C220 cdi Car will not start

[television]

Sometimes Malc these pipes can be so brittle they break taking them off or cause a small fracture around the bonding of the clip as I found out to my annoyence this week. Better to replace the pipes I find.

Horses for courses though.

What ever you say Steve, you know them better than me

 

[Corsair1]

Thats not why I was asking.

I am getting more and more issues of valves sticking in the high pressure pump which causes the left side of the tank to leak off all the fuel to there and not return it to the right hand side of the tank which is the side which supplies the engine! When you have a full tank it fills both sides, When it gets to half a tank it will simply run out of fuel effectively as it will store the remaining fuel in the left side of the tank and not circulate it to where the fuel needs to be. I was chatting with Alex Crow who had the exact same fault last week with a 270cdi that had been to another garage who couldnt figure out the non start fault so its becoming increasingly popular.

If its intermitantly sticking the valve open for leak off it wont start as the engine isnt getting fuel supply. 2 ways of checking this at home without a star machine is to lift the rear seat and undo the fuel pump and see whats there.

If you have access to star check the rail pressure when cranking, should be 200ish bar pressure, if no pressure then check the actual values of the fuel tank in rear sam. You will see it there if you have this issue.

Steve: Have re read all the above and gone back to basics! As you say, I think the cold was just a red herring.

This morning I checked the following:
1. On the fuel pipe from the filter to the injector pump, I pulled the casing back - no fuel in it.

2. I cranked the engine and after a bit the fuel came through with bubbles. I stopped at that point as I want to preserve the battery.

3. I then checked the left hand side tank access. This has lots of wires coming in and 2 fuel pipes which I presume are the supply and return. There was still fuel in it but quite a way down.

4. I then checked the right side access: This was much fuller, about a fingers length to the fuel.

What I don't understand with these tanks which obviously have to stradle the prop shaft so hence effectively 2 sides, is how does it use the fuel from the right hand side when the supply sucks from the left? The right hand size looks like it has the tank level float.

So I presume if I have a leak after the filter, that the fuel is flowing back into the tank. Does this flow via the filter on the supply side or the return?

Questions:
It seems that my right side is fuller than the left - that is the opposite of your notes above unless I have misread. How empty does the left hand side tank need to be to suffer this problem.

Just for clarity the car is a 2002 C220 CDI estate.

 

[reni]

i have the same starting problems when the car has been left for a long while,mainly in the morning but not every morning, when started, it doesnt have a problem after that.

 

[dieselman]

S
Questions:
It seems that my right side is fuller than the left - that is the opposite of your notes above unless I have misread. How empty does the left hand side tank need to be to suffer this problem.

The fuel sender on one side pumps fuel across and uses venturi scavenging to get fuel to the pump. If the scavenged side is low, it will draw air into the fuel pipe.

 

[Corsair1]

The fuel sender on one side pumps fuel across and uses venturi scavenging to get fuel to the pump. If the scavenged side is low, it will draw air into the fuel pipe.

I am not sure that I understand that. What is the point of scavenging one side so low that is draws air into the system, whilst there is still fuel in the other side?

 

[Steve@Avantgarde]

If you have fuel in the right hand side of the tank that is good news, you are now in star diagnosis territory to profress further. You need to check to see if you have rail pressure when cranking. Did you try the easy start method by the way?

 

[Corsair1]

If you have fuel in the right hand side of the tank that is good news, you are now in star diagnosis territory to profress further. You need to check to see if you have rail pressure when cranking. Did you try the easy start method by the way?

I tried the easy start way, and it just fired for a few seconds, but did not start as I now know the fuel lines were empty. Churning the starter brings the fuel through eventually but takes a long time. Tomorrow I will get her started an deliver to my local garage.

2 friends with C class CDI's both have exactly the same problems! There must be a cause which was started by the freezing weather.

I will need to get a new battery as this one has now gone flat so many times over the last year. I regularly leave the cart for 2 weeks - whilst sailing, and the battery (new 18 months ago) is always totally flat on return. I notice the charge rate on the alternator brings the battery to 14.8 volts which is about 0.4V higher than is safe for a sealed lead acid battery.

