CLK 270 Cdi W209 2003 siezed glowplugs & EML on full throttle

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Hi Guys,

First off, I'm a first time Merc owner having only purchased the car at the start of February and I seem to have had nothing but niggles and issues since. The car: CLK 270 CDI auto, 2003 model on 52 plate. I live in the north east and traveled down to Peterborough to collect the car, having seen it advertised on the autotrader and on the sellers website. I was advised there were no known fault, errors or niggles with the car and that it would also be MOT'd and serviced for me so I was as good as sold on it before even seeing it in the bare metal.

After driving back home, I realised that whoever did the "service" didn't even check the washer fluid so that kinda rung alarm bells early. Anyway, I had the car 3 weeks, everything seemed to be good then one morning it refused to start. I had a family member mechanic look at it and he advised that the glow plugs were faulty but he could only get 1 released, so he changed that and the battery and now it's starting, but the glow plug light dips off before starting and then comes back on and stays on for a minute or 2 after starting and driving away.

I am currently in dispute with the seller as he has tried to avoid the sale of goods act where the car is not as described and he has even tried to state it was a private sale even though it was through he forecourt. I have contacted trading standards about this and they advise that they would still consider it a trade sale and that the sale of goods act would still apply so I'm chasing him for the cost of any repairs (to no avail so far).

Anyway, I've contacted Merc for a quote to have all glow plugs removed and replaced and they have come back with a quote of £280-350, is this reasonable or over the odds?

When the issue first arose, I trolled through these pages looking for a potential common fault and was under the assumption that it could be the O rings or fuel lines making it not start as I even saw a spit of diesel on the front of the engine when trying to crank it over, yet my family mechanic said he couldn't see any spitting diesel and couldn't see an issue with the lines, do you think it could be a mixture of both the plugs and the lines / O ring (It's started every time since 1 plug and the battery was replaced)?

Also, since I bought the car I've drove it like I was chauffeuring Miss Daisy around, trying and eek out as much MPG as possible but I'm really struggling to get over 35-38mpg on my 20 mile commute (15 miles on main A road cruising at 65-70), does this consumption seem excessive or about right?

I gave it a decent boot this morning for the first time and then noticed a little orange light flash on the dash when trying to accelerate hard which I believe was the engine management light, ease up on the throttle and it disappeared, what would be causing this? The gearbox doesn't seem to want to knock down on its own when applying some throttle as well, it seems very hesitant to kick down but would rather pull in the gear its already in, related issues or just the way they drive?

There is also the problem on constant clicking behind the dash when turning the car on for 30-60 seconds, I believe this is a broken cog and could potentially be a dash out job so if thats the case, I'll live with this but its just yet another issue that I wasn't advised about.

If anyone lives or goes to Peterborough for cars, please AVOID BOULEVARD MOTORS, I wouldn't want anyone else to buy from them and then be stuck arguing back & forth trying to get issues resolved.

Anyway, I'm basically just looking for advice on the above issues (both mechanical issues and also legal implications regarding the sale of the car) as I've read quite a few posts on here and there seem to be some very knowledgeable people on these boards so I look forward to any replies. If any further info is required to help, please just ask and I will do my best.
 

RobWheatley

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Not sure on the other problems you have but is the Orange light that flashes a triangle, if so that is the traction control light and is normal for it to flash if "booting it" and the road is a bit slippery.
 
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Hi, thanks for the reply, it wasn't the traction control light (I've seen that flash in the wet before) and this had an engine like symbol, hence thinking it was the management light. Only happened when I planted my foot to the floor, I've never seen it whilst cruising around to work and back, not even up to 90+mph and back (no heavy foot involved).
 

RobWheatley

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Hi, thanks for the reply, it wasn't the traction control light (I've seen that flash in the wet before) and this had an engine like symbol, hence thinking it was the management light. Only happened when I planted my foot to the floor, I've never seen it whilst cruising around to work and back, not even up to 90+mph and back (no heavy foot involved).

Oh right, in that case then you really need to get it plugged into a STAR system and get the faults read and cleared, Im sure someone nearby will be able to reccomend an Indy near you as it will be alot cheaper than an MB dealer.
 

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The Diesel on the pully could be caused by the high pressure pump leaking when cold, mine used to but only when the temp dropped and then only for a few seconds.
 
