2011 W221 S350 CDI intermittent non-starting issue

[Joe B]

Hi all,

Was hoping someone on here can shed some light on an annoying intermittent non-starting issue we are experiencing on our 2011 W221 S350 CDI.

On the odd occasion the car won't start. All the lights on the dashboard come on but when you turn the key nothing happens, the car won't crank at all. When this occurs the yellow 'ESP inoperative' and 'run-flat tyre inoperative' messages come on. In addition to this, I have also noticed a curious pattern that everytime this fault occurs, the glow plug light doesn't illuminate when you attempt to start the car so much so that I now know that each time I attempt to start the car and the glow plug light comes on, the car will always start and exactly the same will happen vice versa i.e. if the glow plug doesn't come on at the starting phase then the car will not start.

We have replaced both starter relays in the fuse box located in the engine compartment but this hasn't helped. We've taken the car to a local garage with STAR but no faults were found relating to this issue. We have been advised that this may be an ECU fault or a fault with the EIS but was hoping some of the knowledgeable chaps on here can point us in the right direction instead of going down the route of attempting expensive guesswork repairs which is where we seem to be at the moment.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Joe

 

[Andy1986]

There must be a fault code logged in vehicle when fault occurs. Perhaps another code scan else where joe

 

[Joe B]

Thanks for your reply Andy.

I have attached copies of several diagnostics we carried out. The ones labelled as Merc Diagnostic 1 & Merc Diagnostic 2 we performed in house. Our chap didn't quite know which way to turn so I took it to a local garage for a second opinion, I have attached their diagnostic print out which is labelled as Autologic Merc. They reckon its the ECU which is at fault. Since then I went to another local garage who have STAR, unfortunately I don't have a copy of their report but in their opinion there were no fault codes showing relating to this fault. They think its the EIS that's faulty.

 

[Andy1986]

Looks like the communication fault between the modules is the main issue, or the module itself. Not sure if a battery reset when faults occurs might help find if connection issue or module/software. Could try another key if have one when fault present.

 

[Shahaid siddique]

Hi all,

Was hoping someone on here can shed some light on an annoying intermittent non-starting issue we are experiencing on our 2011 W221 S350 CDI.

On the odd occasion the car won't start. All the lights on the dashboard come on but when you turn the key nothing happens, the car won't crank at all. When this occurs the yellow 'ESP inoperative' and 'run-flat tyre inoperative' messages come on. In addition to this, I have also noticed a curious pattern that everytime this fault occurs, the glow plug light doesn't illuminate when you attempt to start the car so much so that I now know that each time I attempt to start the car and the glow plug light comes on, the car will always start and exactly the same will happen vice versa i.e. if the glow plug doesn't come on at the starting phase then the car will not start.

We have replaced both starter relays in the fuse box located in the engine compartment but this hasn't helped. We've taken the car to a local garage with STAR but no faults were found relating to this issue. We have been advised that this may be an ECU fault or a fault with the EIS but was hoping some of the knowledgeable chaps on here can point us in the right direction instead of going down the route of attempting expensive guesswork repairs which is where we seem to be at the moment.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Joe

Hi Joe, I have the exact same fault on my 2010 s350 cdi. Iv changed the egr and also the ecu but the problem persist. Its a reap pain in the arse at times.

Did you manage to rectify your fault?

I'm looking forward to your response

Thanks
Shahaid

 

[bembo449]

so many things that could be at fault here , SHahaid have you had your car on STAR diagnostic machine
??

 

[Shahaid siddique]

so many things that could be at fault here , SHahaid have you had your car on STAR diagnostic machine
??

Yes I had, the garage advised me to get a new ecu as it was faulty, it would give different results at every scan. After the ecu replacement, the problem is still not cured.

 

[barry jones]

Have you changed the glow plug relay and glow plugs? I had starting issues on both my W221's (06 plate and 10 plate) and both were fixed with changing relay and plugs... not too expensive to get replacements either. I think the last one I changed them on, I got the bits from Amazon... (all Bosch)

 

[Shahaid siddique]

Did you have the same issue on both cars as mine? I did assume to change the glow plug relays and plugs. But my garage said its not that.

 

[barry jones]

Did you have the same issue on both cars as mine? I did assume to change the glow plug relays and plugs. But my garage said its not that.

I had issues such as the car not starting, glow plug light staying on for ages and then still not starting. I tried charging the battery overnight (which did help a little) but the relay and plugs solved the starting issues on both cars.

 

[Shahaid siddique]

Thanks for your reply. I assume we both got different faults.

 

[firmasrl]

Same issue here ,noticed the pattern described with glow plug indicator. I also have this error on tester don’t know if it’s related.

 

[Shahaid siddique]

Same issue here ,noticed the pattern described with glow plug indicator. I also have this error on tester don’t know if it’s related. View attachment 66176 View attachment 66178 View attachment 66177

Welcome @firmasr, your dash board looks exactly like mine. Unfortunately my car has completely stopped starting since Monday 1st March 2021, even when the glow light shows it won't start. Its Currently at Mercedes Specialist "London Code" let's see what happens. If you have luck with your let us know

 

[firmasrl]

Welcome @firmasr, your dash board looks exactly like mine. Unfortunately my car has completely stopped starting since Monday 1st March 2021, even when the glow light shows it won't start. Its Currently at Mercedes Specialist "London Code" let's see what happens. If you have luck with your let us know

Thank you, mine from 03.03.21. I’m looking forward your results

 

[alexanderfoti]

You need proper diagnostics. OP's codes indicate an engine ECU comms problem:

1.U010087 Communication With The Engine Control Unit Has A
malfunction. The Message Is Missing.
SCM[MRM] - Steering Column Module(Chassis CAN Bus) 2 problems exist
1.D198 No CAN Message Was Received From Control Unit CDI

Obviously if the engine ecu has no comms with the rest of the system, it wont start the engine! His fault could have been engine ecu/relay in front sam/EIS

Your SPS code is for the power steering and is historic, so will not be the cause of the fault.

 

[firmasrl]

You need proper diagnostics. OP's codes indicate an engine ECU comms problem:

1.U010087 Communication With The Engine Control Unit Has A
malfunction. The Message Is Missing.
SCM[MRM] - Steering Column Module(Chassis CAN Bus) 2 problems exist
1.D198 No CAN Message Was Received From Control Unit CDI

Obviously if the engine ecu has no comms with the rest of the system, it wont start the engine! His fault could have been engine ecu/relay in front sam/EIS

Your SPS code is for the power steering and is historic, so will not be the cause of the fault.

Last night when i tried to started ( didn’t start) i got this errors

 

[firmasrl]

Last night when i tried to started ( didn’t start) i got this errors
View attachment 66198 View attachment 66199 View attachment 66200 View attachment 66201 View attachment 66202 View attachment 66203 View attachment 66204 View attachment 66205 View attachment 66206 View attachment 66207

Not all of them showed on star initially

 

[Botus]

no comms from CGW (central gateway) is NOT good - that connects many systems to each other around the car

 

[firmasrl]

Update:
- multiple errors related to CAN disappeared after i clean the connectors from engine bay ECU
- the starting problem is from main battery ( in my case anyway) , if i apply a battery jumper the car starts without any issues.
maybe this info can help others in my position

 

[M2UBR]

Update:
- multiple errors related to CAN disappeared after i clean the connectors from engine bay ECU
- the starting problem is from main battery ( in my case anyway) , if i apply a battery jumper the car starts without any issues.
maybe this info can help others in my position

Hi did you ever sort the issues of non start on your car?
I have the same symptoms so any advice help would be appreciated
Thanks