car wont start

[eddiethemerc]

Just drain the auto gearbox fluid and torque converter on 1997 c250td .Also changed the fuel filter. The car will not start. I`m assuming it`ll self bleed as i cant find a hand primer but before it will self bleed the battery goes flat. I`ve tried jumping it from my other car(trusty never failed to start maestro) but it still seems slow to turn over. I`ve took over 8.5 litres of atf fluid out of the gear box sump and tc and so far put 7 back in.... should I have put in less to give the gearbox time to "suck it up"? or will the auto box be ok? I figured, rightly or wrongly, that the slow turn over is due to the fluid "priming" the box and t.c. or am I talking a load of bovine whatsit?

 

[luders79]

Hello,

I can't see that it has anything to do with you draining your gearbox! These engines can be a pain to bleed out! Did you put the fuel filter on without filling it up with abit of diesel? If you did then I would say that you have got air in the fuel lines that why it won't start!

Hope this is of some help?

Lee

 

[pcman_jh]

Re C250 TD not starting

DO NOT PASS GO with trying to start the engine before you fill the new fuel filter with diesel, then while holding the filter in place wiht one hand, with enough pressure to seal the rubber ring, then with the other hand pour diesel in through the Banjo bolt hole until it's up to the top. While doing this you should notice some of the fuel pipes filling up as you pour the diesel in, let them fill up until the diesel is right to the top of the Banjo bolt hole. Then put the Banjo bolt back in and tighten.

Only then do you start to crank the engine - trust me, I've been there before. Within about 30 seconds it should start spluttering, this is the sign its almost there.

Why they didn't put some soft of manual bleed on these engines I don't know.

This also applies to the E300 with the same engine, but with one cylinder more.

 

[type49]

Did you change the little pre filter as well?? If so, did you fit the seal to it. No seal, no go.

 

[eddiethemerc]

i am a clot!! didnt fill filter with diesel and took 5 hours two batteries, and one brand new jump start machine to get it sorted!!!! a BIG thank you to everyone that gave advice and didnt laugh out loud!! (I owe you all a drink!) many thanks again.....Eddie

 

[pcman_jh]

Re - Owe you a drink - Vancouver or Edinburgh?

i am a clot!! didnt fill filter with diesel and took 5 hours two batteries, and one brand new jump start machine to get it sorted!!!! a BIG thank you to everyone that gave advice and didnt laugh out loud!! (I owe you all a drink!) many thanks again.....Eddie

I'm in Vancouver, Canada on business at the moment. You can either come across here, or wait until I return to Edinburgh on Wednesday...

Cheers, glad it assisted. I too thought I'd 'blown it' when I first changed the filter and thought the self bleeding would be fine on a dry fuel filter. You live and learn...

PS - If you don't regularly change ALL the fuel pipe rubber O rings on this model, say every 5 years, you'll find one morning that it won't start due to air ingress caused by one of the O rings having shrunk/got hard with age (not jokes please). It'll only cost about £20 for all seals, more if you go for the the fuel pipes as well, which don't really require changing apart from they come wiht the Orings already fitted (including the O rings for the fuel shut off solenoid).