Nightmare!

[Dean Fletcher]

Hi guys,

My indy is having a bit of a nightmare, my car went in needed a new temp sensor last week that was fitted then a day later it's came back up. He now thinks that there could be a wire grounding in the car somewhere for it to be keep going off. He did notice that the plug that connect the wires from the sensor to the ecu was dirty and not fully closed. So he has cleaned that and replugged. Basicly one heat sensor is showing 60 degrees and the other is showing 4 degrees which the later one would be correct. I'm not keen on him taking the car apart to find it if it is loose? Do you have any suggestions or ideas what could be causing the issue. Thanks in advance

 

[Oldspanners]

A dirty and loose plug on the ECU can cause no end of problems and you will certainly need to have that fixed before you can be sure that nothing else is faulty.

 

[Dean Fletcher]

A dirty and loose plug on the ECU can cause no end of problems and you will certainly need to have that fixed before you can be sure that nothing else is faulty.

Hi, the plus has been cleaned and sorted but the car is still throwing out different temperatures. One sensor is reading 8c and the other is reading 120c at the moment and that's from cold start. He tho is there is a rubbed wire somewhere behind the alternator but and would take 2 hours to get to where it needs to be. ??

 

[LostKiwi]

Which sensors are we talking about?

 

[Oldspanners]

Hi, the plus has been cleaned and sorted but the car is still throwing out different temperatures. One sensor is reading 8c and the other is reading 120c at the moment and that's from cold start. He tho is there is a rubbed wire somewhere behind the alternator but and would take 2 hours to get to where it needs to be. ??

Well certainly if the sensor that's reading 120c isn't faulty then it needs to be investigated and if the alternator needs to come out 2 hours to complete the job doesn't seem unreasonable if it cures the fault.

 

[Uncle Benz]

I would imagine we are talking about exhaust gas temperature sensors. There can be quite a few on one car, and difficult sometimes to identify which one you should be changing. No possibility the wrong sensor has been changed?

 

[Dean Fletcher]

Hi it's the exhaust temperature sensors. Apparently the car has 2 of these one near the turbo and one close to the cat. When they plugged star in the one closest to the cat had the dodgy reading so they changed. All good then a day later the fault came back. Limp mode eml etc. They have had it back on star and the readings are the same. He said it's possibly the other sensor is playing up but that was changed July last year. He also said it more than. Likely a rubbed through wire running from the sensor to the ecu. ??

 

[Oldspanners]

Hi it's the exhaust temperature sensors. Apparently the car has 2 of these one near the turbo and one close to the cat. When they plugged star in the one closest to the cat had the dodgy reading so they changed. All good then a day later the fault came back. Limp mode eml etc. They have had it back on star and the readings are the same. He said it's possibly the other sensor is playing up but that was changed July last year. He also said it more than. Likely a rubbed through wire running from the sensor to the ecu. ??

Are the replacements genuine OEM or aftermarket?
If they are aftermarket it's possible that's the problem.

 

[Dean Fletcher]

They told me they only use genuine merc parts. He seems to be hung up on this rubbed wire business but in not sure how likely that is?

 

[LostKiwi]

A rubbing wire will be very intermittent as it touches and moves away from whatever it rubs on.

 

[star]

Is your indie a Merc specialist with a star or a general garage with a generic code reader, these can give false codes.

 

[Frontstep]

He writes its been on "star"

 

[McDonald]

Two hours labour doesn't sound like a nightmare to me. These are serious cars and it's 10 yrs old. Wider reading on this forum might give a broader perspective.

 

[Dean Fletcher]

Two hours labour doesn't sound like a nightmare to me. These are serious cars and it's 10 yrs old. Wider reading on this forum might give a broader perspective.

Two hours is just the start. There is also the 2 hours to put it back together and then there's the 200+ pounds I paid last week to supposedly of sorted the issue. If i had to pay 2 hours labour I'd be happy.

 

[Dean Fletcher]

Is your indie a Merc specialist with a star or a general garage with a generic code reader, these can give false codes.

Hi it's a indy merc garage. The owners and workers are mercedes trained. The garage is autotech Carlisle they are really good as far as I know.

 

[Dean Fletcher]

Hi chaps,
I have picked the car up today with a bill of £153. Basicly the issue which we think could have been caused by a dirty ecu plug. This was cleaned and the car tested and all seems fine. The indy owner took the car home last night to see how it responded on a cold start and all was good. The bill was for a split brake pipe which was repaired. I wasn't charged for the plug clean up and test. Also the cars software was updated. I had a suspension arm fitted in oct from another garage my bus saying it's causing the knocking noise and basically making the car handle bad. What can I do to speak to the other garage. Verbally they won't listen as if had past experiences. Thanks

 

[daibevan]

Hope that sorted the fault