Thriftwood
Active Member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2008
- Messages
- 26
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Bedfordshire
- Your Mercedes
- E350 All-Terrain 2017
Hi
My 2002 210 320CDI estate has done 115k miles
The MAF was recently replaced (approx 110k miles) with an original Mercedes part after suffering the usual “won’t rev above 3k or kick down” issues. This seemed to restore the car for a couple of weeks then the following occurred:-
Loss of power, black smoke when engine under sustained load (e.g. climbing long incline on motorway), seeming reluctance for gearbox to change down (actually, now that it is fixed, I think the gearbox was behaving correctly, there just wasn’t enough power to accelerate in the chosen gear). Garage replaced air filter (was above 70% red) but car no better eventually diagnosed a blocked front catalyst which had then damaged the EGR
One new cat, EGR & a big bill later the performance is back to normal.
I have noticed that recently (last year approx) that the engine is not getting as hot as I remember. It used to sit about 80c, occasionally rising to 90+ if sitting in traffic on hot day. Now however it rarely rises above 65c and will only get to 80+ if sat idling on hot day. Now, not understanding how all the different bits interact, the thought crossed my mind that maybe if the engine was never reaching correct operating temperature, then the following may be happening:-
A. The front catalyst may not be reaching its optimal temperature either and that may have caused it to block.
B. The engine combustion may not be correct and creating more soot with the same consequence.
So very long winded message (sorry but was trying to make sure I didn’t miss any relevant detail) to ask the following questions:-
1. Does it sound like the thermostat is stuck open? (my garage says they have never seen one fail!)
2. If it is and the engine is never fully warming up, what impact will this have?
3. Could this have caused (contributed to) the front catalyst and subsequent EGR failure?
4. Any thoughts on what else I can do to prevent the cat blocking in future?
Thanks
Richard
My 2002 210 320CDI estate has done 115k miles
The MAF was recently replaced (approx 110k miles) with an original Mercedes part after suffering the usual “won’t rev above 3k or kick down” issues. This seemed to restore the car for a couple of weeks then the following occurred:-
Loss of power, black smoke when engine under sustained load (e.g. climbing long incline on motorway), seeming reluctance for gearbox to change down (actually, now that it is fixed, I think the gearbox was behaving correctly, there just wasn’t enough power to accelerate in the chosen gear). Garage replaced air filter (was above 70% red) but car no better eventually diagnosed a blocked front catalyst which had then damaged the EGR
One new cat, EGR & a big bill later the performance is back to normal. I have noticed that recently (last year approx) that the engine is not getting as hot as I remember. It used to sit about 80c, occasionally rising to 90+ if sitting in traffic on hot day. Now however it rarely rises above 65c and will only get to 80+ if sat idling on hot day. Now, not understanding how all the different bits interact, the thought crossed my mind that maybe if the engine was never reaching correct operating temperature, then the following may be happening:-
A. The front catalyst may not be reaching its optimal temperature either and that may have caused it to block.
B. The engine combustion may not be correct and creating more soot with the same consequence.
So very long winded message (sorry but was trying to make sure I didn’t miss any relevant detail) to ask the following questions:-
1. Does it sound like the thermostat is stuck open? (my garage says they have never seen one fail!)
2. If it is and the engine is never fully warming up, what impact will this have?
3. Could this have caused (contributed to) the front catalyst and subsequent EGR failure?
4. Any thoughts on what else I can do to prevent the cat blocking in future?
Thanks
Richard