Thanks for your help. When its finally working I'll post back the cure.

 

[Steve@Avantgarde]

Sounds like either air is getting in at a fuel pipe or you have a weak high pressure pump.

 

[Wirral_guy]

Sometimes Malc these pipes can be so brittle they break taking them off or cause a small fracture around the bonding of the clip as I found out to my annoyence this week. Better to replace the pipes I find.

Horses for courses though.

Not that the professional opinion needs backing up but just though I would add my agreement - I did the filter to pump pipe last week on my 6yo 270cdi and it was impossible to remove the pipes without breaking the plastic - it is just too brittle no matter how gentle you are.

For the £18 or so it is well worth just replacing the whole thing (or at least having it to hand just in case).

Dave

 

[Corsair1]

Sounds like either air is getting in at a fuel pipe or you have a weak high pressure pump.

Steve - started here this morning . Fuel pipe from Filter to HP Pump empty - filled within seconds, a bit more churning and she started fine.

I then left the car for 10 minutes - there was an airbubble near the filter. Started after 2 seconds. I then left it for half an hour, pipe empty. I can't see with those symptoms how it can be a high pressure pump - just got to cure the leaks.....

Not taking her to Cornwall for new year - borrowing daughters Audi A5 quatro 3ltr diesel; Sh$t and shovells come into it , won't want the Merc back!

 

[Guddu05]

c220 cdi not starting

Hi guys any chance you can help me out, I have a c220 cdi coupe. recently I had starting problems therefore i replaced all the clear fuel lines and every day it started fine, one of the days I turned it on and left it and it just cut out. Now it wont start at all.... any ideas what could have went wrong this time#??? I dont see any fuel moving in the fuel pipes (clear pipes) the engine turns over just wont start.. I am sure its something to do with the fuel but any ideas what fault check i could do as i dont have any high tech machinery

 

[Steve@Avantgarde]

You are probably suffering from high injector leak off. You need to do a leak off test to confirm this and then check the smooth running values on a star machine. A good indy can do this for you.

 

[Guddu05]

FUEL PIPES REPLACED PROBLEM SOLVED... W203 C220 CDI SPORTS COUPE NON STARTER

what you need to check is there any bubbles or any fuel at all in the clear plastic pipes. and if there is any fuel around the clear pipes or metal pipes on rail.. I stripped all the pipes refit the metal ones and brand new clear pipes.. if anyone wants to know how to do this can contact me and I can take pics and show you.. quiet easy job but fragile...

 

[RedcarDrac]

It could be a few things:

Buy some easy start and spray up the intake when cranking, if it fires its a sure guess you have high injector leak off causing the rail pressure to drop too far and it not starting.

Could be a knackered high pressure pump you will need to check the rail pressure for this one. Also if less than 1/4 tank with a worn HPP it wont start anyway as it will return all leaked off diesel back to the L/H side of saddle tank drying up the fuel supply side which is the R/H side, so if your gauge reads 1/4 or less drop some diesel in the tank and see if she starts, if so, your HPP will be on its way.

Could also be blocked filter or o rings as someone else suggested.

Steve,

This is the exact problem I'm having with my C220 CDi.

It started when I was low on fuel as there was no garage around it was down to around 12miles left on the range. I had to stop and when I tried to start it was struggling to fire, so I got to the next available garage around 2 miles away and put £15 worth of fuel in. When I went to start it then it was struggling to fire even more. So I went to park up on an incline facing downwards and left it for an hour. It took around 30 secs to fire up then. Took at for a 15 minute drive along a motorway and stopped. I tried to start it again and it wouldn't fire.

Today I got some easy start and sprayed it into the intake whilst cranking and it fired straight away it ran absolutely fine with no problems at all. I turned the engine off after 10 minutes and it wouldn't start again.

As it stands it will only start using the easy start method.

I've recently passed my test so I'm not as engine savvy as a lot of members on here, so any advice/help would be appreciated.

Bri

 

[Umarnewcastle]

FUEL RAIL BAR A6110780149