Intermittent fault while driving

[Nismogtir]

Hi all.
New to the group I have a sprinter 2011 313 lwb and recently it started with a jerk hesitation kinda fault be just driving a long and all of a sudden it would drop to idle for a millisecond and carry on you can here a relay clicking as it does it but there's no consistency to as an when it does and every now and again it will throw the esp light on and anti skid light i think knock it off comes up with 2 messages on dash restart van everything clears till it does it again. it took it to the garage and the auto spark came back with sam board defective had a new one fitted still has same problem any helps would be much appreciated

 

[Botus]

if something is causing the car to think its lost grip on a wheel it could apply the brakes on individual wheels (that's how ESP works) and back off the power...

the fact something shows the module has had a moment and you can feel it suggests something is awry... but what? the SAM's are potential trouble spots on Mercs - but it might mean the comms / power to the unit is the issue - when it was replaced did he fit and code a brand new unit of find some ebay special - which nothing wrong with second hand parts - but buying one the same age or from a high mile car can leave u in the same place....

whats the garage have to say... they undertook a repair job and took some money - u should have come back - what's the error code now ?

mileage. age and condition of the vehicles required - if its 4 years old and 40k miles shouldn't be playing up, 10 year old wreck with 175k not much surprise... and what part number did he put on as a replacement SAM ?

might be dirt and filth on the wheel speed sensors (but shouldn't have a SAM comms message only)

 

[Nismogtir]

Hi van is 2011 130k on the clock maintained regular, sam was bought off a company which recon them tested warranty etc.all numbers matched up.
Not sure what the auto spark did fitted and I picked it up with the same problem 5 minutes up the road.dirt on a sensor would make sense with all the crap on the road. Up where I live.grit and ice
Had a similar problem a few year back ended up being the glow plug module.
But that's all been checked garage seems to think it's a wire somewhere.

 

[Botus]

mice, rats and squirrels are a nightmare - any sign they got near a modern car (or van) and anything could happen at anytime

allegedly they hate wd40 - so a squirt around door hinges under the bonnet etc. likely good all round - refurbed means off ebay as is... I expect

 

[Nismogtir]

Worth a try thanks for the info not sure if the company has an ebay shop just had a phone number for sprinter refurb part down Yorkshire way.

 

[mioba]

You will need to get the codes read again.
Did the garage clear the codes after installing the new SAM. Some DTC codes clear after the error is fixed, others need the car telling (ie clearing codes).

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Botus]

oh that's almost a thought...

if u had a faulty SAM and the ESP lost the plot, there's a teach in test to ensure the car now thinks the sensors / system isn't lying anymore (belt and braces coz its a safety system - if this, you should have the wobbly car icon in yellow on the dash all the time) - it can be beyond many diagnostic tools capability - and even the dealer kit can fight to realise its all happy again

 

[Nismogtir]

Hi so been running van as normal no lights or problems and today started again so went to a local garage and it's came up as can bus communications fault/error that's all he said so he'll have look end of the week if he gets chance.

 

[ajlsl600]

Check all ur connections and related plugs especially any disturbed in the past. Also look out for rodent damage, recent of past. I spent a good while findingg can us error was rodent damage in pretty in accesable area. Good luck.

 

[Nismogtir]

Will do no evidence of any rodents van is used daily and haven't seen anything untoward to suggest but doesn't mean its not any particular places to check was told might be as simple as a wire rubbed through somewhere or a bad earth I'm sure I'll get there thank for the info aswell.

 

[Nismogtir]

Hi so I've had a good look over the best I can connectors wires look in good order but I did notice the red power cable with the grey the connector by the ecu flapping about so cable tied it down but not sure if doing that has made the van worse done it quiet a bit today but wasn't throwing the esp up, cut out on really low revs but started up no problem just need to get to Thursday then it's off the road for 2 weeks so can have a really good look. You reckon it could be a broken wire.??

 

[Botus]

with so many idiots fiddling with tractors to try and circumnavigate emission control it can be hard to work out where we are with an individual vehicle....

to make the heater work, keep the engine warm enough the oil has a chance to lube the engine, and to reduce emissions, tractors recycle the exhaust via the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation). But after a while all the crap clogs things up - various ways to give it a clean (water meth injection 50 50 sprayed in the inlet carefully - after the air filter - get the engine fully warmed up, slip of the air cleaner squirt it in -atomised - I pushed 1 litre through whilst blipping the throttle over 20 mins) or some other cleaner products can some how get squirted in there

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[Nismogtir]

Think it could be clogged up and chocking itself.

 

[ajlsl600]

Quite possible esp if u do a lot of short journeys.

 

[Botus]

imagine its running a bit rough - cheap low detergent fuels, driving conditions / style / age, all mean it needs a bit of an Italian tune up. But coz its a tractor the filth is too much... and it needs a bit of oven cleaner support

...its not getting that and its making power a little more erratically than it should, then the weather got slippery and you're a bit fed up with it = ESP interruptions and some odd running in the mix

 

[Nismogtir]

So been running van with no joy some days intermittent fault was only 2-3 a day but to day done it loads of time and broke down got a local mechanic to it who plug his laptop in and was showing no fuel pressure so after about half hour van decided to start again and drove home with no problems

 

[Botus]

sounds strange

so what type of pump and what sort of failures do they give... 30 mins on it might have cooled down enough to behave (buts seems a long shot to me)
or u have some electrical gremlin that's getting a random connection and its just extra confusion re the time / cooling bit

 

[mioba]

sounds like a leak somewhere

 

[Botus]

sounds like a leak somewhere

first post and start of this thread was around a defective Front SAM that was swapped out... but it didn't resolve stuff. I guess you mean a boost leak intermittently forcing it in to limp mode ?

not a bad shout... but diagnostics should show that rather than a SAM or a Fuel pressure issue?

 

[Nismogtir]

Problem is its drives fine just this intermittent problem some days its ok other days it'll do it 10 times a day other times a couple of time.
Some times it doesn't throw the esp on just does it.
I noticed when I was using egr cleaner it also does it just sitting holding the revs its got the garage baffled only thing computer said it was losing coms power,there's a auto spark coming to look at it at somepoint this week and try do a live test on the road see if that narrows it down.