el pc malfunction light comes on

[barrybowtell]

I have a mercedes c270i on a 52 plate 2003
ill get straight into the action by saying that when i get over 60mph or put my foot down the car dies out and up comes the epc light on the dash comp.
electric power control.
i find this most annoying and least of all scary when your doing 60 and you have no power stearing on the dual carriageways
does anyone know of this, it cant be injector faults as these have been changed befor i brought the car.
please help

 

[Ellsy Tanners]

I would recommend a diagnositic check with a star. It could be a fault with the quantity control valve of some compontent in the fuel system.

Does the engine have a performance chip?

 

[barrybowtell]

no it doesnt have any chips.
to be honest i just brought the car from a friend, and since i brought it its not been good to me, im not sure if its a related problem, but before this happened, the epc light coming on, most times when i put my footdown and it kicked down gears, it felt like it come out of gear and i had no power, the engine was still running but just felt like it was out of geear.
now today when i put the foot down and go over 2500 revs it completely cuts off and stops. i put it into park and turn the ignition and it starts and the malfunction has gone, till i go over the revs again or over 60
the car is still under warranty from twg, but i may take it to a friends garage and put it on his diog machine to see whats the problem,

 

[barrybowtell]

This may sound a bit dumb! but if the car was to run out of diesel a few days previous, would this somehow cause this light to come, as my wife ran ouf of diesel the day before, as the fuel sender unit is faulty, soo the aa man says. My wife tells me he didnt bleed the system he just sprayed somehting into the system, which in my guess would be easy start

 

[simon winn]

I think this is to do with the throttle sensor. Sounds just the same as mine and took me ages to find cure as was not showing on Star for some reason. The part is about £100 and is easy to fit - can be found next to where throttle cable ends under bonnet on o/s. Simon. (ps - I have listed part in previous thread)

 

[simon winn]

Just found this in my previous thread...

There is a throttle sensor ( code 542 33 17 - £103 + vat) under bonnet on the end of the throttle cable. Change that and I think your problems will disappear.

 

[barrybowtell]

well im taking it to a friends garage tomorrow, so ill let him know the optoin you supplied. another friend had the same problem, but on a citroen van and hey presto, it was as you say, throttle sensor.
lets just hope i make it to the garage in 1 piece
should be ok to drive as long as i don't over rev the engine, seriously considering getting rid of the car now, seems to be in the garage far to much for my likeing

 

[barrybowtell]

just thinking about it, may not be sensor, as when restarting the engine after it cuts out. it almost fails to start and stutters when starting and even when the ignition has caught, it sounded like it was still trying to turn over, weird
or maybe that was me being heavy handed. but deffo took longer to start

 

[barrybowtell]

update on the elc problem

ok, the fault on the diog machine think it was a snap on 1.

fault p1187 faultcoleated....or something like that fuel rail preasure sensor. bad conection, wiring, fuel rail solonide.ijectors. high preasure pump.low fuel

mechanic changed fuel rail sensor. £145 from merc main dealers £165 with vat.....
10 mins up the road, up pops the elc malfunction
upon this we both noticed heavy bubles in the fuel line system from the fuel filter. engine cuts out then is hard to restart... change filter.....on way home up pops the elc malfunction once again.
losing patience and losing money.... although the fuel rail sensor was charged to the warranty company.
cant be fuel injectors as these were all changed before i purchased the car.

 

[barrybowtell]

sorry. should of stated in previous post. diog machine stated low preasure in the fuel rail, leakage etc

 

[simon winn]

Sorry to hear car is still not working. I gave up with taking my car to 'so called' indie experts and took it to main dealer. They fixed it albeit at a cost but at least the car works fine now.... My indies diagnostic machine wouldn't read my car properly and they resorted to the parts bin and changed bit by bit = very costly. Good luck.

 

[Ellsy Tanners]

The fuel rail has 2 sensors on it. A fuel pressure sensor and a quantity control valve/sensor. these perform different functions.

Unfortunatly without the values and readings you get with a star machine we can only guess as to what is at fault, which can be expensive trail and error, so as simon above some times its worth paying a little extra and going to a dealer or indie with a star.

 

[barrybowtell]

going to a merc specialist diog man next week, if she lasts out that long. already looking to px for bmw compact. bah!

 

[television]

going to a merc specialist diog man next week, if she lasts out that long. already looking to px for bmw compact. bah!

There is always the odd one out, before you gat your BMW do join the BMW forums first

 

[Arnie]

Have the same EPC problems on a G400CDi. Fault occurs usually within 10 mins of first starting and in most cases, waiting 5 minutes will allow the car to restart. However, the last time had to wait until the next morning. The CDi systems is quite complex and consists of many subsystems, all of which need to be working properly:

>> CDi control system (ECU) and power-feed relay
>> Ignition-key signal.
>> Crankshaft position sensor.
>> Electric, Low-pressure feed pump.
>> High-pressure pump feed quantity regulator
>> Rail pressure sensor
>> Rail pressure regulator
>> various temperature sensors
>> Hot-wire, mass air-low meters
>> Exhaust-gas recirculation valves
>> Intake port-valve actuators
>> Electronic accelerator pedal position-sensor
>> variable turbo guide-vane actuators.
>> Injectors themselves.

As the fault is intermittent, I'm wondering whether it could be something like a faulty accelerator position sensor, ignition switch module or crankshaft sensor, or just a connector problem. I think most faults in the other components would permit running, but at reduced power or performance.

Faulty MAF sensors could cause the cut-out problems under load and rough idling.

 

[aa1]

Had the same problem with mine 320 cdi, give it the boot and it was as if somebody had switched of the ignition, car just cut out. I purchased a used throttle sensor and fitted it but still the same. then 3 injectors, still the same, then fitted a new fuel filter and problem was cured. regards AA

 

[aa1]

Had the same problem with mine 320 cdi, give it the boot and it was as if somebody had switched of the ignition, car just cut out. I purchased a used throttle sensor and fitted it but still the same. then 3 injectors, still the same, then fitted a new fuel filter and problem was cured. regards AA

 

[aa1]

Had the same problem with mine 320 cdi, give it the boot and it was as if somebody had switched of the ignition, car just cut out. I purchased a used throttle sensor and fitted it but still the same. then 3 injectors, still the same, then fitted a new fuel filter and problem was cured. regards AA

 

[Ali128]

EL Power Control

My C220 coming up with the same error message on dash board. I had the injector changed and it does not starts now.

Can anyone please tell me what the cure could be.
Ali

update on the elc problem

ok, the fault on the diog machine think it was a snap on 1.

fault p1187 faultcoleated....or something like that fuel rail preasure sensor. bad conection, wiring, fuel rail solonide.ijectors. high preasure pump.low fuel

mechanic changed fuel rail sensor. £145 from merc main dealers £165 with vat.....
10 mins up the road, up pops the elc malfunction
upon this we both noticed heavy bubles in the fuel line system from the fuel filter. engine cuts out then is hard to restart... change filter.....on way home up pops the elc malfunction once again.
losing patience and losing money.... although the fuel rail sensor was charged to the warranty company.
cant be fuel injectors as these were all changed before i purchased the car.

 

[tangovanman]

i understand your frustration, i have a 270 cdi which has just been on a merc independent diagnostic check due to having a kickdown problem once warmed up, if i thrash it when cold it flies then cuts out showing epc 1 malfunction the following codes came up p1664, p1189, p1187, p2200 and they reckon i could be looking at a £2000 bill, its my first merc and possibly my last, im not willing to spend that sort of money