Gearbox and smoke issue E320CDI

[martinrwhite]

Your help will be appreciated, We have just bought an E320 CDI and have a few questions that hopefully someone can help with.
1. Sometimes the autobox will not kickdown or rev past 3k, If I stop and turn ignition off and on again it is fine, It seems to happen when tiptronic is selected and then put back into D.
2. When I floored the throttle it was like armageddon behind us, loads of Grey / Black smoke ! seemed to clear up after a while, Is this because my wife drives it carefully at low revs and we have some sort of carbon build up?
3. have warning light showing that passenger airbag is switched off (for child seat fitting I guess) how do I turn this function off?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Aussie Nick]

Heaps of black smoke from a diesel normally suggests that the injectors are fouled up.

 

[martinrwhite]

Gearbox and smoke issue E320CDI

Thanks for that, Is there any quick fix i.e injector cleaner that goes into fuel tank?

 

[Aussie Nick]

Yep. There are some good diesel ones here. I use Nulon but you will have some other brands where you are which will be of value. You might try running a double dose to clear the air earlier. The cleaner takes some time to work. It might pay to use the injector cleaner and take it for a long hot drive.

 

[maddog]

air mass sensor failure i bet

The car will go into a limp home mode if the air mass sensor is faulty , the turbo wont boost and the gearbox wont kick down properly when this happens , the car will also smoke .

Switching the car off and then back on resets the limp home mode

The air mass sensor for the w210 is part number A 611 094 00 48 they cost about £65 and fail on a regular basis

 

[Aussie Nick]

Yes also a strong possibility. Would suggest you run some cleaner through it in any event,especially if the Maddog prognosis is accurate there is bound to be lots of gunk in the head now if there wasnt before.

 

[sms78]

I had this problem with my car last week ! Was quite scary as it happened as i was coming out of a 50mph roadworks zone onto the motorway had to get to the slow lane quick . Car wouldnt excellerate very fast or kick down at all . After parking up for a couple a hours car drove fine rest of the day . I changed the Mas sensor and cleaned all the charge pipes out at the weekend and now the car purrs along nicely .

 

[panason1c]

When I floored the throttle it was like armageddon behind us, loads of Grey / Black smoke ! seemed to clear up after a while, Is this because my wife drives it carefully at low revs and we have some sort of carbon build up?

Might be worth checking that the air filter isn't badly clogged first before spending £'s...........otherwise, i would be looking at the maf which you would have nothing to lose by cleaning it first ...do a search on 'maf' for cleaning instructions.....it is a very simple and quick job.

 

[mattsurf]

I ran some injector cleaner (from Halfords) in my E320 CDI - what a difference it makes, black smoke under acceleration is massively reduced and the car is so much smoother.

Car is sometimes erratic at tickover when cold - so I guess that and injector is on its way out. Also I have noticed - as reported previously - that my E320 CDI does not like Shell diesel (both normal and V-Power) the car runs noticably rougher than Texaco - I have tried 3 tanks Texaco and 3 tanks Shell (the garages are both the same distance from home) and I am convinced that the difference is genuine

 

[johno2004]

Re Injector Cleaner

On my CLK320 the idle drops to 500 when put into drive or reverse but when back in park it goes back to 750. The car does not have any adverse effects during pull away and does not stall.

My indie says don't worry about it as car drives normal but it's one of those things i wan't to sort out.

Does anyone think that a injector cleaner added to fuel would help if so whats the best you can get.

If this is not the likely culprit any idea's ??

Thanks

Johno

 

[Paulopt2248]

Hi

I think that Wynns Injector cleaner is one of the best I have tried, and it really does a good job of clearing out the muck that settles in the fuel lines.

Get the engine up to normal operating temperture and give the car some stick. No need to exceed the speed limit just use kickdown from very low speed up to the motorway limit.

I believe that engines like to work hard...we all know that the worst cars to purchase are those which have been used on short stop-start journeys, and where the engine is never allowed to breathe or reach it's corrct operating temperture.

Paul

 

[maddog]

I ran some injector cleaner (from Halfords) in my E320 CDI - what a difference it makes, black smoke under acceleration is massively reduced and the car is so much smoother.

Car is sometimes erratic at tickover when cold - so I guess that and injector is on its way out. Also I have noticed - as reported previously - that my E320 CDI does not like Shell diesel (both normal and V-Power) the car runs noticably rougher than Texaco - I have tried 3 tanks Texaco and 3 tanks Shell (the garages are both the same distance from home) and I am convinced that the difference is genuine

I run my E320 cdi exclusivly on Shell and BP havent used anything but those and Esso for 4 or 5 years now , i have never used an injector cleaner and my car doesnt smoke much at all on FT.

If the OP problem was related to air filter or injectors its wouldnt reset after switching off and back on , mind you i change my air filter ever year which is around 7000-9000 miles for me as the performance falls off if you keep them in there much longer.

 

[martinrwhite]

suspect air mass sensor

Thanks to you all for your help, Took the car on a run for 50 miles and still smokes when kicked down, Hell of a job to get the engine to a decent temperature, Would periodically loose kickdown and turbo boost but by switching off and then re-starting would be ok for a while so I suspect it is the air mass sensor.

 

[panason1c]

Hell of a job to get the engine to a decent temperature

Sounds like you need a new thermostat.......the engine should reach at least 80+ degrees, or more, after approx a <15 mile run. (depending whether you boot it or not)

 

[maddog]

Thanks to you all for your help, Took the car on a run for 50 miles and still smokes when kicked down, Hell of a job to get the engine to a decent temperature, Would periodically loose kickdown and turbo boost but by switching off and then re-starting would be ok for a while so I suspect it is the air mass sensor.

it will take longer to warm up if its in limp home mode , mine takes an age to get to 80c this time of year

 

[Blobcat]

I would say air mass sensor as well, given the diagnosis. My E320CDI wouldn't rev past 3K when it failed and like yours it was intermittent for awhile. It comes up as a fault on the diagnostics computer so it could be worth getting the fault read.

 

[martinrwhite]

Air Mass Sensor

Thanks gents, Is the air mass sensor easy to replace (average DIY mechanic)!

 

[maddog]

yeah its a doddle , easiest if you remove the engine cover and then unplug the mas and undo the two botls that secure it

 

[ChrisBillson]

Another idea

Please see this link and read carefully - http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=34296 - many of your symptoms are identical to what I experienced - it may help.

I have now done 1500 miles since without fault.

 

[maddog]

i'd still change the MAS , they are cheap and troublesome so at least you can rule that out , also the black smoke seems to make that option more likely imo

But dont you just love dealers eh???