04 E200 w211 rough idle

[Greenmotors]

Hi all,

Went out to start car about 3 weeks ago and could here the 1.8L petrol engine idling rough.
This was out of the blue and once on the move it drove fine with no lack of power.
It throws up a code which i cant remember but was like misfire cylinder 1 fuel deficiency.

Since then i got the following code P0020 and i changed the two cam solenoids for new ones but it is still showing this code sometimes after clearing it.

The car then showed P0303 & P0301 Cylinder misfire detected so i changed the two coils for new ones.
It is also showing P201b-000 after the coils were changed.

The car is still idling rough but no codes showing up after a 5 mile drive, it drives fine but idles rough.
I am finished throwing new parts at it, can anyone advise my next step.
I am using iCarsoft to get these codes.

 

[LostKiwi]

How does it sound on first start of the day? You may be suffering the M271 cam sprocket issues.

 

[Greenmotors]

Hi, thanks for the quick reply. For 1 second after start it ideals rough but then straight away it sounds fine. It actually sounds like there was a lack of petrol at start up and then it got some and ran fine. But if I go for a short journey of a mile or so the rough idal starts again.

 

[LostKiwi]

I think I'd be having a very good look at the camshaft sprockets.

 

[star]

Air leak under air filter on small breather pipe.

 

[Greenmotors]

Hi all, had a bit of time yesterday to look at the engine again and can confirm the timing is correct. When I removed the valve cover I round emulsified oil along the inlet side of the head and when I moved the valve cover some water dripped out. The valve cover gasket is leaking oil down into the spark plugs. Few questions, where is the water coming from, is the oil in the sparkplugs causing the misfire?

 

[LostKiwi]

Oil won't help the sparkplugs. The water is most likely condensation, especially if the car does lots of short runs without getting fully up to temperature.

 

[Greenmotors]

Yes I believe you are right about the condensation, I only drive it in the dry weather and store it during the winter and only drive it a few miles to keep things ticking over. I am going to change the gasket, clean the plug chambers and coils and see if it runs right.