Delay in power

[E220CDI]

When putting my foot down I have to wait for those few seconds before anything happens and when entering a roundabout with heavy traffic can make ones heart miss a beat. Service does nothing and dealer can find nothing wrong. Turbo has been changed, so I'm told. Any idea's????

 

[television]

Does the engine rev up, or do you lose drive

 

[jberks]

Has it changed or has it always been like this. It does sound like normal turbo lag to me.
The original CDIs like yours and mine do have a fairly heavy turbo lag. You learn to counter it by flooring the throttle half a second or so before you need to go. I also avoid full kick down as this only makes it worse. With the torque of the diesel you neither need nor want 1st gear.
The new ones are more linear but they then don't have that fun kick in the back we get!

 

[E220CDI]

sometimes it is good to hear that it is a normal thing to have happen. Thanks.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

I'd ask a dealer to demo a similar car to see if the poor throttle response is a characteristic of your engine. I'm surprised that any CDi engine suffers in this way, low pick-up on mine is excellent and I hardly ever need kickdown and I've always heard CDi owners describe the 220 and 270 engines as lively.

The comment you make about the responce being a few seconds I find quite alarming in some road situations especially busy roundabouts.

Perhaps a few 220CDi owners will add there views.

 

[Mike J]

Hi e220
Check the position of the Summer/Winter mode selector alongside the gear lever. The Winter mode starts the car in 2nd gear which can cause raised heart rate when entering a round about.
Mike

 

[jberks]

I'd ask a dealer to demo a similar car to see if the poor throttle response is a characteristic of your engine. I'm surprised that any CDi engine suffers in this way, low pick-up on mine is excellent and I hardly ever need kickdown and I've always heard CDi owners describe the 220 and 270 engines as lively.

The comment you make about the responce being a few seconds I find quite alarming in some road situations especially busy roundabouts.

Perhaps a few 220CDi owners will add there views.

I assume a 'few' seconds is an exaggeration. If I press the throttle to the floor on mine from standstill, it will be up to 1 second before much happens at all. Then all hell breaks loose, usually followed by a flashing amber light and hurtling off towards the horizon. So yes, its very lively and once rolling, the power is instantaneous and even for normal pull aways at roundabouts etc the lag isn't that noticable. But, where you need all the horses NOW there is a delay which can land you in trouble if you're not aware of it. As I said above, if you use kick down too, this makes it even worse as you have to wait for it to change.

The same is true of all CDIs. I remember joining a motorway in a 320cdi. floored it and the car shot to 60 at a very impressive rate and then changed up (traffic flow was around 80) then for a couple of seconds, absolutely nothing (with traffic bearing down - rather scary), before the boost built up again and we shot away into the distance.

A little more practice at controlling the gears and using the torque more efficiently (no kickdown) and the same menouver was completed just as quickly but without the drama but floor an auto cdi and it can often be counter productive as you find yourself outside the torque band too much.

 

[panason1c]

I assume a 'few' seconds is an exaggeration. If I press the throttle to the floor on mine from standstill, it will be up to 1 second before much happens at all. Then all hell breaks loose, usually followed by a flashing amber light and hurtling off towards the horizon. So yes, its very lively and once rolling, the power is instantaneous and even for normal pull aways at roundabouts etc the lag isn't that noticable. But, where you need all the horses NOW there is a delay which can land you in trouble if you're not aware of it. As I said above, if you use kick down too, this makes it even worse as you have to wait for it to change.

The same is true of all CDIs. I remember joining a motorway in a 320cdi. floored it and the car shot to 60 at a very impressive rate and then changed up (traffic flow was around 80) then for a couple of seconds, absolutely nothing (with traffic bearing down - rather scary), before the boost built up again and we shot away into the distance.

A little more practice at controlling the gears and using the torque more efficiently (no kickdown) and the same menouver was completed just as quickly but without the drama but floor an auto cdi and it can often be counter productive as you find yourself outside the torque band too much.

My ML CDI is exactly as per jberks post above.....the 1 second delay can seem an awful lot longer when one attempts to enter a busy roundabout rapido from a standstill.....i also find 'kickdown' makes matters worse!

Performing the procedure below made a big difference to the gearchanges on mine, they were much sharper and slightly earlier ...................Still not perfect but better than before!




Resetting throttle parameters

1. Turn key to ON (before 'start' position)
2. Press throttle all way down
3. Hold for 5 secs
4. Turn key to off.
5. Release throttle.
6. Wait for 2 minutes.
Keep the key in for the entire time.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Thats interesting JB and Pan. The more of these power lag comments I read the more I think my engine has been chipped. There is no noticable power lag above 2000rpm and the effect of flooring the throttle produces instant, very impressive acceleration.

 

[foxy320]

Intermittent Loss of Power

I've been reading your comments regarding turbo lag with great interest. I have a 55 plate 320 CDi Avantgarde (28K miles) and have been complaining to the MB dealership in Salisbury about the intermittent throttle problems I am experiencing. The first instance was filtering into a busy roundabout with a 44 ton lorry approaching to my right. Pressed the throttle firmly and nothing much happened. Limped all the way around the roundabout until the power picked up. The car went in for inspection and they carried out a software update to the gearbox (?), or so they say. Seemed OK afterwards for a 100 or so miles. Last weekend, after following the inevitable tractor & trailer and stream of traffic at 25 mph for 4-5 miles, went for an overtake. Pressed hard to initiate kick-down and the engine tried to pick up, gearbox changed down, and it did this three times before any meaningful power came on and my speed increased. Fortunately I had left plenty of time for the overtake and all was OK. I have also had problems with it going into limp home mode. I also get the 1 second (approx) delay when accelerating hard, and coupled to this other intermittent problem, makes overtaking either interesting or downright dangerous. Is this related to the problems you are having, and if nor have you heard of similar problems?

 

[foxy320]

Intermittent Loss of Power

I've been reading your comments regarding turbo lag with great interest. I have a 55 plate 320 CDi Avantgarde (28K miles) and have been complaining to the MB dealership in Salisbury about the intermittent throttle problems I am experiencing. The first instance was filtering into a busy roundabout with a 44 ton lorry approaching to my right. Pressed the throttle firmly and nothing much happened. Limped all the way around the roundabout until the power picked up. The car went in for inspection and they carried out a software update to the gearbox (?), or so they say. Seemed OK afterwards for a 100 or so miles. Last weekend, after following the inevitable tractor & trailer and stream of traffic at 25 mph for 4-5 miles, went for an overtake. Pressed hard to initiate kick-down and the engine tried to pick up, gearbox changed down, and it did this three times before any meaningful power came on and my speed increased. Fortunately I had left plenty of time for the overtake and all was OK. I have also had problems with it going into limp home mode. I also get the 1 second (approx) delay when accelerating hard, and coupled to this other intermittent problem, makes overtaking either interesting or downright dangerous. Is this related to the problems you are having, and if nor have you heard of similar problems?