E300 deisel estate 1999 frequently fails to start.

[fred judge]

New to club. Very frustrated by starting problems. Dealers can't find solution. So far have replaced plugs,relay supplying power to plugs, 2 flexible hoses on fuel system ,seals on plastic tubing on fuel circuits and both air and fuel filter. Can anybody suggest a solution.

 

[anyweb]

can you give us details of the problem ? how exactly is it failing to start ? any noises etc ?

cheers

anyweb

 

[fred judge]

After insertion of ignition key and after glow plug light goes out ,turning key causes engine to crank . generally this causes engine to start and there is no running problems. One time of say 15 starts the engine fails to start although the cranking is strong. I have tried both ignition keys without curring problem. There are no noises. After failure to start and a delay of 30/120 minutes it starts ok. Thanks for your interest.hope you can point the way to go forward. At one time it was thought air was in the fuel pipes, this lead to changing the seals,however there still is an air bubble in the fuel tube as it comes from the top of the filter. does this air bubble need to be removed completely( it's about an inch long)

 

[230K]

Hi

I have that bubble and alway have had about 1/2" to 1" long with no problems. I would still check the fuel lines, what started the problem did it coincide with someone working on the car or did it just happen one day.
Try parking on a hill front down to see if it stops, this would eliminate electrical problems.

When a diesel does not go it is because it is not getting fuel, eliminate the electrical and then it is just down to fuel.

I would replace all the fuel lines not just 2 of them, you could try covering the joints on the line with grease to stop the offending one taking air.

Good luck

230K

 

[fred judge]

E300TD Agantgarde 1999 Auto ,with all the bits frequently fais to start

Thanks for your interest . you seem to have similar problem wih same model. Have tried parking down hill on a number of ossacions and car always started. However it generally starts 14 times out of 15 tries over a period of a week. If I consistantly parked the facing downhill and it always started would this prove that it was not an electrical problem and suggest it was solely a fuel getting to the engine problem? Could you explain your reasoning? Concerning air getting into the fuel lines and in particular the seals, it does seem to me that the seals and the measured of clamping to ensure the seals are under sufficient and constant pressure to ensure an addequate seal is made, are such a poor design, certainly very IFFY. I'll try your suugestion to cover the fuel joints with grease to overcome the seal design inadequacies.Please stay intouch, this may have long way to go before a solution is reached.

 

[flying haggis]

i too had a problem of the car (R reg 300TD estate) not starting and needing to be cranked for a long time(good job diesels have got heavy duty batteries!) Then one day it would not start at all and had to be recovered to the garage that does my servicing. They, after much searching and experimenting tracked the problem to the fuel cut off solenoid and which was sticking, :wink: after rplacement the car is as good as gold. Also the small plastic pipes in which you can see an air bubble get very brittle and crack and should be replaced at the same time ( i think they come with the new solenoid anyway)
The solenoid is about ninety pounds!