Newbie here with a Vito which does not want to start

[Top_Marques_Valet]

Hello all, newbie here looking for some urgent help.

I have recently (Saturday) bought myself a Black 2003 Mercedes Vito 112 CDi.
The last few mornings it has struggled to start but has got there eventually.
This morning it wouldnt start for love nor money and the battery ended up going flat on me
It seems to be turning over fine but it just does not want to fire up.

It has been fine any other time during the day and starts 1st time, but the 1st time everyday is a struggle.

When I collected the van from the previous owner, I was told that when I start the van I need to wait for the clock to go out rather then just the yellow coil light, but only when its cold starting.
However on my old Ford Transit Connect I only had to wait for the yellow coil light to go out before starting.

Would this make my problem Glow Plug related?

Also, as I had drained my battery flat this morning I wanted to try to jump start it off of the other halfs car. How the heck do I go about gaining access to the battery?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Top_Marques_Valet]

Anyone?

I need to get this fixed by myself this afternoon as I cannot afford for a garage to take a look at it untill the new year and this is my own business van so no van = no money = cant afford to get van fixed

 

[Blobcat]

Hi & Welcome,

Unfortunately not many van owners are on the fourm in the day time. Out earning a crust I suspect.

 

[Top_Marques_Valet]

Thanks for your reply Blobcat

Just as I should be
I have only been in business a little while and have had to cancel all todays jobs and it looks like tomorrow's too

 

[Sprint'n'Go]

Right, calm down, I'm home now.

As I understand it an otherwise healthy CDI engine should start well without the glowplugs unless it gets seriously cold (I never wait in my van and start it in temps down to -5 or -6 on cold winter mornings with no probs). I suspect you may have been stitched up by the previous owner as I have never heard of having to wait for a 'clock' to go out. What clock is this refering too? I am sure the only indicator of glowplug activation is the yellow/orange coil light.

Give me more details of which clock is going out and we may be able to pinpoint an electrical fault (duff battery/bad earth etc) but I suspect the fault lies else where.

My main suspicion would be a faulty injector or possibly 2 although I am sure someone recently said a 4 cyl engine will not start at all with more than 1 failed injector.

An alternate cause could be air leaking into the fuel lines overnight although this should also happen during the day aswell if left for any time. have a route around the top of the engine and look for any clear plastic fuel lines that have bubbles in them, this would indicate a bad seal somewhere which is causing the poor starting.

If you can give any more pointer we may be able to deduce something and get you back work.

 

[Top_Marques_Valet]

Hi Sprint'n'Go,

The clock I am on about is the one that tells the time and the mileometer (sp)

I put the key in and turn....dash lights up
Coil light goes out after 3 seconds and approx another 3 seconds the clock and milage disappear and an small oil can and something else is displayed which I cannot remember right now and cannot go look because I have removed the battery.......at last

It had a brand new Merc 66ah battery in October and 'a' new glow plug on the 9th of this month.

I have just been outside with the torch and located the fuel line which goes into the fuel filter......I believe. Its clear with a black corrugated shroud around it.

The mrs sat in and turned the ignition over and I could see that there are small air bubbles inside the clear tube. I only pulled about 20mm of the shroud back right where it enters the fuel pump.

I also noticed while I was under the bonnet that at the last service they had not done the jubilee clips up on either end of the air intake (bit that goes across the engine), they had not bolted it down to the top of the head and the smaller 30mm ish pipe that pushes into the back was just flopping about

Once I did all this up, I tried to restart it but the battery was dead and just turned over twice.

Battery is now in the cloak room on charge.

I hope this helps as this is all I need just before Christmas...........17 cars to Valet before Sunday afternoon

I have called all my customers who were booked in for today & tomorrow and re arranged there bookings for Sat & Sun.

Fingers crossed I can get any parts I may need and get her back up and running tomorrow.

Thanks again

 

[Sprint'n'Go]

Coil light goes out after 3 seconds and approx another 3 seconds the clock and milage disappear and an small oil can and something else is displayed

Usually at this point you press the miles button twice quickly and it will tell you the engine oil level (high/OK/-0.5ltr/etc). This has nothing to do with the glowplug timing and as far as I know the plugs switch off when the lellow light goes out.

I have just been outside with the torch and located the fuel line which goes into the fuel filter......I believe. Its clear with a black corrugated shroud around it.

The mrs sat in and turned the ignition over and I could see that there are small air bubbles inside the clear tube. I only pulled about 20mm of the shroud back right where it enters the fuel pump.

Yes, you have found the fuel pipes. I think I have usually found one small bubble here, about the size of a spirit level bubble. Not sure what happens when the engine is turning over/running but I suspect a stream of many bubbles would indicate a problem

I also noticed while I was under the bonnet that at the last service they had not done the jubilee clips up on either end of the air intake (bit that goes across the engine), they had not bolted it down to the top of the head and the smaller 30mm ish pipe that pushes into the back was just flopping about

Possibly a bit of a clue here. Shoddy servicing could indicate a ham-fisted fuel filter change which may have been done during the service. This is the most likely point for air to get into the system as the fuel is sucked through the filter rather than being pumped through which would cause a fuel leak at any bad joints. Was the van serviced for your purchase? I would start here by replacing the fuel filter with a genuine one and carefully examining any O rings at the conections. I can't remember if the O rings are in the filter or on the connectors. Get down to Merc and they will tell you and supply any O rings needed for pennies. When fitting a new fuel filter pre-fill it to the brim with diesel to give an easier start afterwards.

If this doesn't sort the problem you may be looking at an injector fault which requires profesional help. Get ringing round diesel injection specialists!

Please keep us posted on your progress so future people can read your thread and hopefully find an answer themselves.

 

[slf-1234]

Hello all, newbie here looking for some urgent help.

I have recently (Saturday) bought myself a Black 2003 Mercedes Vito 112 CDi.
The last few mornings it has struggled to start but has got there eventually.
This morning it wouldnt start for love nor money and the battery ended up going flat on me
It seems to be turning over fine but it just does not want to fire up.

It has been fine any other time during the day and starts 1st time, but the 1st time everyday is a struggle.

When I collected the van from the previous owner, I was told that when I start the van I need to wait for the clock to go out rather then just the yellow coil light, but only when its cold starting.
However on my old Ford Transit Connect I only had to wait for the yellow coil light to go out before starting.

Would this make my problem Glow Plug related?

Also, as I had drained my battery flat this morning I wanted to try to jump start it off of the other halfs car. How the heck do I go about gaining access to the battery?

Thanks in advance for your help.

this sounds very much like the problem i had a while back,which is a common one on these vans.have you tried the fuel pressure monitoring switch on the end of the fuel rail there are 3 small o`rings inside which could be your problem. . cost aprox £6 from main dealers.