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That's a possibility about the pump, I only ever saw it spit literally a drop of diesel whilst trying to crank when I had the starting issues, I just found it strange my family member mechanic said he could not see it at all, yet I saw it spit a couple of times when trying to get it to start. Haven't checked again since I got it back as I've been concentrating on arguing my point to the seller to try and get him to cover any work (I've already spent £170 just getting it running again with the new battery & 1 plug)
 
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Also, I am being offered £150 refund from the dealer as a "contribution" towards any work required, does this sound reasonable or should I be holding out for the full amount as I've already paid £170 and have an additional quote of £280-350 for the required work to replace the plugs?
 
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After driving home from work, I thought I'd see if the light came on every time and whats happening is:
foot to the floor but not pressing the kickdown in, the light doesn't come on and the car will accelerate quite hard, sometimes deciding for a while whether to kick down a gear or not but no light. When the foots to the floor and pushing the kickdown in the car seems to loose revs slightly, no acceleration and the engine management light comes on and will only go off when the kickdown is released, then it will start to accelerate (and drop a gear if it wants to).

Has anyone come across this in the past or any ideas what it could be, throttle position sensor possibly?
Cheers
 

rpe2

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Get the fault codes read, it could be all sorts of things the most expensive being guessing. Find a good independent garage to mitigate your costs
 

R W

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There is a good indi near the Metro Centre Gatshead if you cant find a recomended one closer to you.
Staithes Garage Ltd
Railway St
Dunstone
Gateshead
Tyne and Wear
NE11 9EB

Contact:pHIL BAISTER

Tel 0191 460 4381
Fax 0191 4604381
Mob 07711 469741
 
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Thanks, there is prestige servicing and also Merc spec local to me, I just have no experience with either as I've only had the car 2 months and have held off having any work done whilst battling my case with the seller
 

jberks

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Your car is 11 years old. To be fair, you can't expect it to be perfect. I've bought several 1 year old used cars with niggles (mercs too). With a car like that, I'd expect a few early problems and would have a budget to solve them. Sure if it was a blatant case of misselling then ok, but I doubt the seller knew of the issues. He'll have had it delivered from wherever he got it from, took it round the block (as you did) and figured it was a nice clean motor. (as you did).

Playing devils advocate for a second, there isn't an awful lot of profit in selling an 11 year old 270cdi. I'd imagine you bartered him down, he's had the advertising costs, probably spent a few quid readying it for sale and yet many of us expect the guy to be responsible for several hundred pounds of repairs on top. (He's given you £150) I had a 'discussion' with a dealer when 24 hours after collection, my Daughters Ka's alternator packed in. He was less that helpful and angrily said, just bring it back and I'll give you a full refund. I did a quick calculation and realised that in truth, I'd already screwed so much out of him that he wasn't being difficult and unreasonable, just simply couldn't afford to do what I was asking. I know it's business but we all have to make a living and quite honestly, the margins at that end of the market are so tight, I often think it's us that are being unreasonable, expecting perfection.
Anyway, once sorted, you should have a fabulous motor. With 150k just coming up on mine, I've been waiting for the first expensive issue for a while now. I'm still waiting and she's still running like new.
 

panason1c

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Your car might be 11 years old and its fair to say that you shouldn't expect it to be in 'perfect' condition but the car should still be sold in a roadworthy condition, regardless of whether you beat him down on the price or not.

The fact that the trader tried to avoid his responsibilities by trying to bluff you by stating its a 'trade' sale pretty much says it all to me, a decent trader would have attempted to sort the problem out!

So called 'niggles' can often end up costing hundreds of £'s to remedy and i certainly wouldnt be happy to accept only £150 with the scenario you have described, the spill of diesel on the front of the engine that you mentioned could very well be the high pressure pump leaking (usually leaks only when cold) which is an expensive item to replace. (from personal experience!)
 

DB autos

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Have the car fully checked over by a good indie and work out what's wrong and how much it will cost to put right then talk to dealer who sold it as trading standards will back you they always do.
 
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My problem with the trader is he is now stating that the company has changed hands and he is no longer working for them and he has stated that if I want to pursue him for more than the £150 he's offering, I'll have to take him to court and who knows how long & costly that would be. Yes I would expect maybe a couple of minor things due to the cars age, but there are also issues I haven't listed (Eg broken heater reset cog so I hear clicking every time I start the car for a minute and thats a dash out jo to rectify, some snapped interior fixings, tracking was and still is out as the company I use can't get it tracked straight etc) but mechanically I expected no issues. Sale of goods act is on my side but I don't know if I can be bothered to pursue it any further as it's already dragged on over a month back & forth just to get this offer, the EML light is now worrying me as well
 

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