2005
Messages
1,267
Reaction score
211
Location
West Lothian
Your Mercedes
CLK 200 Cabrio and a Ford Kuga
Just reading this again, the only thing missing is a couple of bottles of injector cleaner. I'd do this before you start yanking injectors out.
 

Marxs1

Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2015
Messages
19
Reaction score
6
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Your Mercedes
C220 2002 Diesel
Glow plug relay revisit

Hi,
I had changed my glow plugs some time ago, however as the cold of winter approached the car had the rough starts and shakes. I re investigated as I thought it maybe the relay, when I checked if power was getting to the glow plugs there was none. Pulled the relay apart thinking it would be the fusible links, however they were good. After much messing around it was an earth wire near the brake booster that had either been chewed by a mouse or just broken.
I cut the earth wire Brown/White near the connection to the glow plug relay and screwed it to the chassie. Low and behold for the first time since I've had the car I get normal starts when cold and all glow plugs working. Hope this helps someone else.
Cheers.
 

patxi

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2013
Messages
181
Reaction score
4
Location
Berks
Your Mercedes
S212 E350 Estate
Despite saying you have checked the EGR that is what I suspect is your problem. The reason I say this is it is deactivated when the car is warming up and only enabled once full engine temp is achieved.

On my old C220 of the same age I had a different problem - the car would run fine until it reached temperature and then it would put on the orange light and drop into limp mode the first time the throttle was pressed hard.

I solved it by doing the forum-infamous EGR delete

You could try pulling the plug on the EGR to see if there is any difference for the next cold start. It may throw a warning light at you, but if it runs smoothly you know you are on the right track.
 
Last edited:

Taffy7hfa

Senior Member
Joined
May 29, 2016
Messages
1,684
Reaction score
982
Location
Oxford
Your Mercedes
2002 ML 270 CDI,2016 Hyundai1.6 CRDI i30,2014 Peugeot 308 HDI. .6 HDI.
Just reading this again, the only thing missing is a couple of bottles of injector cleaner. I'd do this before you start yanking injectors out.
Good advice , I would definitely try this first.........and push it to the rug for an hour or so.
I had a pug 2.0HDI that was cured by rough treatment in conjunction with generous use of injector cleaner.
 

You lost your key ? Or maybe you need a spare! Your vehicle imobilliser does not respond anymore? WE CAN FIX THEM ALL !! Mobile ! Save Time and Increase Profits With us !
Top Bottom