Last Hope - W245 B Class

[mikewith]

Long story short, we got absolutely ripped off on a 2010 W245 B Class 180CDI.

Tons of work done attempting repair (mostly not paid by us)., but the car was sold with faults and no anti freeze, no suprise the head gasket blew.

After a 9 month repair (due to covid) we got it back refurb turbo, new glow plugs, fuel filter, head gasket fixed and many other repairs. There is no reason to doubt the garage who did the work as they were independent.

From day 1 of ownership the car had an issue when warmed up, where the idle could fluctuate when reaching traffic lights.

We got the car back and it drove great (the above issue still happened occassionally), but also on initial start up these was a puff of white smoke and smell of fuel.

We drove the car for about 800 miles without issue, but on start up the other day there was no power there. This continued for a few days until I tried giving it some revs, still no power, but it revved over 3000. However the EML then came on too.

It has been diagnosed as a MAF fault and / or EGR valve on the diagnostic, but before I throw more money at this, does this sound familiar to anyone?

My mate in the garage suggests it could be an endless fault hunt, and to just cut my losses.

This is my last hope before We Buy Any Car.

 

[robin.large]

I'd see that as a challenge for sure. When you say 'diagnostics' is this Star or Xentry or something else?
Genuine Mercedes diagnostics 'should' be a little more precise.... Though I'm sure folk may put me right on that!!

White smoke puff - could be MAF or leaking Injector.?
Loss of power could be MAF and/or EGR or a leaking injector reducing fuel pressure.

Have injectors been checked!

You could be chasing this for a while. But at least at the end you'd have a sorted car.

WBAC would kill you on price for dodgy motor and you would then potentially be buying trouble in your next car?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

 

[mikewith]

Yes he put it on a Star machine. (It's an old school friend so I can trust).

The injectors showed as a historic error before we got the car, when we did more delving, after realising we had been ripped off, but that was a year ago and nothing since.

He reset the EML, and it's not come back on, but the stored faults were only MAF and EGR.

It currently runs awful and loud, like something has definitely gone, not intermittent, and the power is definitely down.

Sounds like the EGR valve is an expensive fix, so I'm tempted to throw a MAF at it as a last hope, this has been over 1 year of pain.

What puts me off, is it's now had a head gasket repair, and many other faults, just dubious of throwing good money after bad.

Totally agree on the I could be buying a car with more problems if I swap, and that would be the final nail.

Any specialist recommendations in the Wirral / North west?

 

[sonic]

Welcome I have only had one problem car & that was back in 1972. I got the faults fixed so it was sellable & part exchanged it quick.
I belive a problem car will always be a problem car, not worth the risk.

 

[John Laidlaw]

MAF and EGR sound about right for the symptoms c£300 in parts plus garage time to fit, easyish couple of hours ,so £450/500 territory.
Suppose you have to weigh this up against future expectations ...
It’ll cost more to do both jobs separate and I think ultimately you’ll have to both even to move the car on (as said WBAC will have your pants down if you present it as it is ).
Your only other option is to take it to an independent who also sells Mercs who might take it off you knowing they can complete the work
Oh and specialist I can thoroughly recommend personally is Dave at MD Motorcare in Ellesmere Port , honest folks won’t rip you off and gets stuck in...
https://www.mdmotorcare.co.uk/

 

[mioba]

These things are always a dilemma as you end up getting the car right, selling it on for someone else ti have the benefit of your work.

flipside is if you sell the car. you will probably spend thousands more on an upgrade.

so when ppl say its not worth it because the car is worth tosh i think thats nonsense.

 

[mattkh]

It currently runs awful and loud,

Any chance of a video of the engine running at idle.

 

[mikewith]

Any chance of a video of the engine running at idle.

Sure as soon as I get it back from the garage, I will post one up.

 

[mikewith]

So I got the car back, and with the rain stopping for once, had a look myself.

The thin blue / clear pipe below was not connected to the right of the picture. I reconnected this, and full power has returned
(No idea how the garage missed this)

What is this pipe called? Should it be held by a clip? As it is just pushed in.

The issue still remains with the erratic revs at idle, when the engine is warm and come to a stop / restart the engine. Any ideas would be great?

 

[Exp21]

Hi, I own a 2010 B200 CDI, I've had issues of any kind, including many check engine lights with egr codes. Let me know when you have more precise info so that if it's something similar to what happened to me I can help you. Could you quantify the rev oscillations at idle?

 

[mattkh]

These pipes are vacuum pipes.
I cannot see what it is connected to on the right.
My assumption is that it is connected to a gadget that sends a pressure value signal to the engine computer so that the computer can determine how much fuel the injectors should spray into the cylinder.

 

[Exp21]

I remember it's a vacuum pipe too but I don't remember of what exactly

 

[mattkh]

Should it be held by a clip? As it is just pushed in. Any ideas would be great?

These vacuum pipes are normally terminated by a small rubber hose which is pushed onto a pipe. You can tie a tiny cable tie if you prefer.

 

[Steve@Avantgarde]

I was going to write that it sounds like the car has an air leak.

The EGR is vacuum operated and thats the vacuum supply pipe. The MAF sensor only flags a fault because its air volume is incorrect...

 

[John Laidlaw]

Did you ever take it to MD?

 

[joderest]

on the W163, turbo actuator is operated by vacuum, is it the same on this engine ?

 

[mikewith]

I was going to write that it sounds like the car has an air leak.

The EGR is vacuum operated and thats the vacuum supply pipe. The MAF sensor only flags a fault because its air volume is incorrect...

Thank you, having put the pipe back on, I have the following symptoms.

Rough idle when warm and come to a stop (intermittent), one small puff of white grey smoke on startup after sat, a not nice smell for the first few seconds from start.

Do you recommend I look for a leak in a pipe? Any particular spots to focus on?

Thanks

 

[bembo449]

This isnt a merc engine , its renault ( or Peugeot) so why not Google problems with cars they fit it too ? Smoke on start up could be an injector issue , id would start with a spill test , see what that shows up ?

 

[Steve@Avantgarde]

This isnt a merc engine , its renault ( or Peugeot) so why not Google problems with cars they fit it too ? Smoke on start up could be an injector issue , id would start with a spill test , see what that shows up ?

Incorrect, this is a Mercedes engine.

 

[Steve@Avantgarde]

Thank you, having put the pipe back on, I have the following symptoms.

Rough idle when warm and come to a stop (intermittent), one small puff of white grey smoke on startup after sat, a not nice smell for the first few seconds from start.

Do you recommend I look for a leak in a pipe? Any particular spots to focus on?

Thanks

I would reset all the engine adaptations, put an fuel treatment through it and give it a good italian decoke. Then recheck everything.